who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh frees the prisoners.

Yahweh will reign forever; your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise Yah!

Praise Yah, for it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant and fitting to praise him.

Yahweh upholds the humble. He brings the wicked down to the ground.

Sing to Yahweh with thanksgiving. Sing praises on the harp to our God,

He doesn't delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.

He sends out his commandment to the earth. His word runs very swiftly.

He sends out his word, and melts them. He causes his wind to blow, and the waters flow.

He shows his word to Jacob; his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.

He has not done this for just any nation. They don't know his ordinances. Praise Yah!

He has lifted up the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near to him. Praise Yah!

Praise Yahweh! Sing to Yahweh a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints.

Let them praise his name in the dance! Let them sing praises to him with tambourine and harp!

May the high praises of God be in their mouths, and a two-edged sword in their hand;

To execute vengeance on the nations, and punishments on the peoples;

To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;

to execute on them the written judgment. All his saints have this honor. Praise Yah!

Praise him for his mighty acts! Praise him according to his excellent greatness!

to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;

to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man:

that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel:

to understand a proverb, and parables, the words and riddles of the wise.

My son, listen to your father's instruction, and don't forsake your mother's teaching:

for they will be a garland to grace your head, and chains around your neck.

My son, if sinners entice you, don't consent.

My son, don't walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path,

for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood.

Turn at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make known my words to you.

because they hated knowledge, and didn't choose the fear of Yahweh.

But whoever listens to me will dwell securely, and will be at ease, without fear of harm."

So as to turn your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding;

He lays up sound wisdom for the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity;

For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things;

who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil;

To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words;

for her house leads down to death, her paths to the dead.

None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life:

My son, don't forget my teaching; but let your heart keep my commandments:

for length of days, and years of life, and peace, will they add to you.

Don't let kindness and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart.

Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don't lean on your own understanding.

Don't be wise in your own eyes. Fear Yahweh, and depart from evil.

It will be health to your body, and nourishment to your bones.

My son, don't despise Yahweh's discipline, neither be weary of his reproof:

She is more precious than rubies. None of the things you can desire are to be compared to her.

She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Happy is everyone who retains her.

By his knowledge, the depths were broken up, and the skies drop down the dew.

so they will be life to your soul, and grace for your neck.

Then you shall walk in your way securely. Your foot won't stumble.

Don't be afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it comes:

Don't withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.

Don't say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again; tomorrow I will give it to you," when you have it by you.

Don't devise evil against your neighbor, since he dwells securely by you.

Don't strive with a man without cause, if he has done you no harm.

Don't envy the man of violence. Choose none of his ways.

For the perverse is an abomination to Yahweh, but his friendship is with the upright.

Surely he mocks the mockers, but he gives grace to the humble.

Listen, sons, to a father's instruction. Pay attention and know understanding;

for I give you sound learning. Don't forsake my law.

For I was a son to my father, tender and an only child in the sight of my mother.

He taught me, and said to me: "Let your heart retain my words. Keep my commandments, and live.

Get wisdom. Get understanding. Don't forget, neither swerve from the words of my mouth.

Don't forsake her, and she will preserve you. Love her, and she will keep you.

Esteem her, and she will exalt you. She will bring you to honor, when you embrace her.

She will give to your head a garland of grace. She will deliver a crown of splendor to you."

Take firm hold of instruction. Don't let her go. Keep her, for she is your life.

Don't enter into the path of the wicked. Don't walk in the way of evil men.

Avoid it, and don't pass by it. Turn from it, and pass on.

For they don't sleep, unless they do evil. Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall.

But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light, that shines more and more until the perfect day.

The way of the wicked is like darkness. They don't know what they stumble over.

My son, attend to my words. Turn your ear to my sayings.

For they are life to those who find them, and health to their whole body.

Don't turn to the right hand nor to the left. Remove your foot from evil.

My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:

But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.

Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.

She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.

Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don't depart from the words of my mouth.

Remove your way far from her. Don't come near the door of her house,

lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!

I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly."

A loving doe and a graceful deer -- let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.

He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.

Do this now, my son, and deliver yourself, since you have come into the hand of your neighbor. Go, humble yourself. Press your plea with your neighbor.

Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.

Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

There are six things which Yahweh hates; yes, seven which are an abomination to him:

a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are swift in running to mischief,

My son, keep your father's commandment, and don't forsake your mother's teaching.

Bind them continually on your heart. Tie them around your neck.

to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the wayward wife's tongue.

Don't lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.

For a prostitute reduces you to a piece of bread. The adulteress hunts for your precious life.

So is he who goes in to his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.