I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies,
For all my ways are [fully known] before You.

Let Your hand be ready to help me,
For I have chosen Your precepts.

I long for Your salvation, O Lord,
And Your law is my delight.

I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
Seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments.

Be gracious to us, O Lord, be gracious and favorable toward us,
For we are greatly filled with contempt.

Then they would have [quickly] swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;

Then the waters would have engulfed us,
The torrent would have swept over our soul;

Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.”

We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers;
The trap is broken and we have escaped.

“Many times they have persecuted me (Israel) from my youth,”
Let Israel now say,

“Many times they have persecuted me from my youth,
Yet they have not prevailed against me.

Out of the depths [of distress] I have cried to You, O Lord.

Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child [resting] with his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me [composed and freed from discontent].

Until I find a place for the Lord,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob (Israel).”

“This is My resting place forever” [says the Lord];
“Here will I dwell, for I have desired it.

“There I will make the horn (strength) of David grow;
I have prepared a lamp for My anointed [fulfilling the promises].

They have mouths, but they do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;

They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath in their mouths.

O daughter of Babylon, you devastator,
How blessed will be the one
Who repays you [with destruction] as you have repaid us.

I will bow down [in worship] toward Your holy temple
And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word together with Your name.

All the kings of the land will give thanks and praise You, O Lord,
When they have heard of the promises of Your mouth [which were fulfilled].

O Lord, you have searched me [thoroughly] and have known me.

You have enclosed me behind and before,
And [You have] placed Your hand upon me.

I hate them with perfect and utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.

Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
Protect me from violent men
Who intend to trip up my steps.

The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords;
They have spread a net by the wayside;
They have set traps for me. Selah.

“O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation,
You have covered my head in the day of battle.

Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me,
And from the snares of those who do evil.

When my spirit was overwhelmed and weak within me [wrapped in darkness],
You knew my path.
In the way where I walk
They have hidden a trap for me.

Look to the right [the point of attack] and see;
For there is no one who has regard for me [to act in my favor].
Escape has failed me and I have nowhere to run;
No one cares about my life.

For the enemy has persecuted me,
He has crushed my life down to the ground;
He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have been long dead.

While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.

He has not dealt this way with any [other] nation;
They have not known [understood, appreciated, heeded, or cherished] His ordinances.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

Throw in your lot with us [they insist];
We will all have one money bag [in common],”

“Because I called and you refused [to answer],
I stretched out my hand and no one has paid attention [to my offer];

Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give it,”
When you have it with you.

“The beginning of wisdom is: Get [skillful and godly] wisdom [it is preeminent]!
And with all your acquiring, get understanding [actively seek spiritual discernment, mature comprehension, and logical interpretation].

I have instructed you in the way of [skillful and godly] wisdom;
I have led you in upright paths.

For the wicked cannot sleep unless they do evil;
And they are deprived of sleep unless they make someone stumble and fall.

“I have not listened to the voice of my teachers,
Nor have I inclined my ear to those who instructed me.

For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the Lord,
And He carefully watches all of his paths [all of his comings and goings].

My son, if you have become surety (guaranteed a debt or obligation) for your neighbor,
If you have given your pledge for [the debt of] a stranger or another [outside your family],

Do this now, my son, and release yourself [from the obligation];
Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,
Go humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor [to pay his debt and release you].

“So I came out to meet you [that you might share with me the feast of my offering],
Diligently I sought your face and I have found you.

“I have spread my couch with coverings and cushions of tapestry,
With colored fine linen of Egypt.

“I have perfumed my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

“Counsel is mine and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, power and strength are mine.

“Come, eat my food
And drink the wine I have mixed [and accept my gifts].

Engaging in evil is like sport to the fool [who refuses wisdom and chases sin],
But to a man of understanding [skillful and godly] wisdom brings joy.

When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more,
But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.

When pride comes [boiling up with an arrogant attitude of self-importance], then come dishonor and shame,
But with the humble [the teachable who have been chiseled by trial and who have learned to walk humbly with God] there is wisdom and soundness of mind.

The wicked man earns deceptive wages,
But he who sows righteousness and lives his life with integrity will have a true reward [that is both permanent and satisfying].

The ransom for a man’s life is his wealth,
But the poor man does not even have to listen to a rebuke or threats [from the envious].

Desire realized is sweet to the soul;
But it is detestable to fools to turn away from evil [which they have planned].

In the [reverent] fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,
And His children will [always] have a place of refuge.

Understanding (spiritual insight) is a [refreshing and boundless] wellspring of life to those who have it,
But to give instruction and correction to fools is foolishness.

A wise servant will rule over the [unworthy] son who acts shamefully and brings disgrace [to the family]
And [the worthy servant] will share in the inheritance among the brothers.

Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart,
I am pure from my sin?”

The wicked become a ransom for the righteous,
And the treacherous in the place of the upright [for they fall into their own traps].

He who loves purity of heart
And whose speech is gracious will have the king as his friend.

So that your trust and reliance and confidence may be in the Lord,
I have taught these things to you today, even to you.

Have I not written to you excellent things
In counsels and knowledge,

If you have nothing with which to pay [another’s debt when he defaults],
Why should his creditor take your bed from under you?

Do not move the ancient landmark [at the boundary of the property]
Which your fathers have set.

The morsel which you have eaten you will vomit up,
And you will waste your compliments.

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who sires a wise child will have joy in him.

For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,”
Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince,
Whom your eyes have seen.

Or he who hears it will shame you
And the rumor about you [and your action in court] will have no end.

Have you found [pleasure sweet like] honey? Eat only as much as you need,
Otherwise, being filled excessively, you vomit it.

He who leads the upright astray on an evil path
Will himself fall into his own pit,
But the blameless will inherit good.

He who cultivates his land will have plenty of bread,
But he who follows worthless people and frivolous pursuits will have plenty of poverty.

To have regard for one person over another and to show favoritism is not good,
Because for a piece of bread a man will transgress.

He who gives to the poor will never want,
But he who shuts his eyes [from their need] will have many curses.

He who pampers his slave from childhood
Will find him to be a son in the end.

Surely I am more brutish and stupid than any man,
And I do not have the understanding of a man [for I do not know what I do not know].

I have not learned [skillful and godly] wisdom,
Nor do I have knowledge of the Holy One [who is the source of wisdom].

Two things I have asked of You;
Do not deny them to me before I die:

This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth
And says, “I have done no wrong.”

The locusts have no king,
Yet all of them go out in groups;

If you have foolishly exalted yourself,
Or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth.

“Many daughters have done nobly, and well [with the strength of character that is steadfast in goodness],
But you excel them all.”

What advantage does man have from all his work
Which he does under the sun (while earthbound)?

I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a futile grasping and chasing after the wind.

I spoke with my heart, saying, “Behold, I have acquired great [human] wisdom and experience, more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of [moral] wisdom and [scientific] knowledge.”

I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure and gratification; so enjoy yourself and have a good time.” But behold, this too was vanity (futility, meaninglessness).

And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity (futility, self-conceit).

There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and assure himself that there is good in his labor. Even this, I have seen, is from the hand of God.

For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?

I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

For the [earthly] fate of the sons of men and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no preeminence or advantage for man [in and of himself] over an animal, for all is vanity.

So I congratulated and thought more fortunate are those who are already dead than the living who are still living.

Two are better than one because they have a more satisfying return for their labor;

Again, if two lie down together, then they keep warm; but how can one be warm alone?

There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being kept and hoarded by their owner to his own misery.

Behold, here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in all the labor in which he labors under the sun during the few days of his life which God gives him—for this is his [allotted] reward.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men:

It has not seen the sun nor had any knowledge; yet it has more rest and is better off than he.

I have seen everything during my [fleeting] days of futility; there is a righteous man who perishes in [spite of] his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives a long life in [spite of] his wickedness.

Do not be excessively or willfully wicked and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?