Put Not Your Trust in Princes

146 nPraise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

2  I will praise the Lord oas long as I live;

pI will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

3  qPut not your trust in princes,

rin a son of man, in whom there is sno salvation.

4  When this breath departs, he returns to the earth;

on that very day his plans perish.

5  uBlessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose vhope is in the Lord his God,

6  wwho made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

xwho keeps faith forever;

7  ywho executes justice for the oppressed,

zwho gives food to the hungry.

aThe Lord sets the prisoners free;

8  bthe Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

cThe Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

dthe Lord loves the righteous.

9  eThe Lord watches over the sojourners;

fhe upholds the widow and the fatherless,

but gthe way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10  hThe Lord will reign forever,

your God, O Zion, to all generations.

nPraise the Lord!

He Heals the Brokenhearted

147 iPraise the Lord!

For jit is good to sing praises to our God;

for kit is pleasant,1 and la song of praise is fitting.

2  The Lord mbuilds up Jerusalem;

he ngathers the outcasts of Israel.

3  He heals othe brokenhearted

and pbinds up their wounds.

4  He qdetermines the number of the stars;

he rgives to all of them their names.

5  sGreat is our Lord, and tabundant in power;

uhis understanding is beyond measure.

6  The Lord vlifts up the humble;2

he casts the wicked to the ground.

7  wSing to the Lord with thanksgiving;

make melody to our God on xthe lyre!

8  He covers the heavens with clouds;

he prepares yrain for the earth;

he makes zgrass grow on the hills.

9  He agives to the beasts their food,

and to bthe young ravens that cry.

10  His delight is not in cthe strength of the horse,

nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,

11  but the Lord dtakes pleasure in those who fear him,

in those who ehope in his steadfast love.

12  Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!

Praise your God, O Zion!

13  For he strengthens fthe bars of your gates;

he blesses your children within you.

14  He gmakes peace in your borders;

he hfills you with the ifinest of the wheat.

15  He jsends out his command to the earth;

his word runs swiftly.

16  He gives ksnow like wool;

he scatters lfrost like ashes.

17  He hurls down his crystals of mice like crumbs;

who can stand before his ncold?

18  He osends out his word, and melts them;

he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.

19  He declares his word to Jacob,

his pstatutes and rules3 to Israel.

20  He qhas not dealt thus with any other nation;

they do not know his rules.4

rPraise the Lord!

Praise the Name of the Lord

148 rPraise the Lord!

Praise the Lord sfrom the heavens;

praise him tin the heights!

2  Praise him, all his angels;

praise him, all his uhosts!

3  Praise him, sun and moon,

praise him, all you shining stars!

4  Praise him, you vhighest heavens,

and you wwaters above the heavens!

5  xLet them praise the name of the Lord!

For yhe commanded and they were created.

6  And he zestablished them forever and ever;

he gave aa decree, and it shall not bpass away.1

7  Praise the Lord cfrom the earth,

you dgreat sea creatures and all deeps,

8  efire and hail, fsnow and mist,

gstormy wind hfulfilling his word!

9  iMountains and all hills,

jfruit trees and all kcedars!

10  lBeasts and all livestock,

creeping things and mflying birds!

11  Kings of the earth and nall peoples,

princes and all rulers of the earth!

12  Young men and maidens together,

old men and children!

13  oLet them praise the name of the Lord,

for phis name alone is exalted;

qhis majesty is above earth and heaven.

14  He has rraised up a horn for his people,

spraise for all his saints,

for the people of Israel who are tnear to him.

uPraise the Lord!

Sing to the Lord a New Song

149 uPraise the Lord!

Sing to the Lord va new song,

his praise in wthe assembly of the godly!

2  Let Israel xbe glad in yhis Maker;

let the children of Zion rejoice in their zKing!

3  Let them praise his name with adancing,

making melody to him with btambourine and clyre!

4  For the Lord dtakes pleasure in his people;

he eadorns the humble with salvation.

5  Let the godly exult in glory;

let them fsing for joy on their gbeds.

6  Let hthe high praises of God be in their throats

and itwo-edged swords in their hands,

7  to execute vengeance on the nations

and punishments on the peoples,

8  to bind their kings with jchains

and their nobles with fetters of iron,

9  to execute on them the judgment kwritten!

lThis is honor for all his godly ones.

uPraise the Lord!

Let Everything Praise the Lord

150 uPraise the Lord!

Praise God in his msanctuary;

praise him in nhis mighty heavens!1

2  Praise him for his omighty deeds;

praise him according to his excellent pgreatness!

3  Praise him with qtrumpet sound;

praise him with rlute and rharp!

4  Praise him with stambourine and sdance;

praise him with tstrings and upipe!

5  Praise him with sounding vcymbals;

praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

6  Let weverything that has breath praise the Lord!

xPraise the Lord!

Proverbs

Introduction

Practical wisdom for living is the central concern of the book of Proverbs. We are told that the beginning and essence of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (1:7; 9:10). Proverbs often contrasts the benefits of seeking wisdom and the pitfalls of living a fool’s life. While the wicked stumble in “deep darkness” (4:19), “the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day” (v. 18). Proverbs is a collection of Israelite wisdom literature, including an introductory section (chs. 1–9) that gives readers a framework for understanding the rest of the book. The book includes the work of various authors, but much of it is attributed to King Solomon. It dates from between the tenth and sixth centuries b.c.

The Beginning of Knowledge

1 aThe proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:

2  To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight,

3  to receive instruction in wise dealing,

in brighteousness, justice, and equity;

4  to give prudence to cthe simple,

knowledge and ddiscretion to the youth—

5  Let the wise hear and eincrease in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance,

6  to understand a proverb and a saying,

fthe words of the wise and their griddles.

7  hThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The Enticement of Sinners

8  iHear, my son, your father’s instruction,

and forsake not your mother’s teaching,

9  for they are ja graceful garland for your head

and kpendants for your neck.

10  My son, if sinners lentice you,

do not consent.

11  If they say, “Come with us, mlet us lie in wait for blood;

nlet us ambush the innocent without reason;

12  like Sheol let us oswallow them alive,

and whole, like pthose who go down to the pit;

13  we shall find all precious goods,

we shall fill our houses with plunder;

14  throw in your lot among us;

we will all have one purse”—

15  my son, qdo not walk in the way with them;

rhold back your foot from their paths,

16  for stheir feet run to evil,

and they make haste to shed blood.

17  tFor in vain is a net spread

in the sight of any bird,

18  but these men ulie in wait for their own blood;

they uset an ambush for their own lives.

19  vSuch are the ways of everyone who is wgreedy for unjust gain;

xit takes away the life of its possessors.

The Call of Wisdom

20  yWisdom cries aloud in the street,

in the markets she raises her voice;

21  at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;

at zthe entrance of the city gates she speaks:

22  “How long, O asimple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will bscoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools chate knowledge?

23  If you turn at my reproof,1

behold, I will dpour out my spirit to you;

I will make my words known to you.

24  eBecause I have called and fyou refused to listen,

have gstretched out my hand and no one has heeded,

25  because you have hignored all my counsel

and iwould have none of my reproof,

26  I also jwill laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when kterror strikes you,

27  when terror strikes you like la storm

and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,

when distress and anguish come upon you.

28  mThen they will call upon me, but I will not answer;

they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

29  Because they chated knowledge

and ndid not choose the fear of the Lord,

30  hwould have none of my counsel

and idespised all my reproof,

31  therefore they shall eat othe fruit of their way,

and have ptheir fill of their own devices.

32  For the simple are killed by qtheir turning away,

and rthe complacency of fools destroys them;

33  but swhoever listens to me will dwell secure

and will be tat ease, without dread of disaster.”

The Value of Wisdom

2 uMy son, vif you receive my words

and treasure up my commandments with you,

2  making your ear attentive to wisdom

and inclining your heart to understanding;

3  yes, if you call out for insight

and raise your voice wfor understanding,

4  if you seek it like xsilver

and search for it as for yhidden treasures,

5  then zyou will understand the fear of the Lord

and find the knowledge of God.

6  For athe Lord gives wisdom;

from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

7  he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

he is ba shield to those who cwalk in integrity,

8  guarding the paths of justice

and dwatching over the way of his esaints.

9  fThen you will understand grighteousness and justice

and equity, every good path;

10  for wisdom will come into your heart,

and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

11  hdiscretion will iwatch over you,

understanding will guard you,

12  delivering you from the way of evil,

from men of perverted speech,

13  who forsake the paths of uprightness

to jwalk in the ways of darkness,

14  who krejoice in doing evil

and ldelight in the perverseness of evil,

15  men whose mpaths are crooked,

nand who are odevious in their ways.

16  So pyou will be delivered from the forbidden1 woman,

from qthe adulteress2 with rher smooth words,

17  who forsakes sthe companion of her youth

and forgets tthe covenant of her God;

18  ufor her house sinks down to death,

and her paths to the departed;3

19  none who go to her come back,

nor do they regain the paths of life.

20  So you will walk in the way of the good

and keep to the paths of the righteous.

21  For the upright vwill inhabit the land,

and those with integrity will remain in it,

22  but the wicked will be wcut off from the land,

and the treacherous will be xrooted out of it.