Day 222 of 730

¹"Isn't a man forced to labor on earth? Aren't his days like the days of a hired hand?

²As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow, as a hireling who looks for his wages,

³so am I made to possess months of misery, wearisome nights are appointed to me.

⁴When I lie down, I say, 'When shall I arise, and the night be gone?' I toss and turn until the dawning of the day.

⁵My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh.

⁶My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.

⁷Oh remember that my life is a breath. My eye shall no more see good.

⁸The eye of him who sees me shall see me no more. Your eyes shall be on me, but I shall not be.

⁹As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more.

¹⁰He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.

¹¹"Therefore I will not keep silent. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

¹²Am I a sea, or a sea monster, that you put a guard over me?

¹³When I say, 'My bed shall comfort me. My couch shall ease my complaint;'

¹⁴then you scare me with dreams, and terrify me through visions:

¹⁵so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather than my bones.

¹⁶I loathe my life. I do not want to live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

¹⁷What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him,

¹⁸that you should visit him every morning, and test him every moment?

¹⁹How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone until I swallow down my spittle?

²⁰If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher of men? Why have you set me as a mark for you, so that I am a burden to myself?

²¹Why do you not pardon my disobedience, and take away my iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust. You will seek me diligently, but I shall not be."

¹Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,

²"How long will you speak these things? Shall the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?

³Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?

⁴If your children have sinned against him, He has delivered them into the hand of their disobedience.

⁵If you want to seek God diligently, make your supplication to the Almighty.

⁶If you were pure and upright, surely now he would awaken for you, and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.

⁷Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would greatly increase.

⁸"Please inquire of past generations. Find out about the learning of their fathers.

⁹(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days on earth are a shadow.)

¹⁰Shall they not teach you, tell you, and utter words out of their heart?

¹¹"Can the papyrus grow up without mire? Can the rushes grow without water?

¹²While it is yet in its greenness, not cut down, it withers before any other reed.

¹³So are the paths of all who forget God. The hope of the godless man shall perish,

¹⁴Whose confidence shall break apart, Whose trust is a spider's web.

¹⁵He shall lean on his house, but it shall not stand. He shall cling to it, but it shall not endure.

¹⁶He is green before the sun. His shoots go forth over his garden.

¹⁷His roots are wrapped around the rock pile. He sees the place of stones.

¹⁸If he is destroyed from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, 'I have not seen you.'

¹⁹Behold, this is the joy of his way: out of the earth, others shall spring.

²⁰"Behold, God will not cast away a blameless man, neither will he uphold the evildoers.

²¹He will still fill your mouth with laughter, your lips with shouting.

²²Those who hate you shall be clothed with shame. The tent of the wicked shall be no more."

¹God, give the king your justice; your righteousness to the royal son.

²He will judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.

³The mountains shall bring prosperity to the people. The hills bring the fruit of righteousness.

⁴He will judge the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy, and will break the oppressor in pieces.

⁵They shall fear you while the sun endures; and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

⁶He will come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth.

⁷In his days, the righteous shall flourish, and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.

⁸He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth.

⁹Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him. His enemies shall lick the dust.

¹⁰The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

¹¹Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.

¹²For he will deliver the needy when he cries; the poor, who has no helper.

¹³He will have pity on the poor and needy. He will save the souls of the needy.

¹⁴He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence. Their blood will be precious in his sight.

¹⁵They shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba. Men shall pray for him continually. They shall bless him all day long.

¹⁶There shall be abundance of grain throughout the land. Its fruit sways like Lebanon. Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field.

¹⁷His name endures forever. His name continues as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed by him. All nations will call him blessed.

¹⁸Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.

¹⁹Blessed be his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and amen.

²⁰This ends the prayers by David, the son of Jesse.

¹My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Turn your ear to my understanding:

²that you may maintain discretion, that your lips may preserve knowledge.

³For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil,

⁴But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol.

⁶She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn't know it.

⁷Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Remove your way far from her. Do not come near the door of her house,

⁹lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel one;

¹⁰lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man's house.

¹¹You will groan at your latter end, when your flesh and your body are consumed,

¹²and say, "How I have hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

¹³neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!

¹⁴I have come to the brink of utter ruin, in the midst of the gathered assembly."

¹⁵Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.

¹⁶Should your springs overflow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?

¹⁷Let them be for yourself alone, not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your spring be blessed. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

¹⁹A loving doe and a graceful deer- let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Be captivated always with her love.

²⁰For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord. He examines all his paths.

²²The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.

²³He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.