Day 702 of 730

¹Hear my prayer, Lord! Let my cry come to you.

²Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress. Turn your ear to me. Answer me quickly in the day when I call.

³For my days consume away like smoke. My bones are burned as a firebrand.

⁴My heart is blighted like grass, and withered, for I forget to eat my bread.

⁵By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones stick to my skin.

⁶I am like a pelican of the wilderness. I have become as an owl of the waste places.

⁷I watch, and have become like a sparrow that is alone on the housetop.

⁸My enemies reproach me all day. Those who are mad at me use my name as a curse.

⁹For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mixed my drink with tears,

¹⁰Because of your indignation and your wrath, for you have taken me up, and thrown me away.

¹¹My days are like a long shadow. I have withered like grass.

¹²But you, Lord, will abide forever; your renown endures to all generations.

¹³You will arise and have mercy on Zion; for it is time to have pity on her. Yes, the set time has come.

¹⁴For your servants take pleasure in her stones, and have pity on her dust.

¹⁵So the nations will fear the name of the Lord; all the kings of the earth your glory.

¹⁶For the Lord has built up Zion. He has appeared in his glory.

¹⁷He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer.

¹⁸This will be written for the generation to come. A people which will be created will praise Yah.

¹⁹For he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary. From heaven, the Lord saw the earth;

²⁰to hear the groans of the prisoner; to free those who are condemned to death;

²¹that men may declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;

²²when the peoples are gathered together, the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

²³He weakened my strength along the course. He shortened my days.

²⁴I said, "My God, do not take me away in the midst of my days. Your years are throughout all generations.

²⁵Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but you will endure. Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment. You will change them like a cloak, and they will be changed.

²⁷But you are the same. Your years will have no end.

²⁸The children of your servants will continue. Their seed will be established before you."

¹Wine is a mocker, and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

²The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion. He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

³It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife; but every fool will be quarreling.

⁴The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

⁵Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.

⁶Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man?

⁷A righteous man walks in integrity. Blessed are his children after him.

⁸A king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes.

⁹Who can say, "I have made my heart pure. I am clean and without sin?"

¹⁰Differing weights and differing measures, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.

¹¹Even a child makes himself known by his doings, whether his work is pure, and whether it is right.

¹²The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, The Lord has made even both of them.

¹³Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty. Open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread.

¹⁴"It's no good, it's no good," says the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasts.

¹⁵There is gold and abundance of rubies; but the lips of knowledge are a rare jewel.

¹⁶Take the garment of one who puts up collateral for a stranger; and hold him in pledge for a wayward woman.

¹⁷Fraudulent food is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth is filled with gravel.

¹⁸Plans are established by advice; by wise guidance you wage war!

¹⁹He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore do not keep company with him who opens wide his lips.

²⁰Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.

²¹An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning, won't be blessed in the end.

²²Do not say, "I will pay back evil." Wait for the Lord, and he will save you.

²³The Lord detests differing weights, and dishonest scales are not pleasing.

²⁴A man's steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?

²⁵It is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication, then later to consider his vows.

²⁶A wise king winnows out the wicked, and drives the threshing wheel over them.

²⁷The spirit of man is the Lord's lamp, searching all his innermost parts.

²⁸Love and faithfulness keep the king safe. His throne is sustained by love.

²⁹The glory of young men is their strength. The splendor of old men is their gray hair.

³⁰Wounding blows cleanse away evil, and beatings purge the innermost parts.