Day 718 of 730

¹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.

²Let Israel now say that his loving kindness endures forever.

³Let the house of Aaron now say that his loving kindness endures forever.

⁴Now let those who fear the Lord say that his loving kindness endures forever.

⁵Out of my distress, I called on Yah. Yah answered me with freedom.

⁶The Lord is on my side. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

⁷The Lord is on my side among those who help me. Therefore I will look in triumph at those who hate me.

⁸It is better to take refuge in the Lord, than to put confidence in man.

⁹It is better to take refuge in the Lord, than to put confidence in princes.

¹⁰All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord, I cut them off.

¹¹They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me. In the name of the Lord I indeed cut them off.

¹²They surrounded me like bees. They are quenched like the burning thorns. In the name of the Lord I cut them off.

¹³You pushed me back hard, to make me fall, but the Lord helped me.

¹⁴Yah is my strength and song. He has become my salvation.

¹⁵The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. "The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.

¹⁶The right hand of the Lord is exalted! The right hand of the Lord does valiantly!"

¹⁷I will not die, but live, and declare the works of Yah.

¹⁸Yah has punished me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

¹⁹Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will enter into them. I will give thanks to Yah.

²⁰This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous will enter into it.

²¹I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me, and have become my salvation.

²²The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

²³This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.

²⁴This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it!

²⁵Save us now, we beg you, Lord! Lord, we beg you, send prosperity now.

²⁶Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.

²⁷The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar.

²⁸You are my God, and I will give thanks to you. You are my God, I will exalt you.

²⁹Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.

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.