Day 5 of 31

¹The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork.

²Day after day they pour forth speech, and night after night they display knowledge.

³There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

⁴Their voice has gone out through all the earth, their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,

⁵which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.

⁶His going forth is from the end of the heavens, his circuit to its ends; There is nothing hidden from its heat.

⁷The Lord's Law is perfect, restoring the soul. The Lord's testimony is sure, making wise the simple.

⁸The Lord's precepts are right, rejoicing the heart. The Lord's commandment is pure, enlightening the eyes.

⁹The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The Lord's ordinances are true, and righteous altogether.

¹⁰More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb.

¹¹Moreover by them is your servant warned. In keeping them there is great reward.

¹²Who can discern his errors? Forgive me from hidden errors.

¹³Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then I will be upright. I will be blameless and innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Lord, my rock, and my redeemer.

¹May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high,

²send you help from the sanctuary, grant you support from Zion,

³remember all your offerings, and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah.

⁴May He grant you your heart's desire, and fulfill all your counsel.

⁵We will triumph in your salvation. In the name of our God, we will set up our banners. May the Lord grant all your requests.

⁶Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed. He will answer him from his holy heaven, with the saving strength of his right hand.

⁷Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust the name of the Lord our God.

⁸They are bowed down and fallen, but we rise up, and stand upright.

⁹Save, Lord! Let the King answer us when we call!

¹The king rejoices in your strength, Lord! How greatly he rejoices in your salvation!

²You have given him his heart's desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.

³For you meet him with the blessings of goodness. You set a crown of fine gold on his head.

⁴He asked life of you, you gave it to him, even length of days forever and ever.

⁵His glory is great in your salvation. You lay honor and majesty on him.

⁶For you make him most blessed forever. You make him glad with joy in your presence.

⁷For the king trusts in the Lord. Through the loving kindness of the Most High, he shall not be moved.

⁸Your hand will find out all of your enemies. Your right hand will find out those who hate you.

⁹You will make them as a fiery furnace in the time of your anger. The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath. The fire shall devour them.

¹⁰You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from among the children of men.

¹¹For they intended evil against you. They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.

¹²For you will make them turn their back, when you aim drawn bows at their face.

¹³Be exalted, Lord, in your strength, so we will sing and praise your power.

¹My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?

²My God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer; in the night season, and am not silent.

³But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel.

⁴Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them.

⁵They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.

⁶But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.

⁷All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,

⁸"He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him."

⁹But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust at my mother's breasts.

¹⁰I was thrown on you from my mother's womb. You are my God since my mother bore me.

¹¹Do not be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is none to help.

¹²Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.

¹³They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.

¹⁴I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.

¹⁵My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.

¹⁶For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.

¹⁷I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me.

¹⁸They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.

¹⁹But do not be far off, Lord. You are my help: hurry to help me.

²⁰Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.

²¹Save me from the lion's mouth! Yes, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered me.

²²I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you.

²³You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!

²⁴For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.

²⁵Of you comes my praise in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.

²⁶The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.

²⁷All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.

²⁸For the kingdom is the Lord's. He is the ruler over the nations.

²⁹All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can't keep his soul alive.

³⁰Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.

³¹They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.

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.