^5 (A)Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.

⁵ For ^(E)He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That ^(F)they should make them known to their children;
^6 (G)That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
⁷ That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
⁸ And ^(H)may not be like their fathers,
^(I)A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation ^(J)that did not ^[c]set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

¹³ For You formed my inward parts;
You ^[a]covered me in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I will praise You, for ^[b]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
^15 (A)My ^[c]frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

¹⁵ Drink water from your own cistern,
And running water from your own well.
¹⁶ Should your fountains be dispersed abroad,
^[a]Streams of water in the streets?
¹⁷ Let them be only your own,
And not for strangers with you.
¹⁸ Let your fountain be blessed,
And rejoice with ^(A)the wife of your youth.
^19 (B)As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
And always be ^[b]enraptured with her love.
²⁰ For why should you, my son, be enraptured by ^(C)an immoral woman,
And be embraced in the arms of a seductress?

^4 (A)An^[a] excellent wife is the crown of her husband,
But she who causes shame is ^(B)like rottenness in his bones.

^24 (A)He who spares his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him ^[a]promptly.