Proverbs 7

Complete Jewish Bible

7 My son, keep my words,
store up my commands with you.
²Obey my commands, and live;
guard my teaching like the pupil of your eye.
³Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴Say to wisdom, “You are my sister”;
call understanding your kinswoman;
⁵so that they can keep you from unknown women,
from loose women with their seductive talk.

⁶For I was at the window of my house,
glancing out through the lattice,
⁷when I saw among the young men there,
among those who don’t think for themselves,
a young fellow devoid of all sense.
⁸He crosses the street near her corner
and continues on toward her house.
⁹Dusk turns into evening,
and finally night, dark and black.
¹⁰Then a woman approaches him,
dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
¹¹She’s the coarse, impulsive type,
whose feet don’t stay at home;
¹²rather, she stalks the streets and squares,
lurking at every streetcorner.

¹³She grabs him, gives him a kiss,
and, brazen-faced, she says to him,
¹⁴“I had to offer peace sacrifices,
and I fulfilled my vows today.
¹⁵This is why I came out to meet you,
to look for you; now I’ve found you.
¹⁶I’ve spread quilts on my couch
made of colored Egyptian linen.
¹⁷I’ve perfumed my bed
with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
¹⁸Come on, let’s make love till morning;
we’ll enjoy making love.
¹⁹My husband isn’t at home,
he’s gone on a long trip;
²⁰he took a bag of money with him
and won’t be back till the moon is full.”

²¹With all her sweet talk she convinces him,
enticing him with her seductive words.
²²At once he follows her
like an ox on its way to be slaughtered;
like a fool to be punished in the stocks;
²³or like a bird rushing into a trap,
not knowing its life is at stake
till an arrow pierces its liver.

²⁴So now, children, listen to me;
pay attention to what I am saying.
²⁵Don’t let your heart turn to her ways;
don’t stray onto her paths.
²⁶For many are those she has struck down dead,
numerous those she has killed.
²⁷Her house is the way to Sh’ol;
it leads down to the halls of death.

Psalm 35-39

Complete Jewish Bible

35 ⁽⁰⁾By David:

⁽¹⁾Adonai, oppose those who oppose me;
fight against those who fight against me.
²Grasp your shield and protective gear,
and rise to my defense.
³Brandish spear and battle-axe
against my pursuers;
let me hear you say,
“I am your salvation.”

⁴May those who seek my life
be disgraced and put to confusion;
may those who are plotting harm for me
be repulsed and put to shame.
⁵May they be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of Adonai to drive them on.
⁶May their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of Adonai to pursue them.
⁷For unprovoked, they hid their net over a pit;
unprovoked, they dug it for me.
⁸May destruction come over him unawares.
May the net he concealed catch himself;
may he fall into it and be destroyed.

⁹Then I will be joyful in Adonai,
I will rejoice in his salvation.
¹⁰All my bones will say,
“Who is like you?
Who can rescue the weak
from those stronger than they,
the poor and needy
from those who exploit them?”

¹¹Malicious witnesses come forward,
asking me things about which I know nothing.
¹²They repay me evil for good;
it makes me feel desolate as a parent bereaved.
¹³But I, when they were ill, wore sackcloth;
I put myself out and fasted;
I can pray that what I prayed for them
might also happen to me.
¹⁴I behaved as I would for my friend or my brother;
I bent down in sorrow as if mourning my mother.

¹⁵But when I stumble, they gather in glee;
they gather against me and strike me unawares;
they tear me apart unceasingly.
¹⁶With ungodly mocking and grimacing,
they grind their teeth at me.
¹⁷Adonai, how much longer will you look on?
Rescue me from their assaults,
save the one life I have from the lions!

¹⁸I will give you thanks in the great assembly,
I will give you praise among huge crowds of people.
¹⁹Don’t let those who are wrongfully my enemies
gloat over me;
and those who hate me unprovoked —
don’t let them smirk at me.

²⁰For they don’t speak words of peace
but devise ways to deceive
the peaceful of the land.
²¹They shout to accuse me, “Aha! Aha!
we saw you with our own eyes!”
²²You saw them, Adonai; don’t stay silent.
Adonai, don’t stay far away from me.

²³Wake up! Get up, my God, my Lord!
Defend me and my cause!
²⁴Give judgment for me, Adonai, my God,
as your righteousness demands.

Don’t let them gloat over me.
²⁵Don’t let them say to themselves,
“Aha! We got what we wanted!”
or say, “We swallowed them up!”
²⁶May those who gloat over my distress
be disgraced and humiliated.
May those who aggrandize themselves at my expense
be covered with shame and confusion.

²⁷But may those who delight in my righteousness
shout for joy and be glad!
Let them say always, “How great is Adonai,
who delights in the peace of his servant!”
²⁸Then my tongue will tell of your righteousness
and praise you all day long.

36 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. By David, the servant of Adonai:

²⁽¹⁾Crime speaks to the wicked.
I perceive this in my heart;
before his eyes there is no fear
of God.
³⁽²⁾For, the way he sees it,
crime makes his life easy —
that is, until his wrongs are discovered;
then, he is hated.
⁴⁽³⁾His words are wrong and deceitful;
he has stopped being wise and doing good.
⁵⁽⁴⁾He devises trouble as he lies in bed;
so set is he on his own bad way
that he doesn’t hate evil.

⁶⁽⁵⁾Adonai, in the heavens is your grace;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
⁷⁽⁶⁾Your righteousness is like the mountains of God,
your judgments are like the great deep.
You save man and beast, Adonai.
⁸⁽⁷⁾How precious, God, is your grace!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings,
⁹⁽⁸⁾they feast on the rich bounty of your house,
and you have them drink from the stream of your delights.
¹⁰⁽⁹⁾For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾Continue your grace to those who know you
and your righteousness to the upright in heart.
¹²⁽¹¹⁾Don’t let the foot of the proud tread on me
or the hands of the wicked drive me away.
¹³⁽¹²⁾There they lie fallen, those evildoers,
flung down and unable to rise.

37 ⁽⁰⁾By David:

⁽¹⁾Don’t be upset by evildoers
or envious of those who do wrong,
²for soon they will wither like grass
and fade like the green in the fields.
³Trust in Adonai, and do good;
settle in the land, and feed on faithfulness.
⁴Then you will delight yourself in Adonai,
and he will give you your heart’s desire.

⁵Commit your way to Adonai;
trust in him, and he will act.
⁶He will make your vindication shine forth like light,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

⁷Be still before Adonai;
wait patiently till he comes.
Don’t be upset by those whose way
succeeds because of their wicked plans.
⁸Stop being angry, put aside rage,
and don’t be upset — it leads to evil.

⁹For evildoers will be cut off,
but those hoping in Adonai will inherit the land.
¹⁰Soon the wicked will be no more;
you will look for his place, and he won’t be there.
¹¹But the meek will inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.

¹²The wicked plots against the righteous
and grinds his teeth at him;
¹³but Adonai laughs at the wicked,
knowing his day will come.
¹⁴The wicked have unsheathed their swords,
they have strung their bows
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slaughter those whose way is upright.
¹⁵But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.

¹⁶Better the little that the righteous has
than the wealth of all the wicked.
¹⁷For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
but Adonai upholds the righteous.
¹⁸Adonai knows what the wholehearted suffer,
but their inheritance lasts forever.
¹⁹They will not be distressed when times are hard;
when famine comes, they will have plenty.

²⁰For the wicked will perish;
Adonai’s enemies will be like sheep fat,
ending up as smoke, finished.
²¹The wicked borrows and doesn’t repay,
but the righteous is generous and gives.
²²For those blessed by [Adonai] will inherit the land,
but those cursed by him will be cut off.

²³Adonai directs a person’s steps,
and he delights in his way.
²⁴He may stumble, but he won’t fall headlong,
for Adonai holds him by the hand.

²⁵I have been young; now I am old;
yet not once have I seen the righteous abandoned
or his descendants begging for bread.
²⁶All day long he is generous and lends,
and his descendants are blessed.

²⁷If you turn from evil and do good,
you will live safely forever.
²⁸For Adonai loves justice
and will not abandon his faithful;
they are preserved forever.
But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.

²⁹The righteous will inherit the land
and live in it forever.
³⁰The mouth of the righteous articulates wisdom,
his tongue speaks justice.
³¹The Torah of his God is in his heart;
his footsteps do not falter.

³²The wicked keeps his eye on the righteous,
seeking a chance to kill him.
³³But Adonai will not leave him in his power
or let him be condemned when judged.
³⁴Put your hope in Adonai, keep to his way,
and he will raise you up to inherit the land.

When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
³⁵I have seen a wicked man wielding great power,
flourishing like a shade tree in its native soil.
³⁶But I passed by again, and he was no longer there;
I looked for him, but he could not be found.

³⁷Observe the pure person, consider the upright;
for the peaceful person will have posterity.
³⁸But transgressors will all be destroyed;
the posterity of the wicked will be cut off.
³⁹Adonai is the one who saves the righteous;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
⁴⁰Adonai helps them and rescues them,
rescues them from the wicked and saves them;
because they take refuge in him.

38 ⁽⁰⁾A psalm of David, serving as a reminder:

²⁽¹⁾Adonai, don’t rebuke me when you are angry
or discipline me when you are enraged,
³⁽²⁾for your arrows penetrate me deeply,
and your hand is pressing me down.

⁴⁽³⁾Your indignation left no part of me intact;
my sin made my whole body sick;
⁵⁽⁴⁾for my iniquities loom high over my head
as a heavy burden, too heavy for me.

⁶⁽⁵⁾I have stinking, festering wounds
because of my foolishness.
⁷⁽⁶⁾I am bent down, prostrate completely;
I go about mourning all day long.

⁸⁽⁷⁾For my insides burn with fever,
and my whole body is sick.
⁹⁽⁸⁾I am numb, completely crushed;
my anguished heart makes me groan aloud.

¹⁰⁽⁹⁾Adonai, all my longing is known to you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾My heart is throbbing, my strength is gone,
and the light in my eyes has left me.

¹²⁽¹¹⁾My friends and companions shun my disease;
even the closest keep their distance.
¹³⁽¹²⁾Those seeking my life lay snares for me,
those seeking to harm me speak of disaster
and think up deceptions all day long.

¹⁴⁽¹³⁾But I’m like a deaf man — I don’t hear it;
and, like a mute, I don’t say a word.
¹⁵⁽¹⁴⁾Yes, I’ve become like a man who doesn’t hear
and in whose mouth are no defenses.

¹⁶⁽¹⁵⁾For it is in you, Adonai, that I hope.
You will answer, Adonai my God.
¹⁷⁽¹⁶⁾I said, “Don’t let them gloat over me
or boast against me when my foot slips.”

¹⁸⁽¹⁷⁾For I am about to fall,
and my pain is always with me.
¹⁹⁽¹⁸⁾I acknowledge my guilt,
I am anxious because of my sin.

²⁰⁽¹⁹⁾But my enemies are alive and well,
those who wrongfully hate me increase their numbers;
²¹⁽²⁰⁾and, since they repay good with evil,
they oppose me because I pursue good.

²²⁽²¹⁾Don’t abandon me, Adonai!
My God, don’t be far from me!
²³⁽²²⁾Come quickly to help me,
Adonai, my salvation!

39 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. Set in the style of Y’dutun. A psalm of David:

²⁽¹⁾I said, “I will watch how I behave,
so that I won’t sin with my tongue;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
whenever the wicked confront me.”

³⁽²⁾I was silent, said nothing, not even good;
but my pain kept being stirred up.
⁴⁽³⁾My heart grew hot within me;
whenever I thought of it, the fire burned.
Then, [at last,] I let my tongue speak:

⁵⁽⁴⁾“Make me grasp, Adonai, what my end must be,
what it means that my days are numbered;
let me know what a transient creature I am.
⁶⁽⁵⁾You have made my days like handbreadths;
for you, the length of my life is like nothing.”

Yes, everyone, no matter how firmly he stands,
is merely a puff of wind. (Selah)
⁷⁽⁶⁾Humans go about like shadows;
their turmoil is all for nothing.
They accumulate wealth, not knowing
who will enjoy its benefits.

⁸⁽⁷⁾Now, Adonai, what am I waiting for?
You are my only hope.
⁹⁽⁸⁾Rescue me from all my transgressions;
don’t make me the butt of fools.
¹⁰⁽⁹⁾I am silent, I keep my mouth shut,
because it is you who have done it.

¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾Stop raining blows on me;
the pounding of your fist is wearing me down.
¹²⁽¹¹⁾With rebukes you discipline people for their guilt;
like a moth, you destroy what makes them attractive;
yes, everyone is merely a puff of wind. (Selah)

¹³⁽¹²⁾Hear my prayer, Adonai, listen to my cry,
don’t be deaf to my weeping;
for with you, I am just a traveler
passing through, like all my ancestors.
¹⁴⁽¹³⁾Turn your gaze from me, so I can smile again
before I depart and cease to exist.