⁴ Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
    from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
⁵ For you, O Lord, are my hope,
    my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
⁶ Upon you I have leaned from my birth;
    it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.

⁷ I have been like a portent to many,
    but you are my strong refuge.
⁸ My mouth is filled with your praise,
    and with your glory all day long.
⁹ Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
    do not forsake me when my strength is spent.
¹⁰ For my enemies speak concerning me,
    and those who watch for my life consult together.
¹¹ They say, ‘Pursue and seize that person
    whom God has forsaken,
    for there is no one to deliver.’

¹² O God, do not be far from me;
    O my God, make haste to help me!
¹³ Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
    let those who seek to hurt me
    be covered with scorn and disgrace.
¹⁴ But I will hope continually,
    and will praise you yet more and more.
¹⁵ My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
    of your deeds of salvation all day long,
    though their number is past my knowledge.
¹⁶ I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God,
    I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.

¹⁷ O God, from my youth you have taught me,
    and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
¹⁸ So even to old age and grey hairs,
    O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might
    to all the generations to come.^[b]
Your power ¹⁹ and your righteousness, O God,
    reach the high heavens.

You who have done great things,
    O God, who is like you?
²⁰ You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
    will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
    you will bring me up again.
²¹ You will increase my honour,
    and comfort me once again.

²² I will also praise you with the harp
    for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
    O Holy One of Israel.
²³ My lips will shout for joy
    when I sing praises to you;
    my soul also, which you have rescued.
²⁴ All day long my tongue will talk of your righteous help,
for those who tried to do me harm
    have been put to shame, and disgraced.

⁷ ‘That path no bird of prey knows,
    and the falcon’s eye has not seen it.
⁸ The proud wild animals have not trodden it;
    the lion has not passed over it.

⁹ ‘They put their hand to the flinty rock,
    and overturn mountains by the roots.
¹⁰ They cut out channels in the rocks,
    and their eyes see every precious thing.
¹¹ The sources of the rivers they probe;^[c]
    hidden things they bring to light.

¹² ‘But where shall wisdom be found?
    And where is the place of understanding?
¹³ Mortals do not know the way to it,^[d]
    and it is not found in the land of the living.
¹⁴ The deep says, “It is not in me”,
    and the sea says, “It is not with me.”
¹⁵ It cannot be bought for gold,
    and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.
¹⁶ It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
    in precious onyx or sapphire.^[e]
17 Gold and glass cannot equal it,
    nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
¹⁸ No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
    the price of wisdom is above pearls.
¹⁹ The chrysolite of Ethiopia^[f] cannot compare with it,
    nor can it be valued in pure gold.

²⁰ ‘Where then does wisdom come from?
    And where is the place of understanding?
²¹ It is hidden from the eyes of all living,
    and concealed from the birds of the air.
²² Abaddon and Death say,
    “We have heard a rumour of it with our ears.”

²³ ‘God understands the way to it,
    and he knows its place.
²⁴ For he looks to the ends of the earth,
    and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ When he gave to the wind its weight,
    and apportioned out the waters by measure;
²⁶ when he made a decree for the rain,
    and a way for the thunderbolt;
²⁷ then he saw it and declared it;
    he established it, and searched it out.
²⁸ And he said to humankind,
“Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
    and to depart from evil is understanding.”’