Psalm 4-7
Lexham English Bible
Safety in Yahweh
For the music director; with stringed instruments. A psalm of David.[a]
4 When I call, answer me, O God of my righteousness.[b]
In trouble deliver me.[c]
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.
2 O sons of man, how long will my honor[d] be a disgrace?
How long will you love vanity?
How long will you seek lies?[e] Selah
3 But know that Yahweh has set apart[f] for himself the faithful one.[g]
Yahweh hears when I call to him.
4 Be disturbed but do not sin.
Commune in your heart[h] on your bed and be silent. Selah
5 Offer correct sacrifices,[i]
and trust in[j] Yahweh.
6 Many are saying, “Who will show us something good?”
Lift up over[k] us the light of your face, O Yahweh.
7 You have put gladness in my heart
more than when[l] their grain and their wine abound.
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep at once,[m]
for you alone, O Yahweh, make me dwell safely.
A Prayer for Guidance and Protection
For the music director; with the flutes. A psalm of David.[n]
5 Hear my words, O Yahweh.
Give heed to my sighing.[o]
2 Listen to the sound of my pleading,[p] my king and my God,
for to you I pray.
3 O Yahweh, in the morning you will hear my voice.
In the morning I will set forth[q] my case to you and I will watch.[r]
4 For you are not a God who desires[s] wickedness.
Evil cannot dwell with you.
5 The boastful do not stand before[t] your eyes.
You hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy speakers of lies.[u]
A man of bloodshed[v] and deceit Yahweh abhors.
7 But as for me,[w] through the abundance of your steadfast love[x]
I will enter your house.[y]
I will bow down[z] toward your holy temple[aa] in awe of you.
8 O Yahweh, lead me in your righteousness because of my enemies;
make straight before me your way.
9 For there is not anything reliable in his mouth;
their inner part is destruction.[ab]
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.[ac]
10 Treat them as guilty, O God;
let them fall because of their plans.
Because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take shelter in you rejoice.
Let them ever[ad] sing for joy,
because[ae] you spread protection over them;
And let those[af] who love your name exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous.
O Yahweh, like a[ag] shield you surround him with good favor.
An Appeal for Forgiveness and Deliverance
For the music director; with stringed instruments, on the Sheminith.[ah]
A psalm of David.[ai]
6 O Yahweh, do not rebuke me in your anger,
and do not discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Yahweh, because I am feeble.
Heal me, O Yahweh, for my bones are terrified.
3 My soul is also very terrified.
But you, O Yahweh, how long?
4 Turn, O Yahweh; deliver my life.[aj]
Save me for the sake of your steadfast love.[ak]
5 For there is no remembrance of you in death.
In Sheol, who will give thanks to you?
6 I am weary with my groaning;
I flood[al] my bed every night.
With my tears I drench[am] my couch.
7 My eye wastes away because of vexation;
it grows old because of all my oppressors.
8 Depart from me, all workers of evil,
for Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 Yahweh has heard my plea;
Yahweh has accepted my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and shall be very terrified.
They shall turn back; they shall suddenly be ashamed.
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
A Shiggaion[an] of David which he sang to Yahweh
on account of Cush, a Benjaminite.[ao]
7 O Yahweh, my God, in you I have taken refuge.
Save me from all who pursue me, and deliver me.
2 Or else he will tear me apart like a lion,
ripping to pieces, with none to deliver.
3 O Yahweh, my God, if I have done this,
if there is wrong in my hands,
4 if I have repaid my ally[ap] with harm,
or if I have plundered my enemy without cause,
5 let the enemy of my soul pursue,
and overtake and trample my life into the ground,
and lay my honor in the dust. Selah
6 Rise up, O Yahweh, in your anger,
and lift yourself up against the wrath[aq] of my oppressors,
and awake for me,
since you have commanded judgment.
7 And let the assembly of peoples surround you,
and over it return on high.
8 Yahweh judges the nations.
O Yahweh, vindicate me
according to my innocence[ar] and according to my integrity within me.
9 Let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous,
and test the hearts and innermost being, O righteous God.
10 My shield is with God
who saves the upright of heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
and a God who has indignation every day.
12 If he[as] does not repent, he[at] will sharpen his sword.
He has bent his bow and he has strung[au] it.
13 And he has prepared for him weapons of death.
He has made his arrows fiery shafts.
14 See, he[av] travails with[aw] evil.
He is pregnant with trouble,
and he gives birth to deception.
15 He makes a pit and digs it out,
then falls in the trap he has made.
16 His trouble comes back on his head,
and his violence comes down on his skull.
17 I will thank Yahweh according to his righteousness,
and I will sing praise to the name of Yahweh, the Most High.
Footnotes
- Psalm 4:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one
- Psalm 4:1 Or “vindication”
- Psalm 4:1 Literally “make wide for me”
- Psalm 4:2 Or “glory”
- Psalm 4:2 Or “falsehood”
- Psalm 4:3 Or “treated specially”
- Psalm 4:3 Or “pious, godly one”
- Psalm 4:4 That is, “think it over”
- Psalm 4:5 Or “right sacrifices”
- Psalm 4:5 Literally “trust to”
- Psalm 4:6 Or “upon”
- Psalm 4:7 Literally “the time of”
- Psalm 4:8 Literally “together”
- Psalm 5:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one
- Psalm 5:1 Or “murmuring”
- Psalm 5:2 Or “cry for help”
- Psalm 5:3 Or “present”
- Psalm 5:3 Or “look expectantly”
- Psalm 5:4 Or “takes delight in”
- Psalm 5:5 Or “in front of”
- Psalm 5:6 Hebrew “lie”
- Psalm 5:6 Literally “a man of bloods”
- Psalm 5:7 Literally “And I”
- Psalm 5:7 Or “covenant love”
- Psalm 5:7 Or “temple”
- Psalm 5:7 Or “I will worship”
- Psalm 5:7 Literally “the temple of your holiness”
- Psalm 5:9 Hebrew “destructions”
- Psalm 5:9 Or “flattery; smooth words”
- Psalm 5:11 Or “perpetually”
- Psalm 5:11 Literally “and”
- Psalm 5:11 Or “So that those”
- Psalm 5:12 Hebrew “the”
- Psalm 6:1 Hebrew “upon the eighth”; meaning uncertain
- Psalm 6:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one
- Psalm 6:4 Or “my soul”; same word as in v. 3
- Psalm 6:4 Or “loyal love”
- Psalm 6:6 Literally “I make my bed float”
- Psalm 6:6 Literally “I cause to melt”
- Psalm 7:1 Meaning uncertain; perhaps a lamentation
- Psalm 7:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one
- Psalm 7:4 Literally “one being at peace with me”
- Psalm 7:6 Or “outbursts”
- Psalm 7:8 Or “righteousness”
- Psalm 7:12 That is, a person
- Psalm 7:12 That is, God
- Psalm 7:12 Literally “prepared”
- Psalm 7:14 That is, the wicked
- Psalm 7:14 Or “conceives”
Proverbs 4-6
Lexham English Bible
The Father’s Wisdom
4 Children, listen to the instruction of a father,
and be attentive in order to know insight.
2 For I have given you good instruction;
do not forsake my teaching.
3 When I was a son to my father,
tender and alone before my mother,
4 he taught me and said to me,
“May your heart hold fast to my words;
guard my commandments and live.
5 Get wisdom and insight;
do not forget and do not turn from the sayings of my mouth.
6 Do not forsake her—then she will guard you;
love her and she will keep you.
7 The beginning of wisdom: Get wisdom!
With all that is in your possession, gain insight.
8 Cherish her and she will exalt you;
she will honor you if you embrace her.
9 She will give a garland for your head;
she shall bestow a crown of glory upon you.”
The Right Path
10 Listen, my child, take my sayings,
and the years of your life shall be great.
11 In the way of wisdom I have instructed you;
I have led you in the path of uprightness.
12 When you walk,[a] your step will not be hampered,
and if you run, you will not stumble.
13 Seize the instruction! Do not let go!
Guard her, for she is your life.
14 In the path of the wicked do not go;
do not walk in the way of those who do evil.
15 Avoid it; do not transgress it;
turn away from it and pass by.
16 For they will not sleep if they have not done wrong,
and they are robbed of their sleep if they do not cause stumbling.
17 For they ate the bread of wickedness,
and they drank the wine of violence.
18 But the path of the righteous ones is like the light of dawn,
leading and shining until the day is full.[b]
19 The way of the wicked ones is like deep darkness;
they do not know what they stumble over.
Staying the Course
20 My child, be attentive to my words;
to my sayings incline your ear.
21 May they not escape from your sight;[c]
keep them in the midst of your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them
and healing to the entire body.[d]
23 With all vigilance, keep your heart,
for from it comes the source[e] of life.
24 Remove from yourself deceitful speech,[f]
and abolish devious talk[g] from yourself.
25 May your eyes look forward[h]
and your gaze be straight before you.
26 May the path of your foot be balanced
and all your ways be sure.
27 Do not swerve right or left;
remove your foot from evil.
5 My child, be attentive to my wisdom,
and to my understanding incline your ear;
2 in order to keep prudence,
and knowledge will guard your lips.
3 For the lips of the strange woman will drip honey,
and smoother than oil is her mouth.[i]
4 But her end is bitter as the wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps take hold of Sheol.[j]
6 She does not observe[k] the path of life;
her ways wander, and she does not know it.
Do Not Commit Adultery Against Wisdom
7 Now, O children, listen to me;
do not depart from the sayings of my mouth.
8 Keep your paths far from her,
and do not go near to the door of her house,
9 lest you give your honor to the others,
and your years to the merciless,
10 lest strangers take their fill of your strength,
and your labors go to the house of a foreigner,
11 and you groan at your end,
when your flesh and body are consumed,
12 and say “How I hated discipline,
and I despised reproof!”
13 and “I did not listen to the voice of my teachers,
and I did not incline my ear to my instructors!
14 I was almost at utter[l] ruin[m]
in the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
15 Drink water from your own cistern
and flowing waters from inside your own well.
16 Shall your springs be scattered outward?
In the streets, shall there be streams of water?
17 May they be yours alone,
and not for strangers who are with you.
18 May your fountain be blessed,
and rejoice in the wife[n] of your youth.
19 She is a deer of love and a doe of grace;
may her breasts satisfy you always;[o]
by her love may you be intoxicated continually.
20 Why should you be intoxicated, my child, by a strange woman,
and embrace the bosom of a foreigner?
21 For before the eyes of Yahweh are human ways,[p]
and all his paths he examines.
22 His iniquities shall ensnare him, the evildoer,
and in the vanity of his sin he shall be caught.
23 He shall die for lack of[q] discipline,
and in the greatness of his folly he shall be lost.
Against Pledges
6 My child, if you have pledged to your neighbor,
if you have bound yourself[r] to the stranger,
2 if you are snared by the sayings of your mouth,
if you are caught by the sayings of your mouth,
3 do this, then, my child, and save yourself,
for you have come into the palm of your neighbor’s hand:[s]
Go, humble yourself, plead with your neighbor.
4 Do not give sleep to your eyes,
or slumber to your eyelids.
5 Save yourself like a gazelle from a hand,
or like a bird from the hand of a fowler.
Against Sloth
6 Go to the ant, lazy!
Consider its ways and be wise.
7 It has no chief,
officer, or ruler.
8 In the summer, it prepares its food;
in the harvest, it gathers its sustenance.
9 How long will you lie down, lazy?
When will you rise up from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands for rest—
11 like a robber[t] shall your poverty come,
and what you lack like an armed man.
Against Worthlessness
12 A worthless man, an evil man,
goes around with deceitful speech.[u]
13 Winking in his eye, shuffling in his foot,
pointing in his fingers,
14 perversion in his heart, he devises evil;
at all times he will send out discord.[v]
15 Upon such a man,[w] suddenly shall his calamity come;
in a moment he will be damaged and there is no healing.[x]
What Yahweh Hates
16 There are six things Yahweh hates,
and seven things are abominations of his soul:[y]
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a devising heart, plans of deception,
feet that hurry to run to evil,[z]
19 a false witness who breathes lies
and sends out discord[aa] between brothers.
Commandment and Instruction as Guardians
20 My child, keep the commandment of your father,
and do not disregard the instruction of your mother.
21 Bind them on your heart continually;
tie them upon your neck.
22 When you walk,[ab] she[ac] will lead you,
When you lie down,[ad] she will watch over you,
and when you awake, she will converse with you.
23 For like a lamp is a commandment, and instruction is light,
and the way of life[ae] is the reproof of discipline,
24 in order to preserve you from an evil woman,[af]
from the smoothness of the tongue of an adulteress.[ag]
25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart;
may she not capture you with her eyelashes.
26 For the price of a woman, a prostitute,[ah] is the price of a loaf of bread,
but the woman belonging to a man[ai] hunts precious life.
Warning Against Relations with a Married Woman
27 Can a man carry fire in his lap,
and his clothes not burn?
28 If a man walks upon the hot coals,
will his feet not be burned?
29 Thus, he who goes to the wife of his neighbor,
any who touches her shall not go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief when he steals
to fill himself[aj] when he is hungry.
31 But if he is found, he will pay sevenfold,
every possession of his house he shall give.
32 He who commits adultery with a woman lacks sense,[ak]
he destroys himself[al] who does it.
33 A wound and dishonor he will find,
and his disgrace will not be wiped out.
34 For jealousy is the fury of a husband,
and he will not show restraint on the day of revenge.
35 He will not accept any compensation,[am]
and he will not be willing, though the bribe is large.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 4:12 Literally “In your walking”
- Proverbs 4:18 Literally “is correct”
- Proverbs 4:21 Literally “eyes”
- Proverbs 4:22 Literally “for all his flesh”
- Proverbs 4:23 Or “extremity”
- Proverbs 4:24 Literally “crookedness of mouth”
- Proverbs 4:24 Literally “deviousness of lips”
- Proverbs 4:25 Or “opposite”
- Proverbs 5:3 Or “palate”
- Proverbs 5:5 A term for the place where the dead reside, i.e., the Underworld
- Proverbs 5:6 Or “examine, weigh”
- Proverbs 5:14 Or “all, every, whole”
- Proverbs 5:14 Or “evil”
- Proverbs 5:18 Or “woman”
- Proverbs 5:19 Literally “at all time”
- Proverbs 5:21 Literally “the ways of man/humankind”
- Proverbs 5:23 Literally “with there is no”
- Proverbs 6:1 Literally “palms of your hands”
- Proverbs 6:3 Literally “the palm of the hand of your neighbor”
- Proverbs 6:11 Literally “one who walks,” that is, a vagabond
- Proverbs 6:12 Literally “crookedness of mouth”
- Proverbs 6:14 Or “quarrels”
- Proverbs 6:15 Literally “thus”
- Proverbs 6:15 Or “repair”
- Proverbs 6:16 Or “inner self”
- Proverbs 6:18 Hebrew “the evil”
- Proverbs 6:19 Or “quarrels”
- Proverbs 6:22 Literally “In your walking”
- Proverbs 6:22 That is, “commandment” and “instruction”
- Proverbs 6:22 Literally “In your lying down”
- Proverbs 6:23 Hebrew “lives”
- Proverbs 6:24 Or “wife”
- Proverbs 6:24 Literally “a foreign woman”
- Proverbs 6:26 Or “whore”
- Proverbs 6:26 Literally “the woman of a man”
- Proverbs 6:30 Or “soul,” or “inner self”
- Proverbs 6:32 Literally “heart”
- Proverbs 6:32 Or “his soul,” or “his life”
- Proverbs 6:35 Literally “the face of any compensation”
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