Day 239 of 365

¹ I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

² For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

³ I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,

⁴ Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.

⁵ And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.

⁶ For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?

⁷ God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

⁸ O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

⁹ Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

¹⁰ Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.

¹¹ The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.

¹² The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.

¹³ Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.

¹⁴ Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

¹⁵ Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.

¹⁶ In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

¹⁷ For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

¹⁸ For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.

¹⁹ Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

²⁰ I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:

²¹ With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

²² The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

²³ And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.

²⁴ But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

²⁵ I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

²⁶ He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

²⁷ Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

²⁸ My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.

²⁹ His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

³⁰ If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;

³¹ If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;

³² Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

³³ Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

³⁴ My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

³⁵ Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.

³⁶ His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.

³⁷ It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

³⁸ But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.

³⁹ Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.

⁴⁰ Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.

⁴¹ All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours.

⁴² Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

⁴³ Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.

⁴⁴ Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.

⁴⁵ The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.

⁴⁶ How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?

⁴⁷ Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?

⁴⁸ What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

⁴⁹ Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?

⁵⁰ Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people;

⁵¹ Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.

⁵² Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen.

¹ A GOOD name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.

² The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.

³ A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

⁴ By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.

⁵ Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.

⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

⁷ The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

⁸ He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.

⁹ He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

¹⁰ Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.

¹¹ He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.

¹² The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.

¹³ The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.

¹⁴ The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.

¹⁵ Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

¹⁶ He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.

¹⁷ Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.

¹⁸ For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.

¹⁹ That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.

²⁰ Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,

²¹ That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

²² Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:

²³ For the LORD will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.

²⁴ Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:

²⁵ Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

²⁶ Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.

²⁷ If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

²⁸ Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.

²⁹ Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.