Day 244 of 365

¹ O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.

² Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.

³ LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?

⁴ How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?

⁵ They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage.

⁶ They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.

⁷ Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.

⁸ Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?

⁹ He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?

¹⁰ He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?

¹¹ The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.

¹² Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;

¹³ That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.

¹⁴ For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

¹⁵ But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.

¹⁶ Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

¹⁷ Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.

¹⁸ When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.

¹⁹ In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.

²⁰ Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?

²¹ They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.

²² But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.

²³ And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.

¹ Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.

² Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

³ A stone is heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both.

⁴ Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?

⁵ Open rebuke is better than secret love.

⁶ Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

⁷ The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

⁸ As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.

⁹ Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.

¹⁰ Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.

¹¹ My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.

¹² A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.

¹³ Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.

¹⁴ He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.

¹⁵ A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.

¹⁶ Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, which bewrayeth itself.

¹⁷ Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

¹⁸ Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.

¹⁹ As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man.

²⁰ Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

²¹ As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.

²² Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

²³ Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.

²⁴ For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?

²⁵ The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.

²⁶ The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field.

²⁷ And thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.