Day 81 of 365

¹ Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.

² Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.

³ Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

⁴ For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.

⁵ This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.

⁶ I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.

⁷ Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

⁸ Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;

⁹ There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.

¹⁰ I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

¹¹ But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.

¹² So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.

¹³ Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!

¹⁴ I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.

¹⁵ The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.

¹⁶ He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.

¹ Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

² Also, that the soul be without knowledge, it is not good; and he that hasteth with his feet sinneth.

³ The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD.

⁴ Wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour.

⁵ A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.

⁶ Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.

⁷ All the brethren of the poor do hate him: how much more do his friends go far from him? he pursueth them with words, yet they are wanting to him.

⁸ He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that keepeth understanding shall find good.

⁹ A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.

¹⁰ Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.

¹¹ The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.

¹² The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favour is as dew upon the grass.

¹³ A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.

¹⁴ House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.

¹⁵ Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.

¹⁶ He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shall die.

¹⁷ He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.

¹⁸ Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

¹⁹ A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if thou deliver him, yet thou must do it again.

²⁰ Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.

²¹ There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.

²² The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar.

²³ The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.

²⁴ A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

²⁵ Smite a scorner, and the simple will beware: and reprove one that hath understanding, and he will understand knowledge.

²⁶ He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.

²⁷ Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.

²⁸ An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.

²⁹ Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.