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LORD, you are a God who punishes; reveal your anger!
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You are the judge of us all; rise and give the proud what they deserve!
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How much longer will the wicked be glad? How much longer, LORD?
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How much longer will criminals be proud and boast about their crimes?
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They crush your people, LORD; they oppress those who belong to you.
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They kill widows and orphans, and murder the strangers who live in our land.
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They say, "The LORD does not see us; the God of Israel does not notice."
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My people, how can you be such stupid fools? When will you ever learn?
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God made our ears---can't he hear? He made our eyes---can't he see?
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He scolds the nations---won't he punish them? He is the teacher of us all---hasn't he any knowledge?
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The LORD knows what we think; he knows how senseless our reasoning is.
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LORD, how happy are those you instruct, the ones to whom you teach your law!
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You give them rest from days of trouble until a pit is dug to trap the wicked.
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The LORD will not abandon his people; he will not desert those who belong to him.
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Justice will again be found in the courts, and all righteous people will support it.
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Who stood up for me against the wicked? Who took my side against the evildoers?
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If the LORD had not helped me, I would have gone quickly to the land of silence.
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I said, "I am falling"; but your constant love, O LORD, held me up.
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Whenever I am anxious and worried, you comfort me and make me glad.
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You have nothing to do with corrupt judges, who make injustice legal,
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who plot against good people and sentence the innocent to death.
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But the LORD defends me; my God protects me.
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He will punish them for their wickedness and destroy them for their sins; the LORD our God will destroy them.
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Dead flies can make a whole bottle of perfume stink, and a little stupidity can cancel out the greatest wisdom.
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It is natural for the wise to do the right thing and for fools to do the wrong thing.
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Their stupidity will be evident even to strangers they meet along the way; they let everyone know that they are fools.
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If your ruler becomes angry with you, do not hand in your resignation; serious wrongs may be pardoned if you keep calm.
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Here is an injustice I have seen in the world---an injustice caused by rulers.
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Stupid people are given positions of authority while the rich are ignored.
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I have seen slaves on horseback while noblemen go on foot like slaves.
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If you dig a pit, you fall in it; if you break through a wall, a snake bites you.
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If you work in a stone quarry, you get hurt by stones. If you split wood, you get hurt doing it.
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If your ax is dull and you don't sharpen it, you have to work harder to use it. It is smarter to plan ahead.
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Knowing how to charm a snake is of no use if you let the snake bite first.
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What the wise say brings them honor, but fools are destroyed by their own words.
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They start out with silly talk and end up with pure madness.
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A fool talks on and on. No one knows what is going to happen next, and no one can tell us what will happen after we die.
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Only someone too stupid to find his way home would wear himself out with work.
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A country is in trouble when its king is a youth and its leaders feast all night long.
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But a country is fortunate to have a king who makes his own decisions and leaders who eat at the proper time, who control themselves and don't get drunk.
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When you are too lazy to repair your roof, it will leak, and the house will fall in.
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Feasting makes you happy and wine cheers you up, but you can't have either without money.
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Don't criticize the king, even silently, and don't criticize the rich, even in the privacy of your bedroom. A bird might carry the message and tell them what you said.
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Invest your money in foreign trade, and one of these days you will make a profit.
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Put your investments in several places---many places even---because you never know what kind of bad luck you are going to have in this world.
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No matter which direction a tree falls, it will lie where it fell. When the clouds are full, it rains.
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If you wait until the wind and the weather are just right, you will never plant anything and never harvest anything.
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God made everything, and you can no more understand what he does than you understand how new life begins in the womb of a pregnant woman.
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Do your planting in the morning and in the evening, too. You never know whether it will all grow well or whether one planting will do better than the other.
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It is good to be able to enjoy the pleasant light of day.
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Be grateful for every year you live. No matter how long you live, remember that you will be dead much longer. There is nothing at all to look forward to.
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Young people, enjoy your youth. Be happy while you are still young. Do what you want to do, and follow your heart's desire. But remember that God is going to judge you for whatever you do.
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Don't let anything worry you or cause you pain. You aren't going to be young very long.
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So remember your Creator while you are still young, before those dismal days and years come when you will say, "I don't enjoy life."
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That is when the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars will grow dim for you, and the rain clouds will never pass away.
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Then your arms, that have protected you, will tremble, and your legs, now strong, will grow weak. Your teeth will be too few to chew your food, and your eyes too dim to see clearly.
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Your ears will be deaf to the noise of the street. You will barely be able to hear the mill as it grinds or music as it plays, but even the song of a bird will wake you from sleep.
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You will be afraid of high places, and walking will be dangerous. Your hair will turn white; you will hardly be able to drag yourself along, and all desire will be gone. We are going to our final resting place, and then there will be mourning in the streets.
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The silver chain will snap, and the golden lamp will fall and break; the rope at the well will break, and the water jar will be shattered.
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Our bodies will return to the dust of the earth, and the breath of life will go back to God, who gave it to us.
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Useless, useless, said the Philosopher. It is all useless.
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But because the Philosopher was wise, he kept on teaching the people what he knew. He studied proverbs and honestly tested their truth.
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The Philosopher tried to find comforting words, but the words he wrote were honest.
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The sayings of the wise are like the sharp sticks that shepherds use to guide sheep, and collected proverbs are as lasting as firmly driven nails. They have been given by God, the one Shepherd of us all.
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My child, there is something else to watch out for. There is no end to the writing of books, and too much study will wear you out.
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After all this, there is only one thing to say: Have reverence for God, and obey his commands, because this is all that we were created for.
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God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.
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Since you are God's dear children, you must try to be like him.
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Your life must be controlled by love, just as Christ loved us and gave his life for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice that pleases God.
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Since you are God's people, it is not right that any matters of sexual immorality or indecency or greed should even be mentioned among you.
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Nor is it fitting for you to use language which is obscene, profane, or vulgar. Rather you should give thanks to God.
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You may be sure that no one who is immoral, indecent, or greedy (for greed is a form of idolatry) will ever receive a share in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.
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Do not let anyone deceive you with foolish words; it is because of these very things that God's anger will come upon those who do not obey him.
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So have nothing at all to do with such people.
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You yourselves used to be in the darkness, but since you have become the Lord's people, you are in the light. So you must live like people who belong to the light,
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for it is the light that brings a rich harvest of every kind of goodness, righteousness, and truth.
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Try to learn what pleases the Lord.
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Have nothing to do with the worthless things that people do, things that belong to the darkness. Instead, bring them out to the light.
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(It is really too shameful even to talk about the things they do in secret.)
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And when all things are brought out to the light, then their true nature is clearly revealed;
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for anything that is clearly revealed becomes light. That is why it is said, "Wake up, sleeper, and rise from death, and Christ will shine on you."
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So be careful how you live. Don't live like ignorant people, but like wise people.
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Make good use of every opportunity you have, because these are evil days.
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Don't be fools, then, but try to find out what the Lord wants you to do.
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Do not get drunk with wine, which will only ruin you; instead, be filled with the Spirit.
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Speak to one another with the words of psalms, hymns, and sacred songs; sing hymns and psalms to the Lord with praise in your hearts.
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In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, always give thanks for everything to God the Father.
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Submit yourselves to one another because of your reverence for Christ.
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Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as to the Lord.
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For a husband has authority over his wife just as Christ has authority over the church; and Christ is himself the Savior of the church, his body.
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And so wives must submit themselves completely to their husbands just as the church submits itself to Christ.
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Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it.
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He did this to dedicate the church to God by his word, after making it clean by washing it in water,
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in order to present the church to himself in all its beauty---pure and faultless, without spot or wrinkle or any other imperfection.
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Men ought to love their wives just as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself.
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(None of us ever hate our own bodies. Instead, we feed them, and take care of them, just as Christ does the church;
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for we are members of his body.)
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As the scripture says, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one."
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There is a deep secret truth revealed in this scripture, which I understand as applying to Christ and the church.
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But it also applies to you: every husband must love his wife as himself, and every wife must respect her husband.
