1  The Lord is my ^dshepherd; I shall not ^ewant.

2  He makes me lie down in green ^fpastures.

He leads me beside still waters.¹

3  He ^grestores my soul.

He ^hleads me in ⁱpaths of righteousness²

for his ^jname’s sake.

4  Even though I ^kwalk through the valley of ^lthe shadow of death,³

I will ^mfear no evil,

for ⁿyou are with me;

your ^orod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5  You ^pprepare a table before me

in ^qthe presence of my enemies;

you ^ranoint my head with oil;

my ^scup overflows.

6  Surely⁴ goodness and mercy⁵ shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall ^tdwell⁶ in the house of the Lord

^uforever.⁷

1  ^qThe fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;

there is none who does good.

2  God looks down from heaven

on the children of man

to see if there are any who understand,²

who seek after God.

3  They have all fallen away;

together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

4  Have those who work evil no knowledge,

who eat up my people as they eat bread,

and do not call upon God?

5  There they are, in great terror,

^rwhere there is no terror!

For God ^sscatters the bones of him who encamps against you;

you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

6  Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When God restores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

1  O God, do not keep silence;

^hdo not hold your peace or be still, O God!

2  For behold, your enemies ⁱmake an uproar;

those who hate you have ^jraised their heads.

3  They lay ^kcrafty plans against your people;

they consult together against your ^ltreasured ones.

4  They say, “Come, ^mlet us wipe them out as a nation;

let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”

5  For they conspire with one accord;

against you they make a covenant—

6  the tents of ⁿEdom and ^othe Ishmaelites,

^pMoab and ^qthe Hagrites,

7  ^rGebal and ^pAmmon and ^sAmalek,

^tPhilistia with the inhabitants of ^uTyre;

8  ^vAsshur also has joined them;

they are the strong arm of ^wthe children of Lot. Selah

9  Do to them as you did to ^xMidian,

as to ^ySisera and Jabin at ^zthe river Kishon,

10  who were destroyed at ^aEn-dor,

who became ^bdung for the ground.

11  Make their nobles like ^cOreb and Zeeb,

all their princes like ^dZebah and Zalmunna,

12  who said, ^e“Let us take possession for ourselves

of the pastures of God.”

13  O my God, make them like ^fwhirling dust,¹

like ^gchaff before the wind.

14  As ^hfire consumes the forest,

as the flame ⁱsets the mountains ablaze,

15  so may you pursue them ^jwith your tempest

and terrify them with your hurricane!

16  ^kFill their faces with shame,

that they may seek your name, O Lord.

17  Let them be ^lput to shame and dismayed forever;

let them perish in disgrace,

18  that they may ^mknow that you alone,

ⁿwhose name is the Lord,

are ^othe Most High over all the earth.

1  ^bPraise the Lord!

^cPraise, O ^dservants of the Lord,

praise the name of the Lord!

2  ^eBlessed be the name of the Lord

from this time forth and forevermore!

3  ^fFrom the rising of the sun to its setting,

^gthe name of the Lord is ^hto be praised!

4  The Lord is ⁱhigh above all nations,

and his ^jglory above the heavens!

5  ^kWho is like the Lord our God,

who is seated on high,

6  who ^llooks far down

on the heavens and the earth?

7  He ^mraises the poor from the dust

and lifts the needy from the ash heap,

8  to make them ⁿsit with princes,

with the princes of his people.

9  He ^ogives the barren woman a home,

making her the joyous mother of children.

^bPraise the Lord!

1  Hear my prayer, O Lord;

^cgive ear to my pleas for mercy!

In your ^dfaithfulness answer me, in your ^drighteousness!

2  ^eEnter not into judgment with your servant,

for no one living is righteous ^fbefore you.

3  For the enemy has pursued my soul;

^ghe has crushed my life to the ground;

^hhe has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.

4  Therefore my spirit ⁱfaints within me;

my heart within me is appalled.

5  ^jI remember the days of old;

^kI meditate on all that you have done;

I ponder the work of your hands.

6  ^lI stretch out my hands to you;

^mmy soul thirsts for you like ⁿa parched land. Selah

7  ^oAnswer me quickly, O Lord!

^pMy spirit fails!

^qHide not your face from me,

^rlest I be like those who go down to the pit.

8  ^sLet me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,

for in you I ^ttrust.

^uMake me know the way I should go,

^vfor to you I lift up my soul.

9  ^wDeliver me from my enemies, O Lord!

I have fled to you for refuge.¹

10  ^xTeach me to do your will,

for you are my God!

^yLet your good Spirit ^zlead me

on ^alevel ground!

11  ^bFor your name’s sake, O Lord, ^cpreserve my life!

In your righteousness ^dbring my soul out of trouble!

12  And in your steadfast love you will ^ecut off my enemies,

and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,

for I am your ^fservant.

1  When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

observe carefully what¹ is before you,

2  and put a knife to your throat

if you are given to appetite.

3  ^cDo not desire his delicacies,

for they are deceptive food.

4  ^dDo not toil to acquire wealth;

^ebe discerning enough to desist.

5  When your eyes light on it, it is gone,

^ffor suddenly it sprouts wings,

flying like an eagle toward heaven.

6  ^gDo not eat the bread of a man who is ^hstingy;²

ⁱdo not desire his delicacies,

7  for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.³

“Eat and drink!” he says to you,

but his ^jheart is not with you.

8  You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,

and waste your pleasant words.

9  Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,

for he will despise the good sense of your words.

10  ^kDo not move an ancient landmark

or enter the fields of the fatherless,

11  for their ^lRedeemer is strong;

he will ^mplead their cause against you.

12  Apply your heart to instruction

and your ear to words of knowledge.

13  Do not withhold ⁿdiscipline from a child;

^oif you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

14  If you strike him with the rod,

you will ^psave his soul from Sheol.

15  ^qMy son, if your heart is wise,

my heart too will be glad.

16  My ^rinmost being⁴ will exult

when your lips speak ^swhat is right.

17  Let not your heart ^tenvy sinners,

but continue in ^uthe fear of the Lord all the day.

18  Surely ^vthere is a future,

and your ^whope will not be cut off.

19  Hear, my son, and ^xbe wise,

and ^ydirect your heart in the way.

20  Be not among ^zdrunkards⁵

or among ^agluttonous eaters of meat,

21  for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,

and ^bslumber will clothe them with rags.

22  ^cListen to your father who gave you life,

^dand do not despise your mother when she is old.

23  ^eBuy truth, and do not sell it;

buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

24  ^fThe father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;

he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

25  ^fLet your father and mother be glad;

let ^gher who bore you rejoice.

26  My son, give me your heart,

and let your eyes observe⁶ my ways.

27  For a prostitute is ^ha deep pit;

ⁱan adulteress⁷ is a narrow ^jwell.

28  ^kShe lies in wait like a robber

and increases the traitors among mankind.

29  ^lWho has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has strife? Who has complaining?

Who has ^mwounds without cause?

Who has ⁿredness of eyes?

30  Those who ^otarry long over wine;

those who go to try ^pmixed wine.

31  Do not look at wine when it is red,

when it sparkles in the cup

and goes down smoothly.

32  In the end it ^qbites like a serpent

and stings like an adder.

33  Your eyes will see strange things,

and your heart utter ^rperverse things.

34  You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,

like one who lies on the top of a mast.⁸

35  “They ^sstruck me,” you will say,⁹ “but I was not hurt;

they beat me, but I did not feel it.

When shall I awake?

I ^tmust have another drink.”