1  Give the king your justice, O God,

and your righteousness to the royal son!

2  ^aMay he judge your people with righteousness,

and your poor with justice!

3  Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,

and the hills, in righteousness!

4  May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,

give deliverance to the children of the needy,

and crush the oppressor!

5  May they fear you^{1 b}while the sun endures,

and as long as the moon, ^cthroughout all generations!

6  May he be ^dlike rain that falls on the mown grass,

like showers that water the earth!

7  In his days may ^ethe righteous flourish,

and peace abound, till the moon be no more!

8  ^fMay he have dominion ^gfrom sea to sea,

and ^hfrom the River² to the ⁱends of the earth!

9  May desert tribes bow down before him,

and his enemies ^jlick the dust!

10  May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands

render him tribute;

may the ^kkings of Sheba and Seba

bring gifts!

11  May all kings fall down before him,

all nations serve him!

12  ^lFor he ^mdelivers the needy when he calls,

the poor and him who has ⁿno helper.

13  He has pity on the weak and the needy,

and ^osaves the lives of the needy.

14  From oppression and violence he redeems their life,

and ^pprecious is their blood in his sight.

15  Long may he live;

may ^qgold of Sheba be given to him!

May prayer be made for him continually,

and blessings invoked for him all the day!

16  May there be abundance of grain in the land;

on the tops of the mountains may it wave;

may its fruit be like Lebanon;

and may people blossom in the cities

^rlike the grass of the field!

17  May his name endure forever,

his fame continue as long as the sun!

^sMay people be blessed in him,

all nations call him blessed!

18  ^tBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

who alone does ^uwondrous things.

19  ^vBlessed be his glorious name forever;

may ^wthe whole earth be filled with his glory!

^xAmen and Amen!

20  The ^yprayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.

1  Unless the Lord builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the watchman stays awake in vain.

2  It is in vain that you rise up early

and go late to rest,

eating the bread of ^panxious toil;

for he gives to his beloved sleep.

3  Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

4  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior

are the children¹ of one’s youth.

5  Blessed is the man

who fills his quiver with them!

He shall ^qnot be put to shame

when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.²

2  ^bTo know wisdom and ^cinstruction,

to understand words of insight,

3  to ^dreceive instruction in wise dealing,

in ^erighteousness, justice, and equity;

4  to ^fgive prudence to the ^gsimple,

knowledge and discretion to the youth—

5  Let the wise hear and ^hincrease in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance,

6  to understand a ⁱproverb and a saying,

^jthe words of the wise and their riddles.

7  ^kThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and ^linstruction.

8  Hear, my son, your ^mfather’s ⁿinstruction,

and ^oforsake not ^pyour mother’s teaching,

9  for they are a ^qgraceful garland for your head

and pendants ^rfor your neck.

10  My son, if sinners ^sentice you,

do not consent.

11  If they say, “Come with us, let us ^tlie in wait for blood;

let us ambush the innocent without reason;

12  like Sheol let us swallow them alive,

and whole, like ^uthose who go down to the pit;

13  we shall find all precious goods,

we shall fill our houses with plunder;

14  throw in your lot among us;

we will all have one purse”—

15  ^vmy son, do not ^wwalk in the way with them;

^xhold back your foot from their paths,

16  for ^ytheir feet run to evil,

and they make haste to shed blood.

17  For in vain is a net spread

in the sight of any bird,

18  but these men lie in wait for their own blood;

they set an ambush for their own lives.

19  Such are the ways of everyone who is ^zgreedy for unjust gain;

it takes away the life of its possessors.

20  ^aWisdom cries aloud in the street,

in the markets she raises her voice;

21  at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;

at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:

22  “How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools ^bhate knowledge?

23  If you ^cturn at my reproof,¹

behold, I will ^dpour out my spirit to you;

I will make my words known to you.

24  ^eBecause I have called and you refused to listen,

have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,

25  because you have ^fignored all my counsel

and would have none of my reproof,

26  I also will ^glaugh at your calamity;

I will mock when terror strikes you,

27  when terror strikes you like a storm

and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,

when distress and anguish come upon you.

28  Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;

they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

29  Because they hated knowledge

and did not choose the fear of the Lord,

30  would have none of my ^hcounsel

and ⁱdespised all my reproof,

31  therefore they shall ^jeat the fruit of their way,

and have their fill of their own devices.

32  For the ^ksimple are killed by their turning away,

and the complacency of fools destroys them;

33  but whoever listens to me will dwell secure

and will be at ease, ^lwithout dread of disaster.”