For look, they wait to ambush me; powerful men stalk me, but not because I have rebelled or sinned, O Lord.

In my time of trouble I sought the Lord. I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night. I refused to be comforted.

I desperately want to be in the courts of the Lord’s temple. My heart and my entire being shout for joy to the living God.

May sinners disappear from the earth, and the wicked vanish! Praise the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord!

Look to the right and see! No one cares about me. I have nowhere to run; no one is concerned about my life.

Free me from prison, that I may give thanks to your name. Because of me the godly will assemble, for you will vindicate me.

May I hear about your loyal love in the morning, for I trust in you. Show me the way I should go, because I long for you.

till an arrow pierces his liver – like a bird hurrying into a trap, and he does not know that it will cost him his life.

for he is like someone calculating the cost in his mind. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you;

If you say, “But we did not know about this,” does not the one who evaluates hearts consider? Does not the one who guards your life know? Will he not repay each person according to his deeds?

There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in their work. I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment comes from God.

What I have continually sought, I have not found; I have found only one upright man among a thousand, but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.

The Beloved to Her Lover: Tell me, O you whom my heart loves, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest your sheep during the midday heat? Tell me lest I wander around beside the flocks of your companions!

“I will arise and look all around throughout the town, and throughout the streets and squares; I will search for my beloved.” I searched for him but I did not find him.

I opened for my beloved, but my lover had already turned and gone away. I fell into despair when he departed. I looked for him but did not find him; I called him but he did not answer me.

The look on their faces testifies to their guilt; like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. Too bad for them! For they bring disaster on themselves.

So Death will open up its throat, and open wide its mouth; Zion’s dignitaries and masses will descend into it, including those who revel and celebrate within her.

The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz. For this reason Moab’s soldiers shout in distress; their courage wavers.

I look for you during the night, my spirit within me seeks you at dawn, for when your judgments come upon the earth, those who live in the world learn about justice.

“Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit. You delivered me from the pit of oblivion. For you removed all my sins from your sight.