<p class="poetry">Like legs that hang limp<n id="1" /> from the lame,p> <p class="poetry">so<n id="2" /> is a proverb<n id="3" /> in the mouth of fools.p>

<p class="poetry">I will thank the <sc>Lordsc> profusely,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">in the middle of a crowd<n id="2" /> I will praise him,p>

<p class="poetry">In<n id="1" /> the speech<n id="2" /> of a fool is a rod for his back,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">but the words<n id="4" /> of the wise protect them.p>

<p class="poetry">Like a thorn<n id="1" /> that goes into the hand of a drunkard,p> <p class="poetry">so is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.<n id="2" />p>

Then the <sc>Lordsc> put a message<n id="1" /> in Balaam&#8217;s mouth and said, &#8220;Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

Balaam replied,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Must I not be careful<n id="2" /> to speak what the <sc>Lordsc> has put in my mouth?&#8221;<n id="3" />

But when Elihu saw<n id="1" /> that the three men had no further reply,<n id="2" /> he became very angry.p>

<p class="poetry">He gave me reason to sing a new song,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">praising our God.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">May many see what God has done,p> <p class="poetry">so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the <sc>Lordsc>!<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="psasuper">A well-written song<n id="2" /> by Ethan the Ezrachite.p> <p class="poetry">I will sing continually<n id="3" /> about the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s faithful deeds;p> <p class="poetry">to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">When one of them<n id="1" /> opened his sack to get feed for his donkey at their resting place,<n id="2" /> he saw his money in the mouth of his sack.<n id="3" />

Take double the money with you;<n id="1" /> you must take back<n id="2" /> the money that was returned in the mouths of your sacks &#8211; perhaps it was an oversight.

But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and each of us found his money &#8211; the full amount<n id="1" /> &#8211; in the mouth of his sack. So we have returned it.<n id="2" />

Then put<n id="1" /> my cup &#8211; the silver cup &#8211; in the mouth of the youngest one&#8217;s sack, along with the money for his grain.&#8221; He did as Joseph instructed.<n id="2" />p>

Look, the money that we found in the mouths of our sacks we brought back to you from the land of Canaan. Why then would we steal silver or gold from your master&#8217;s house?

So now, look, the <sc>Lordsc> has placed a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours; but the <sc>Lordsc> has decreed disaster for you.&#8221;

He replied, &#8216;I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.&#8217; The <sc>Lordsc><n id="1" /> said, &#8216;Deceive and overpower him.<n id="2" /> Go out and do as you have proposed.&#8217;

So now, look, the <sc>Lordsc> has placed a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours; but the <sc>Lordsc> has decreed disaster for you.&#8221;

This took place to fulfill the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s message delivered through Jeremiah.<n id="1" /> The land experienced<n id="2" /> its sabbatical years;<n id="3" /> it remained desolate for seventy years,<n id="4" /> as prophesied.<n id="5" />p>

<t /><p class="psasuper">Written by David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, causing the king to send him away.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will praise<n id="3" /> the <sc>Lordsc> at all times;p> <p class="poetry">my mouth will continually praise him.<n id="4" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">He instructed the servant who was over his household, &#8220;Fill the sacks of the men with as much food as they can carry and put each man&#8217;s money in the mouth of his sack.