<p class="poetry">(Who has confronted<n id="1" /> me that I should repay?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Everything under heaven belongs to me!)<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">His mouth is full of curses and deceptive, harmful words;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">his tongue injures and destroys.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Your arrows are sharpp> <p class="poetry">and penetrate the hearts of the king&#8217;s enemies.p> <p class="poetry">Nations fall at your feet.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Your<n id="1" /> sons will carry<n id="2" /> on the dynasty of your ancestors;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">you will make them princes throughout the land.p>

<p class="poetry">He will shelter you<n id="1" /> with his wings;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">you will find safety under his wings.p> <p class="poetry">His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Their tongues wound like a serpent;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">a viper&#8217;s<n id="2" /> venom is behind<n id="3" /> their lips. (Selah)p>

<p class="poetry">who loves me<n id="1" /> and is my stronghold,p> <p class="poetry">my refuge<n id="2" /> and my deliverer,p> <p class="poetry">my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,p> <p class="poetry">who makes nations submit to me.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man<n id="1" /> on earth,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and I concluded: Everything<n id="3" /> he has accomplished<n id="4" /> is futile<n id="5" /> &#8211; like chasing the wind!<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">So I began to despair<n id="1" /> about all the fruit of<n id="2" /> my labor<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">for which I worked so hard<n id="4" /> on earth.<n id="5" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">What does a man acquire from all his laborp> <p class="poetry">and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth?<n id="1" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">I saw something else on earth:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">In the place of justice, there was wickedness,p> <p class="poetry">and in the place of fairness,<n id="2" /> there was wickedness.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Here is<n id="1" /> a misfortune<n id="2" /> on earth<n id="3" /> that I have seen:p> <p class="poetry">Wealth hoarded by its owner to his own misery.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Here is<n id="1" /> another misfortune<n id="2" /> that I have seen on earth,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and it weighs<n id="4" /> heavily on people:<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">For like the crackling of quick-burning thorns<n id="1" /> under a cooking pot,p> <p class="poetry">so is the laughter of the fool.p> <p class="poetry">This kind of folly<n id="2" /> also is useless.<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">This is what I also observed about wisdom on earth,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and it is a great burden<n id="2" /> to me:p>

<p class="poetry">I have seen another<n id="1" /> misfortune<n id="2" /> on the earth:<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">It is an error a ruler makes.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride,p> <p class="poetry">honey and milk are under your tongue.p> <p class="poetry">The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.p>

<p class="poetry">Your splendor<n id="1" /> has been brought down to Sheol,p> <p class="poetry">as well as the sound of your stringed instruments.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">You lie on a bed of maggots,p> <p class="poetry">with a blanket of worms over you.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">The earth is defiled by<n id="1" /> its inhabitants,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">for they have violated laws,p> <p class="poetry">disregarded the regulation,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and broken the permanent treaty.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">You were once abandonedp> <p class="poetry">and despised, with no one passing through,p> <p class="poetry">but I will make you<n id="1" /> a permanent source of pridep> <p class="poetry">and joy to coming generations.p>