Do you know about the balancing ¹  of the clouds, that wondrous activity of him who is perfect in knowledge?

May integrity and godliness protect me, for I rely on you!

Send me cedars, evergreens, and algum ¹  trees from Lebanon, for I know your servants are adept ²  at cutting down trees in Lebanon. My servants will work with your servants

Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet ¹  he will be master over all the fruit of ²  my labor ³  for which I worked so wisely ⁴  on earth! ⁵  This also is futile!

So since we are God’s offspring, we should not think the deity ¹  is like gold or silver or stone, an image ²  made by human ³  skill ⁴  and imagination. ⁵ 

and in cutting stones for their setting, ¹  and in cutting wood, to do work in every artistic craft. ² 

When the queen of Sheba saw for herself Solomon’s extensive wisdom, ¹  the palace ²  he had built,

Kenaniah, the leader of the Levites, was in charge of transport, for he was well-informed on this matter; ¹ 

Now I am sending you Huram Abi, ¹  a skilled and capable man,

David ¹  cared for them with pure motives; ²  he led them with skill. ³ 

They swayed ¹  and staggered like a drunk, and all their skill proved ineffective. ² 

And they paid close attention to him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic.

So now order some cedars of Lebanon to be cut for me. My servants will work with your servants. I will pay your servants whatever you say is appropriate, for you know that we have no one among us who knows how to cut down trees like the Sidonians.”

Here are the divisions of the priests and Levites who will perform all the service of God’s temple. All the willing and skilled men are ready to assist you in all the work and perform their service. ¹  The officials and all the people are ready to follow your instructions.” ² 

Again, ¹  I observed this on the earth: ²  the race is not always ³  won by the swiftest, the battle is not always won by the strongest; prosperity ⁴  does not always belong to those who are the wisest, wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning, nor does success ⁵  always come to those with the most knowledge – for time and chance may overcome ⁶  them all.

Be careful ¹  not to say, “My own ability and skill ²  have gotten me this wealth.”

Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk. ¹  In whom are you trusting that you would dare to rebel against me?

How many living things you have made, O Lord! ¹  You have exhibited great skill in making all of them; ²  the earth is full of the living things you have made.

By David. The Lord, my protector, ²  deserves praise ³  – the one who trains my hands for battle, ⁴  and my fingers for war,

If an iron axhead ¹  is blunt and a workman ²  does not sharpen ³  its edge, ⁴  he must exert a great deal of effort; ⁵  so wisdom has the advantage of giving success.