“You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see ¹  and subverts the words of the righteous.

But the Lord took note and despised them because his sons and daughters enraged him.

Joab answered, “Get serious! ¹  I don’t want to swallow up or destroy anything!

saying, ¹  “Don’t touch my anointed ones! Don’t harm my prophets!”

But now the same thing ¹  comes to you, and you are discouraged; ²  it strikes you, and you are terrified. ³ 

For ¹  he ²  wounds, ³  but he also bandages; he strikes, but his hands also heal.

Your wickedness affects only ¹  a person like yourself, and your righteousness only other people. ² 

Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears?

But the Lord does not surrender the godly, or allow them to be condemned in a court of law. ¹ 

All day long they cause me trouble; ¹  they make a habit of plotting my demise. ² 

Look, they hurl insults at me and openly threaten to kill me, ¹  for they say, ²  “Who hears?”

I am oppressed and suffering! O God, deliver and protect me! ¹ 

We have sinned like ¹  our ancestors; ²  we have done wrong, we have done evil.

Their tongues wound like a serpent; ¹  a viper’s ²  venom is behind ³  their lips. (Selah)

Beatings and wounds cleanse away ¹  evil, and floggings cleanse ²  the innermost being. ³ 

A lying tongue ¹  hates those crushed by it, and a flattering mouth works ruin. ² 

lest they drink and forget what is decreed, and remove ¹  from all the poor ²  their legal rights. ³ 

For with great wisdom comes ¹  great frustration; whoever increases his ²  knowledge merely ³  increases his ⁴  heartache.

The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of merrymaking. ¹ 

Whoever obeys his ¹  command will not experience harm, and a wise person ²  knows the proper time ³  and procedure.