For the music director; according to the machalath style; ²  a well-written song ³  by David. Fools say to themselves, ⁴  “There is no God.” ⁵  They sin and commit evil deeds; ⁶  none of them does what is right. ⁷ 

Certainly ¹  spending just one day in your temple courts is better than spending a thousand elsewhere. ²  I would rather stand at the entrance ³  to the temple of my God than live ⁴  in the tents of the wicked.

For the Lord God is our sovereign protector. ¹  The Lord bestows favor ²  and honor; he withholds no good thing from those who have integrity. ³ 

Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend, and do not enter your brother’s house in the day of your disaster; a neighbor nearby is better than a brother far away. ¹ 

So I perceived there is nothing better than for people ¹  to enjoy their work, ²  because that is their ³  reward; for who can show them what the future holds? ⁴ 

It is better to go to a funeral ¹  than a feast. ²  For death ³  is the destiny ⁴  of every person, ⁵  and the living should ⁶  take this ⁷  to heart.

It is best to take hold of one warning ¹  without letting go of the other warning; ²  for the one who fears God will follow ³  both warnings. ⁴ 

But whoever is among ¹  the living ²  has hope; a live dog is better than a dead lion.

Go, eat your food ¹  with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, because God has already approved your works.

For God will evaluate every deed, ¹  including every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead, ¹  who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter. ² 

Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s word which you have announced is appropriate.” ¹  Then he thought, ²  “For ³  there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.”

The craftsman encourages the metalsmith, the one who wields the hammer encourages ¹  the one who pounds on the anvil. He approves the quality of the welding, ²  and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”

How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains ¹  the feet of a messenger who announces peace, a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” ² 

Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? ¹  Why spend ²  your hard-earned money ³  on something that will not satisfy? Listen carefully ⁴  to me and eat what is nourishing! ⁵  Enjoy fine food! ⁶ 

I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument ¹  that will be better than sons and daughters. I will set up a permanent monument ²  for them that will remain.

I spread out my hands all day long to my rebellious people, who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable, and who did what they desired. ¹ 

They will be like a shrub ¹  in the desert. They will not experience good things even when they happen. It will be as though they were growing in the desert, in a salt land where no one can live.

Does it make you any more of a king that you outstrip everyone else in ¹  building with cedar? Just think about your father. He was content that he had food and drink. ²  He did what was just and right. ³  So things went well with him.

In a good field, by abundant waters, it was planted to grow branches, bear fruit, and become a beautiful vine.