In the east they settled as far as the entrance to the desert that stretches to the Euphrates River, for their cattle had increased in numbers in the land of Gilead.

The king made silver and gold as plentiful ¹  in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was ²  as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the lowlands. ³ 

The king made silver as plentiful ¹  in Jerusalem as stones; cedar was ²  as plentiful as sycamore fig trees are in the lowlands ³ .

All of them were wanting ¹  to scare us, supposing, “Their hands will grow slack from the work, and it won’t get done.” So now, strengthen my hands! ² 

as water wears away stones, and torrents ¹  wash away the soil, ²  so you destroy man’s hope. ³ 

If ¹  his sons are honored, ²  he does not know it; ³  if they are brought low, he does not see ⁴  it.

whom I will see for myself, ¹  and whom my own eyes will behold, and not another. ²  My heart ³  grows faint within me. ⁴ 

For my life nears its end in pain; my years draw to a close as I groan. ¹  My strength fails me because of ²  my sin, and my bones become brittle. ³ 

“Look, here is the man who would not make ¹  God his protector! He trusted in his great wealth and was confident about his plans to destroy others.” ² 

But I ¹  am like a flourishing ²  olive tree in the house of God; I continually ³  trust in God’s loyal love.

From the most remote place on earth ¹  I call out to you in my despair. ²  Lead me ³  up to an inaccessible rocky summit! ⁴ 

You saturate ¹  its furrows, and soak ²  its plowed ground. ³  With rain showers you soften its soil, ⁴  and make its crops grow. ⁵ 

so that the next generation, children yet to be born, might know about them. They will grow up and tell their descendants about them. ¹ 

The prayer of an oppressed man, as he grows faint and pours out his lament before the Lord. O Lord, hear my prayer! Pay attention to my cry for help! ² 

They will perish, but you will endure. ¹  They will wear out like a garment; like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear. ² 

Even when my strength leaves me, ¹  you watch my footsteps. ²  In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.

Then ¹  our sons will be like plants, that quickly grow to full size. ²  Our daughters will be like corner pillars, ³  carved like those in a palace. ⁴ 

Do not love sleep, ¹  lest you become impoverished; open your eyes so that ²  you might be satisfied with food. ³ 

lest I become satisfied and act deceptively ¹  and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or lest I become poor and steal and demean ²  the name of my God.

There is no end to all the people ¹  nor to the past generations, ²  yet future generations ³  will not rejoice in him. This also is profitless and like ⁴  chasing the wind.