He composed ¹  3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs.

But no one says, ‘Where is God, my Creator, who gives songs in the night, ¹ 

Those who sit at the city gate gossip about me; drunkards mock me in their songs. ¹ 

Your statutes have been my songs ¹  in the house where I live. ² 

Watch them from morning to evening; ¹  I am the object of their mocking songs.

I will silence ¹  the noise of your songs; the sound of your harps will be heard no more.

Take away from me your ¹  noisy songs; I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments. ² 

He appointed some of the Levites to serve before the ark of the Lord, to offer prayers, songs of thanks, and hymns to the Lord God of Israel.

And the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who together with his colleagues ¹  was in charge of the songs of thanksgiving.

For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors ¹  for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanks to God.

for there our captors ask us to compose songs; ¹  those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: ²  “Sing for us a song about Zion!” ³ 

Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, ¹  or like vinegar poured on soda, ²  so is one who sings songs to a heavy heart. ³ 

“Take the harp, go through the city, forgotten prostitute! Play it well, play lots of songs, so you’ll be noticed!” ¹ 

At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, ¹  they sought out the Levites from all the places they lived ²  to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication joyfully with songs of thanksgiving and songs accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres.

These are the final words of David: “The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man raised up as the ruler chosen by the God of Jacob, ¹  Israel’s beloved ²  singer of songs:

and the doors along the street are shut; when the sound of the grinding mill ¹  grows low, and one is awakened ²  by the sound of a bird, and all their ³  songs ⁴  grow faint, ⁵ 

From the ends of the earth we ¹  hear songs – the Just One is majestic. ²  But I ³  say, “I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! I’m doomed! Deceivers deceive, deceivers thoroughly deceive!” ⁴ 

This is what the Lord says, your protector, ¹  the Holy One of Israel: ²  “For your sake I send to Babylon and make them all fugitives, ³  turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs. ⁴ 

Out of those places you will hear songs of thanksgiving ¹  and the sounds of laughter and merriment. I will increase their number and they will not dwindle away. ²  I will bring them honor and they will no longer be despised.

I will turn your festivals into funerals, ¹  and all your songs into funeral dirges. I will make everyone wear funeral clothes ²  and cause every head to be shaved bald. ³  I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; ⁴  when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day. ⁵