Bible Reading Plan

This man's utterance to Ithiel:

"I am weary, God,
     but I can prevail.^[a]
2 Surely I am only a brute, not a man;
     I do not have human understanding.
³ I have not learned wisdom,
     nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.^(b)
4 Who has gone up^(c) to heaven and come down?
     Whose hands^(d) have gathered up the wind?
Who has wrapped up the waters^(e) in a cloak?^(f)
     Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name,^(g) and what is the name of his son?
     Surely you know!

⁷ "Two things I ask of you, Lord ;
     do not refuse me before I die:
⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
     give me neither poverty nor riches,
     but give me only my daily bread.^(k)
9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown^(l) you
     and say, ‘Who is the Lord ?'^(m)
Or I may become poor and steal,
     and so dishonor the name of my God.⁽ⁿ⁾

¹⁰ "Do not slander a servant to their master,
     or they will curse you, and you will pay for it.

¹¹ "There are those who curse their fathers
     and do not bless their mothers;^(o)
12 those who are pure in their own eyes^(p)
     and yet are not cleansed of their filth;^(q)
13 those whose eyes are ever so haughty,^(r)
     whose glances are so disdainful;
¹⁴ those whose teeth^(s) are swords
     and whose jaws are set with knives^(t)
to devour^(u) the poor^(v) from the earth
     and the needy from among mankind.^(w)

¹⁵ "The leech has two daughters.
     ‘Give! Give!' they cry.

"There are three things that are never satisfied,^(x)
     four that never say, ‘Enough!':
¹⁶ the grave,^(y) the barren womb,
     land, which is never satisfied with water,
     and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!'

¹⁷ "The eye that mocks^(z) a father,
     that scorns an aged mother,
will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley,
     will be eaten by the vultures.^(aa)

¹⁸ "There are three things that are too amazing for me,
     four that I do not understand:
¹⁹ the way of an eagle in the sky,
     the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship on the high seas,
     and the way of a man with a young woman.

²⁰ "This is the way of an adulterous woman:
     She eats and wipes her mouth
     and says, ‘I've done nothing wrong.'^(ab)

²¹ "Under three things the earth trembles,
     under four it cannot bear up:
²² a servant who becomes king,^(ac)
     a godless fool who gets plenty to eat,
²³ a contemptible woman who gets married,
     and a servant who displaces her mistress.

²⁴ "Four things on earth are small,
     yet they are extremely wise:
²⁵ Ants are creatures of little strength,
     yet they store up their food in the summer;^(ad)
26 hyraxes^(ae) are creatures of little power,
     yet they make their home in the crags;
²⁷ locusts^(af) have no king,
     yet they advance together in ranks;
²⁸ a lizard can be caught with the hand,
     yet it is found in kings' palaces.

²⁹ "There are three things that are stately in their stride,
     four that move with stately bearing:
³⁰ a lion, mighty among beasts,
     who retreats before nothing;
³¹ a strutting rooster, a he-goat,
     and a king secure against revolt.^[b]

³² "If you play the fool and exalt yourself,
     or if you plan evil,
     clap your hand over your mouth!^(ag)
33 For as churning cream produces butter,
     and as twisting the nose produces blood,
     so stirring up anger produces strife."