A Prayer for Israel’s Restoration

1 Have mercy on us, Lord the God of all, and look at us with favor,⁠a 2 and send your fear on all the nations.⁠b 3 Lift up your hand against the foreign nations and let them see your mighty power.⁠c 4 As you showed your holiness in us before them, so make your greatness visible in them before us.⁠d 5 Let them know you, as we also have known you, so that there is no God but only you, God. 6 Show new signs, and work various wonders. 7 Glorify your hand and your right arm. 8 Stir up fury and pour out anger. 9 Take away the adversary and destroy the enemy. 10 Make the time come quickly and remember your oath. Let them declare your mighty works.

11 Let him who escapes be devoured by raging fire. May those who harm your people find destruction. 12 Crush the heads of the enemy rulers who say, “There is no one but ourselves.” 13 Gather all the tribes of Jacob together, 16 and take them for your inheritance, as from the beginning.

17 Lord, have mercy on the people that is called by your name, and on Israel, whom you likened to a firstborn. 18 Have compassion on the city of your sanctuary, Jerusalem, the place of your rest. 19 Fill Zion. Exalt your oracles and fill your people with your glory. 20 Give testimony to those who were your creatures in the beginning, and fulfill the prophecies that have been spoken in your name. 21 Reward those who wait for you, and people will put their trust in your prophets. 22 Listen, Lord, to the prayer of your servants, according to the blessing of Aaron concerning your people, and all those who are on the earth will know that you are the Lord, the eternal God.⁠e

Discernment and a Good Companion

23 The belly will eat any food, but one food is better than another. 24 Just as the mouth tastes hunted game, an understanding heart detects false speech. 25 An obstinate heart will cause heaviness. A man of experience will pay him back.

26 A woman will receive any man, but one daughter is better than another. 27 The beauty of a woman cheers the face. A man desires nothing more. 28 If kindness and humility are on her tongue, her husband is not like other men. 29 He who gets a wife gets his richest treasure, a helper fit for him and a pillar of support. 30 Where there is no hedge, the property will be plundered. He who has no wife will mourn as he wanders. 31 For who would trust a nimble robber who skips from city to city? In the same way, who would trust a man who has no nest, and stays wherever he finds himself at nightfall?⁠f