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5
A Psalm. Of Solomon.
1 O Lord God, I will praise thy name with joy,
In the midst of them that know thy righteous judgments.
2 For thou art good and merciful, the refuge of the poor;
When I cry to thee, do not silently disregard me.
3 For no man taketh spoil from a mighty man;
Who, then, can take aught of all that thou hast made, except thou thyself givest?
4 For man and his portion lie before thee in the balance;
He cannot add to, so as to enlarge, what hath been prescribed by thee, O God.
5 When we are in distress we call upon thee for help,
And thou dost not turn back our petition,
For thou art our God.
6 Cause not thy hand to be heavy upon us,
Lest through necessity we sin.
7 Even though thou restore us not, we will not keep away;
But unto thee will we come.
8 For if I hunger, unto thee will I cry, O God;
And thou wilt give to me.
9 Birds and fish dost thou nourish,
In that thou givest rain to the steppes that green grass may spring up,
10 So to prepare fodder in the steppe for every living thing;
And if they hunger, unto thee do they lift up their face.
11 Kings and rulers and peoples thou dost nourish, O God;
And who is the help of the poor and needy, if not thou, O Lord?
12 And thou wilt hearken—for who is good and gentle but thou—
Making glad the soul of the humble by opening thy hand in mercy.
13 Man’s goodness is bestowed grudgingly and on the morrow;
And if he repeat it without murmuring, even that is marvelous.
14 But thy gift is great in goodness and wealth,
And he whose hope is set on thee shall have no lack of gifts.
15 Upon the whole earth is thy mercy, O Lord, in goodness.
16 Happy is he whom God remembereth in granting to him a due sufficiency;
If a man abound over much, he sinneth.
17 Sufficient are moderate means with righteousness,
And hereby the blessing of the Lord becometh abundance with righteousness.
18 They that fear the Lord rejoice in good gifts,
And thy goodness is upon Israel in thy kingdom.
19 Blessed is the glory of the Lord for he is our king.

- Psalms of Solomon
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