Therefore, O king, may my counsel be acceptable to you: Renounce your sins through righteousness and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps your prosperity will be prolonged.”
Such is the wicked man’s lot from God, the heritage appointed to him by God.”
He pours contempt on princes, making them wander in trackless waste.
He set them in place forever and ever. He made a decree that will never pass away.
I will declare the decree of Adonai. He said to me: “You are My Son— today I have become Your Father.
By mercy and truth is iniquity atoned, and by the fear of Adonai one avoids evil.
Lovingkindness and truth preserve the king, but his throne is upheld by lovingkindness.
Adonai-Tzva’ot has planned it, to defile the pride of all glory, to shame all the honored of earth.
The tree that you saw grow large and strong, whose top reached to heaven and that was visible to all the earth,
it is you, O king! For you have grown great and mighty. Your greatness reaches to heaven, and your authority extends to the end of the earth.
I had a dream that frightened me. While on my bed the images and visions in my mind terrified me.