On dreams
34 Senseless people
have empty and false hopes,
and dreams excite fools.
2 Those who pay attention to dreams
are just like people who grasp
at a shadow or pursue the wind.
3 What one sees in a dream is a reflection,
a face looking at its own likeness.
4 What will be made clean
from something unclean?
And what will be true
of something false?
5 Divinations, omens,
and dreams are empty.
The mind has fantasies,
just like a woman in labor does.
6 Unless the Most High sends a dream
by means of a visitation,
don’t pay any attention to it.
7 Dreams have misled many,
and those who have placed hope in them have fallen.
8 The Law will be fulfilled without lies;
wisdom in a faithful person’s mouth
is fulfillment.
Experience and fear of the Lord
9 People who have traveled know a lot,
and those who are experienced
will speak sense.
10 People with no experience know little,
11 but those who have traveled
have become more clever.
12 I have seen a lot in my wandering,
and I understand more than I can tell.
13 I’ve often been in danger,
close to death,
and I was saved
because of these experiences.
14 The spirit of those who fear the Lord
will live,
15 because their hope is in the one
who saves them.
16 Those who fear the Lord
won’t be timid about anything;
they will never turn coward,
because the Lord is their hope.
17 The souls of those who fear the Lord
are favored.
18 To whom do they look?
And who is their support?
19 The Lord’s eyes
are upon those who love him.
The Lord is a powerful shield,
a strong support,
a shelter from the heat,
a shade from the midday sun,
a guard against stumbling,
and a help against falling;
20 one who lifts up the spirit,
one who gives light to the eyes,
and one who gives healing
for life and blessing.
On sacrifice and worship
21 When someone sacrifices something unjustly gotten,
the offering is flawed;
22 the gifts of those who don’t follow
the Law are not acceptable.
23 The Most High is not pleased
with the offerings of the ungodly,
nor will he forgive sins
for a multitude of sacrifices.
24 Someone who brings a sacrifice that comes from the property of the needy
is like someone who slaughters a son
in the presence of his father.
25 The needy person’s bread
means life for that poor person;
whoever withholds it is a murderer.
26 Whoever takes away a neighbor’s living
commits murder,
27 and whoever deprives a worker
of wages sheds blood.
28 One person builds,
and another tears down;
what have they gained
other than hard work?
29 One person prays,
and another person curses;
to whose voice will the master listen?
30 When people bathe after touching
a corpse and touch it again,
what have they gained by washing?
31 So when people fast because of their sins,
and then go and do the same
things again,
who will listen to their prayer,
and what did they gain
by humbling themselves?