Psalms

Introduction

The book of Psalms is a collection of song lyrics. Like many songs, they were first written in response to events in the lives of their authors. Later, the whole community used them in worship. When Israel returned from exile in Babylon many of the songs from over the centuries were collected in the book of Psalms.

The book is structured into five parts marked off by the phrase, Praise be to the Lord… Amen and Amen! These five ‘books’ remind the reader of the five books of Moses. Like the law, these song lyrics can be read and studied for instruction. Psalm 1 emphasizes such meditation and seems to have been placed first to make this point.

The five books also tell a three-part story of Israel’s redemption: monarchy, exile and return. The psalms of King David dominate books one and two. The beginning and ending of book three highlight Israel’s exile. The fourth book ends with a plea that God bring the exiled people home. The fifth book declares that God has done just that. Now the reason for the group of praise psalms at the end of the book is apparent: God has been faithful, judging Israel in exile but then bringing the nation home again.

The book of Psalms thus operates at two levels: individually the songs explore a wide variety of honest spiritual responses to God, while the overall collection tells, and celebrates, the work of God in history to save his people.

Chapter 1

Book I

Psalms 1–41

Psalm 1

¹Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

²but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

and who meditates on his law day and night.

³That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither –

whatever they do prospers.

⁴Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

⁵Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

⁶For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Chapter 2

Psalm 2

¹Why do the nations conspire

and the peoples plot in vain?

²The kings of the earth rise up

and the rulers band together

against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,

³‘Let us break their chains

and throw off their shackles.’

⁴The One enthroned in heaven laughs;

the Lord scoffs at them.

⁵He rebukes them in his anger

and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,

⁶‘I have installed my king

on Zion, my holy mountain.’

⁷I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, ‘You are my son;

today I have become your father.

⁸Ask me,

and I will make the nations your inheritance,

the ends of the earth your possession.

⁹You will break them with a rod of iron;

you will dash them to pieces like pottery.’

¹⁰Therefore, you kings, be wise;

be warned, you rulers of the earth.

¹¹Serve the Lord with fear

and celebrate his rule with trembling.

¹²Kiss his son, or he will be angry

and your way will lead to your destruction,

for his wrath can flare up in a moment.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Chapter 3

Psalm 3

A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.

¹Lord, how many are my foes!

How many rise up against me!

²Many are saying of me,

‘God will not deliver him.’

³But you, Lord, are a shield around me,

my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

⁴I call out to the Lord,

and he answers me from his holy mountain.

⁵I lie down and sleep;

I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.

⁶I will not fear though tens of thousands

assail me on every side.

⁷Arise, Lord!

Deliver me, my God!

Strike all my enemies on the jaw;

break the teeth of the wicked.

⁸From the Lord comes deliverance.

May your blessing be on your people.

Chapter 4

Psalm 4

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.

¹Answer me when I call to you,

my righteous God.

Give me relief from my distress;

have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

²How long will you people turn my glory into shame?

How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?

³Know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself;

the Lord hears when I call to him.

⁴Tremble and do not sin;

when you are on your beds,

search your hearts and be silent.

⁵Offer the sacrifices of the righteous

and trust in the Lord.

⁶Many, Lord, are asking, ‘Who will bring us prosperity?’

Let the light of your face shine on us.

⁷Fill my heart with joy

when their grain and new wine abound.

⁸In peace I will lie down and sleep,

for you alone, Lord,

make me dwell in safety.

Chapter 5

Psalm 5

For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David.

¹Listen to my words, Lord,

consider my lament.

²Hear my cry for help,

my King and my God,

for to you I pray.

³In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;

in the morning I lay my requests before you

and wait expectantly.

⁴For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;

with you, evil people are not welcome.

⁵The arrogant cannot stand

in your presence.

You hate all who do wrong;

⁶you destroy those who tell lies.

The bloodthirsty and deceitful

you, Lord, detest.

⁷But I, by your great love,

can come into your house;

in reverence I bow down

towards your holy temple.

⁸Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness

because of my enemies –

make your way straight before me.

⁹Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;

their heart is filled with malice.

Their throat is an open grave;

with their tongues they tell lies.

¹⁰Declare them guilty, O God!

Let their intrigues be their downfall.

Banish them for their many sins,

for they have rebelled against you.

¹¹But let all who take refuge in you be glad;

let them ever sing for joy.

Spread your protection over them,

that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

¹²Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;

you surround them with your favour as with a shield.

Chapter 6

Psalm 6

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.

¹Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.

²Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint;

heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.

³My soul is in deep anguish.

How long, Lord, how long?

⁴Turn, Lord, and deliver me;

save me because of your unfailing love.

⁵Among the dead no-one proclaims your name.

Who praises you from his grave?

⁶I am worn out from my groaning.

All night long I flood my bed with weeping

and drench my couch with tears.

⁷My eyes grow weak with sorrow;

they fail because of all my foes.

⁸Away from me, all you who do evil,

for the Lord has heard my weeping.

⁹The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;

the Lord accepts my prayer.

¹⁰All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;

they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.

Chapter 7

Psalm 7

A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjaminite.

¹Lord my God, I take refuge in you;

save and deliver me from all who pursue me,

²or they will tear me apart like a lion

and rip me to pieces with no-one to rescue me.

³Lord my God, if I have done this

and there is guilt on my hands –

⁴if I have repaid my ally with evil

or without cause have robbed my foe –

⁵then let my enemy pursue and overtake me;

let him trample my life to the ground

and make me sleep in the dust.

⁶Arise, Lord, in your anger;

rise up against the rage of my enemies.

Awake, my God; decree justice.

⁷Let the assembled peoples gather round you,

while you sit enthroned over them on high.

⁸Let the Lord judge the peoples.

Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness,

according to my integrity, O Most High.

⁹Bring to an end the violence of the wicked

and make the righteous secure –

you, the righteous God

who probes minds and hearts.

¹⁰My shield is God Most High,

who saves the upright in heart.

¹¹God is a righteous judge,

a God who displays his wrath every day.

¹²If he does not relent,

he will sharpen his sword;

he will bend and string his bow.

¹³He has prepared his deadly weapons;

he makes ready his flaming arrows.

¹⁴Whoever is pregnant with evil

conceives trouble and gives birth to disillusionment.

¹⁵Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out

falls into the pit they have made.

¹⁶The trouble they cause recoils on them;

their violence comes down on their own heads.

¹⁷I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness;

I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.

Chapter 8

Psalm 8

For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David.

¹Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory

in the heavens.

²Through the praise of children and infants

you have established a stronghold against your enemies,

to silence the foe and the avenger.

³When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,

⁴what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?

⁵You have made them a little lower than the angels

and crowned them with glory and honour.

⁶You made them rulers over the works of your hands;

you put everything under their feet:

⁷all flocks and herds,

and the animals of the wild,

⁸the birds in the sky,

and the fish in the sea,

all that swim the paths of the seas.

⁹Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Chapter 9

Psalm 9,

For the director of music. To the tune of ‘The Death of the Son’. A psalm of David.

¹I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;

I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.

²I will be glad and rejoice in you;

I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.

³My enemies turn back;

they stumble and perish before you.

⁴For you have upheld my right and my cause,

sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.

⁵You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;

you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

⁶Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,

you have uprooted their cities;

even the memory of them has perished.

⁷The Lord reigns for ever;

he has established his throne for judgment.

⁸He rules the world in righteousness

and judges the peoples with equity.

⁹The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,

a stronghold in times of trouble.

¹⁰Those who know your name trust in you,

for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

¹¹Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion;

proclaim among the nations what he has done.

¹²For he who avenges blood remembers;

he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.

¹³Lord, see how my enemies persecute me!

Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,

¹⁴that I may declare your praises

in the gates of Daughter Zion,

and there rejoice in your salvation.

¹⁵The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;

their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

¹⁶The Lord is known by his acts of justice;

the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.

¹⁷The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,

all the nations that forget God.

¹⁸But God will never forget the needy;

the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

¹⁹Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph;

let the nations be judged in your presence.

²⁰Strike them with terror, Lord;

let the nations know they are only mortal.

Chapter 10

Psalm 10

¹Why, Lord, do you stand far off?

Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

²In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,

who are caught in the schemes he devises.

³He boasts about the cravings of his heart;

he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.

⁴In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;

in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

⁵His ways are always prosperous;

your laws are rejected by him;

he sneers at all his enemies.

⁶He says to himself, ‘Nothing will ever shake me.’

He swears, ‘No-one will ever do me harm.’

⁷His mouth is full of lies and threats;

trouble and evil are under his tongue.

⁸He lies in wait near the villages;

from ambush he murders the innocent.

His eyes watch in secret for his victims;

⁹like a lion in cover he lies in wait.

He lies in wait to catch the helpless;

he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.

¹⁰His victims are crushed, they collapse;

they fall under his strength.

¹¹He says to himself, ‘God will never notice;

he covers his face and never sees.’

¹²Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.

Do not forget the helpless.

¹³Why does the wicked man revile God?

Why does he say to himself,

‘He won’t call me to account’?

¹⁴But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;

you consider their grief and take it in hand.

The victims commit themselves to you;

you are the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked man;

call the evildoer to account for his wickedness

that would not otherwise be found out.

¹⁶The Lord is King for ever and ever;

the nations will perish from his land.

¹⁷You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;

you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,

¹⁸defending the fatherless and the oppressed,

so that mere earthly mortals

will never again strike terror.

Chapter 11

Psalm 11

For the director of music. Of David.

¹In the Lord I take refuge.

How then can you say to me:

‘Flee like a bird to your mountain.

²For look, the wicked bend their bows;

they set their arrows against the strings

to shoot from the shadows

at the upright in heart.

³When the foundations are being destroyed,

what can the righteous do?’

⁴The Lord is in his holy temple;

the Lord is on his heavenly throne.

He observes everyone on earth;

his eyes examine them.

⁵The Lord examines the righteous,

but the wicked, those who love violence,

he hates with a passion.

⁶On the wicked he will rain

fiery coals and burning sulphur;

a scorching wind will be their lot.

⁷For the Lord is righteous,

he loves justice;

the upright will see his face.

Chapter 12

Psalm 12

For the director of music. According to sheminith. A psalm of David.

¹Help, Lord, for no-one is faithful anymore;

those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.

²Everyone lies to their neighbour;

they flatter with their lips

but harbour deception in their hearts.

³May the Lord silence all flattering lips

and every boastful tongue –

⁴those who say,

‘By our tongues we will prevail;

our own lips will defend us – who is lord over us?’

⁵‘Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,

I will now arise,’ says the Lord.

‘I will protect them from those who malign them.’

⁶And the words of the Lord are flawless,

like silver purified in a crucible,

like gold refined seven times.

⁷You, Lord, will keep the needy safe

and will protect us for ever from the wicked,

⁸who freely strut about

when what is vile is honoured by the human race.

Chapter 13

Psalm 13

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹How long, Lord? Will you forget me for ever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

²How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

and day after day have sorrow in my heart?

How long will my enemy triumph over me?

³Look on me and answer, Lord my God.

Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,

⁴and my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him,’

and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

⁵But I trust in your unfailing love;

my heart rejoices in your salvation.

⁶I will sing the Lord’s praise,

for he has been good to me.

Chapter 14

Psalm 14

For the director of music. Of David.

¹The fool says in his heart,

‘There is no God.’

They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;

there is no-one who does good.

²The Lord looks down from heaven

on all mankind

to see if there are any who understand,

any who seek God.

³All have turned away, all have become corrupt;

there is no-one who does good,

not even one.

⁴Do all these evildoers know nothing?

They devour my people as though eating bread;

they never call on the Lord.

⁵But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,

for God is present in the company of the righteous.

⁶You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,

but the Lord is their refuge.

⁷Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When the Lord restores his people,

let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

Chapter 15

Psalm 15

A psalm of David.

¹Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?

Who may live on your holy mountain?

²The one whose way of life is blameless,

who does what is righteous,

who speaks the truth from their heart;

³whose tongue utters no slander,

who does no wrong to a neighbour,

and casts no slur on others;

⁴who despises a vile person

but honours those who fear the Lord;

who keeps an oath even when it hurts,

and does not change their mind;

⁵who lends money to the poor without interest;

who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things

will never be shaken.

Chapter 16

Psalm 16

A miktam of David.

¹Keep me safe, my God,

for in you I take refuge.

²I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord;

apart from you I have no good thing.’

³I say of the holy people who are in the land,

‘They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.’

⁴Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.

I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods

or take up their names on my lips.

⁵Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;

you make my lot secure.

⁶The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

⁷I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.

⁸I keep my eyes always on the Lord.

With him at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

⁹Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest secure,

¹⁰because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,

nor will you let your faithful one see decay.

¹¹You make known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Chapter 17

Psalm 17

A prayer of David.

¹Hear me, Lord, my plea is just;

listen to my cry.

Hear my prayer –

it does not rise from deceitful lips.

²Let my vindication come from you;

may your eyes see what is right.

³Though you probe my heart,

though you examine me at night and test me,

you will find that I have planned no evil;

my mouth has not transgressed.

⁴Though people tried to bribe me,

I have kept myself from the ways of the violent

through what your lips have commanded.

⁵My steps have held to your paths;

my feet have not stumbled.

⁶I call on you, my God, for you will answer me;

turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.

⁷Show me the wonders of your great love,

you who save by your right hand

those who take refuge in you from their foes.

⁸Keep me as the apple of your eye;

hide me in the shadow of your wings

⁹from the wicked who are out to destroy me,

from my mortal enemies who surround me.

¹⁰They close up their callous hearts,

and their mouths speak with arrogance.

¹¹They have tracked me down, they now surround me,

with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.

¹²They are like a lion hungry for prey,

like a fierce lion crouching in cover.

¹³Rise up, Lord, confront them, bring them down;

with your sword rescue me from the wicked.

¹⁴By your hand save me from such people, Lord,

from those of this world whose reward is in this life.

May what you have stored up for the wicked fill their bellies;

may their children gorge themselves on it,

and may there be leftovers for their little ones.

¹⁵As for me, I shall be vindicated and shall see your face;

when I awake, I shall be satisfied with seeing your likeness.

Chapter 18

Psalm 18

For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord. He sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:

¹I love you, Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

³I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,

and I have been saved from my enemies.

⁴The cords of death entangled me;

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

⁵The cords of the grave coiled around me;

the snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my distress I called to the Lord;

I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my cry came before him, into his ears.

⁷The earth trembled and quaked,

and the foundations of the mountains shook;

they trembled because he was angry.

⁸Smoke rose from his nostrils;

consuming fire came from his mouth,

burning coals blazed out of it.

⁹He parted the heavens and came down;

dark clouds were under his feet.

¹⁰He mounted the cherubim and flew;

he soared on the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him –

the dark rain clouds of the sky.

¹²Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,

with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

¹³The Lord thundered from heaven;

the voice of the Most High resounded.

¹⁴He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,

with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

¹⁵The valleys of the sea were exposed

and the foundations of the earth laid bare

at your rebuke, Lord,

at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

¹⁶He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

¹⁷He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

from my foes, who were too strong for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

but the Lord was my support.

¹⁹He brought me out into a spacious place;

he rescued me because he delighted in me.

²⁰The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord;

I am not guilty of turning from my God.

²²All his laws are before me;

I have not turned away from his decrees.

²³I have been blameless before him

and have kept myself from sin.

²⁴The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵To the faithful you show yourself faithful,

to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

²⁶to the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

²⁷You save the humble

but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

²⁸You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;

my God turns my darkness into light.

²⁹With your help I can advance against a troop;

with my God I can scale a wall.

³⁰As for God, his way is perfect:

the Lord’s word is flawless;

he shields all who take refuge in him.

³¹For who is God besides the Lord?

And who is the Rock except our God?

³²It is God who arms me with strength

and keeps my way secure.

³³He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;

he causes me to stand on the heights.

³⁴He trains my hands for battle;

my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You make your saving help my shield,

and your right hand sustains me;

your help has made me great.

³⁶You provide a broad path for my feet,

so that my ankles do not give way.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them;

I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

³⁸I crushed them so that they could not rise;

they fell beneath my feet.

³⁹You armed me with strength for battle;

you humbled my adversaries before me.

⁴⁰You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,

and I destroyed my foes.

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was no-one to save them –

to the Lord, but he did not answer.

⁴²I beat them as fine as windblown dust;

I trampled them like mud in the streets.

⁴³You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;

you have made me the head of nations.

People I did not know now serve me,

⁴⁴foreigners cower before me;

as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.

⁴⁵They all lose heart;

they come trembling from their strongholds.

⁴⁶The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!

Exalted be God my Saviour!

⁴⁷He is the God who avenges me,

who subdues nations under me,

⁴⁸who saves me from my enemies.

You exalted me above my foes;

from a violent man you rescued me.

⁴⁹Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;

I will sing the praises of your name.

⁵⁰He gives his king great victories;

he shows unfailing love to his anointed,

to David and to his descendants for ever.

Chapter 19

Psalm 19

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

²Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

³They have no speech, they use no words;

no sound is heard from them.

⁴Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

⁵It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

⁶It rises at one end of the heavens

and makes its circuit to the other;

nothing is deprived of its warmth.

⁷The law of the Lord is perfect,

refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

⁸The precepts of the Lord are right,

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

giving light to the eyes.

⁹The fear of the Lord is pure,

enduring for ever.

The decrees of the Lord are firm,

and all of them are righteous.

¹⁰They are more precious than gold,

than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the honeycomb.

¹¹By them your servant is warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

¹²But who can discern their own errors?

Forgive my hidden faults.

¹³Keep your servant also from wilful sins;

may they not rule over me.

Then I will be blameless,

innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Chapter 20

Psalm 20

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;

may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

²May he send you help from the sanctuary

and grant you support from Zion.

³May he remember all your sacrifices

and accept your burnt offerings.

⁴May he give you the desire of your heart

and make all your plans succeed.

⁵May we shout for joy over your victory

and lift up our banners in the name of our God.

May the Lord grant all your requests.

⁶Now this I know:

the Lord gives victory to his anointed.

He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary

with the victorious power of his right hand.

⁷Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

⁸They are brought to their knees and fall,

but we rise up and stand firm.

⁹Lord, give victory to the king!

Answer us when we call!

Chapter 21

Psalm 21

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹The king rejoices in your strength, Lord.

How great is his joy in the victories you give!

²You have granted him his heart’s desire

and have not withheld the request of his lips.

³You came to greet him with rich blessings

and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.

⁴He asked you for life, and you gave it to him –

length of days, for ever and ever.

⁵Through the victories you gave, his glory is great;

you have bestowed on him splendour and majesty.

⁶Surely you have granted him unending blessings

and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

⁷For the king trusts in the Lord;

through the unfailing love of the Most High

he will not be shaken.

⁸Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies;

your right hand will seize your foes.

⁹When you appear for battle,

you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace.

The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,

and his fire will consume them.

¹⁰You will destroy their descendants from the earth,

their posterity from mankind.

¹¹Though they plot evil against you

and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed.

¹²You will make them turn their backs

when you aim at them with drawn bow.

¹³Be exalted in your strength, Lord;

we will sing and praise your might.

Chapter 22

Psalm 22

For the director of music. To the tune of ‘The Doe of the Morning’. A psalm of David.

¹My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me,

so far from my cries of anguish?

²My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,

by night, but I find no rest.

³Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;

you are the one Israel praises.

⁴In you our ancestors put their trust;

they trusted and you delivered them.

⁵To you they cried out and were saved;

in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

⁶But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

⁷All who see me mock me;

they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

⁸‘He trusts in the Lord,’ they say,

‘let the Lord rescue him.

Let him deliver him,

since he delights in him.’

⁹Yet you brought me out of the womb;

you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.

¹⁰From birth I was cast on you;

from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

¹¹Do not be far from me,

for trouble is near

and there is no-one to help.

¹²Many bulls surround me;

strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

¹³Roaring lions that tear their prey

open their mouths wide against me.

¹⁴I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint.

My heart has turned to wax;

it has melted within me.

¹⁵My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;

you lay me in the dust of death.

¹⁶Dogs surround me,

a pack of villains encircles me;

they pierce my hands and my feet.

¹⁷All my bones are on display;

people stare and gloat over me.

¹⁸They divide my clothes among them

and cast lots for my garment.

¹⁹But you, Lord, do not be far from me.

You are my strength; come quickly to help me.

²⁰Deliver me from the sword,

my precious life from the power of the dogs.

²¹Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;

save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

²²I will declare your name to my people;

in the assembly I will praise you.

²³You who fear the Lord, praise him!

All you descendants of Jacob, honour him!

Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

²⁴For he has not despised or scorned

the suffering of the afflicted one;

he has not hidden his face from him

but has listened to his cry for help.

²⁵From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;

before those who fear you I will fulfil my vows.

²⁶The poor will eat and be satisfied;

those who seek the Lord will praise him –

may your hearts live for ever!

²⁷All the ends of the earth

will remember and turn to the Lord,

and all the families of the nations

will bow down before him,

²⁸for dominion belongs to the Lord

and he rules over the nations.

²⁹All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;

all who go down to the dust will kneel before him –

those who cannot keep themselves alive.

³⁰Posterity will serve him;

future generations will be told about the Lord.

³¹They will proclaim his righteousness,

declaring to a people yet unborn:

He has done it!

Chapter 23

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

¹The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

²He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

³he refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths

for his name’s sake.

⁴Even though I walk

through the darkest valley,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

⁵You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

⁶Surely your goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord

for ever.

Chapter 24

Psalm 24

Of David. A psalm.

¹The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,

the world, and all who live in it;

²for he founded it on the seas

and established it on the waters.

³Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?

Who may stand in his holy place?

⁴The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not trust in an idol

or swear by a false god.

⁵They will receive blessing from the Lord

and vindication from God their Saviour.

⁶Such is the generation of those who seek him,

who seek your face, God of Jacob.,

⁷Lift up your heads, you gates;

be lifted up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

⁸Who is this King of glory?

The Lord strong and mighty,

the Lord mighty in battle.

⁹Lift up your heads, you gates;

lift them up, you ancient doors,

that the King of glory may come in.

¹⁰Who is he, this King of glory?

The Lord Almighty –

he is the King of glory.

Chapter 25

Psalm 25

Of David.

¹In you, Lord my God,

I put my trust.

²I trust in you;

do not let me be put to shame,

nor let my enemies triumph over me.

³No-one who hopes in you

will ever be put to shame,

but shame will come on those

who are treacherous without cause.

⁴Show me your ways, Lord,

teach me your paths.

⁵Guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my Saviour,

and my hope is in you all day long.

⁶Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,

for they are from of old.

⁷Do not remember the sins of my youth

and my rebellious ways;

according to your love remember me,

for you, Lord, are good.

⁸Good and upright is the Lord;

therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

⁹He guides the humble in what is right

and teaches them his way.

¹⁰All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful

towards those who keep the demands of his covenant.

¹¹For the sake of your name, Lord,

forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

¹²Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?

He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.

¹³They will spend their days in prosperity,

and their descendants will inherit the land.

¹⁴The Lord confides in those who fear him;

he makes his covenant known to them.

¹⁵My eyes are ever on the Lord,

for only he will release my feet from the snare.

¹⁶Turn to me and be gracious to me,

for I am lonely and afflicted.

¹⁷Relieve the troubles of my heart

and free me from my anguish.

¹⁸Look on my affliction and my distress

and take away all my sins.

¹⁹See how numerous are my enemies

and how fiercely they hate me!

²⁰Guard my life and rescue me;

do not let me be put to shame,

for I take refuge in you.

²¹May integrity and uprightness protect me,

because my hope, Lord, is in you.

²²Deliver Israel, O God,

from all their troubles!

Chapter 26

Psalm 26

Of David.

¹Vindicate me, Lord,

for I have led a blameless life;

I have trusted in the Lord

and have not faltered.

²Test me, Lord, and try me,

examine my heart and my mind;

³for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love

and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.

⁴I do not sit with the deceitful,

nor do I associate with hypocrites.

⁵I abhor the assembly of evildoers

and refuse to sit with the wicked.

⁶I wash my hands in innocence,

and go about your altar, Lord,

⁷proclaiming aloud your praise

and telling of all your wonderful deeds.

⁸Lord, I love the house where you live,

the place where your glory dwells.

⁹Do not take away my soul along with sinners,

my life with those who are bloodthirsty,

¹⁰in whose hands are wicked schemes,

whose right hands are full of bribes.

¹¹I lead a blameless life;

deliver me and be merciful to me.

¹²My feet stand on level ground;

in the great congregation I will praise the Lord.

Chapter 27

Psalm 27

Of David.

¹The Lord is my light and my salvation –

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life –

of whom shall I be afraid?

²When the wicked advance against me

to devour me,

it is my enemies and my foes

who will stumble and fall.

³Though an army besiege me,

my heart will not fear;

though war break out against me,

even then I will be confident.

⁴One thing I ask from the Lord,

this only do I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze on the beauty of the Lord

and to seek him in his temple.

⁵For in the day of trouble

he will keep me safe in his dwelling;

he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent

and set me high upon a rock.

⁶Then my head will be exalted

above the enemies who surround me;

at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;

I will sing and make music to the Lord.

⁷Hear my voice when I call, Lord;

be merciful to me and answer me.

⁸My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’

Your face, Lord, I will seek.

⁹Do not hide your face from me,

do not turn your servant away in anger;

you have been my helper.

Do not reject me or forsake me,

God my Saviour.

¹⁰Though my father and mother forsake me,

the Lord will receive me.

¹¹Teach me your way, Lord;

lead me in a straight path

because of my oppressors.

¹²Do not hand me over to the desire of my foes,

for false witnesses rise up against me,

spouting malicious accusations.

¹³I remain confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living.

¹⁴Wait for the Lord;

be strong and take heart

and wait for the Lord.

Chapter 28

Psalm 28

Of David.

¹To you, Lord, I call;

you are my Rock,

do not turn a deaf ear to me.

For if you remain silent,

I shall be like those who go down to the pit.

²Hear my cry for mercy

as I call to you for help,

as I lift up my hands

towards your Most Holy Place.

³Do not drag me away with the wicked,

with those who do evil,

who speak cordially with their neighbours

but harbour malice in their hearts.

⁴Repay them for their deeds

and for their evil work;

repay them for what their hands have done

and bring back on them what they deserve.

⁵Because they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord

and what his hands have done,

he will tear them down

and never build them up again.

⁶Praise be to the Lord,

for he has heard my cry for mercy.

⁷The Lord is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.

My heart leaps for joy,

and with my song I praise him.

⁸The Lord is the strength of his people,

a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.

⁹Save your people and bless your inheritance;

be their shepherd and carry them for ever.

Chapter 29

Psalm 29

A psalm of David.

¹Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

²Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name;

worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness.

³The voice of the Lord is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders,

the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

⁴The voice of the Lord is powerful;

the voice of the Lord is majestic.

⁵The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;

the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

⁶He makes Lebanon leap like a calf,

Sirion like a young wild ox.

⁷The voice of the Lord strikes

with flashes of lightning.

⁸The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;

the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

⁹The voice of the Lord twists the oaks

and strips the forests bare.

And in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’

¹⁰The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;

the Lord is enthroned as King for ever.

¹¹The Lord gives strength to his people;

the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Chapter 30

Psalm 30

A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David.

¹I will exalt you, Lord,

for you lifted me out of the depths

and did not let my enemies gloat over me.

²Lord my God, I called to you for help,

and you healed me.

³You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;

you spared me from going down to the pit.

⁴Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;

praise his holy name.

⁵For his anger lasts only a moment,

but his favour lasts a lifetime;

weeping may stay for the night,

but rejoicing comes in the morning.

⁶When I felt secure, I said,

‘I shall never be shaken.’

⁷Lord, when you favoured me,

you made my royal mountain stand firm;

but when you hid your face,

I was dismayed.

⁸To you, Lord, I called;

to the Lord I cried for mercy:

⁹‘What is gained if I am silenced,

if I go down to the pit?

Will the dust praise you?

Will it proclaim your faithfulness?

¹⁰Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;

Lord, be my help.’

¹¹You turned my wailing into dancing;

you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

¹²that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.

Lord my God, I will praise you for ever.

Chapter 31

Psalm 31

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;

let me never be put to shame;

deliver me in your righteousness.

²Turn your ear to me,

come quickly to my rescue;

be my rock of refuge,

a strong fortress to save me.

³Since you are my rock and my fortress,

for the sake of your name lead and guide me.

⁴Keep me free from the trap that is set for me,

for you are my refuge.

⁵Into your hands I commit my spirit;

deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.

⁶I hate those who cling to worthless idols;

as for me, I trust in the Lord.

⁷I will be glad and rejoice in your love,

for you saw my affliction

and knew the anguish of my soul.

⁸You have not given me into the hands of the enemy

but have set my feet in a spacious place.

⁹Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress;

my eyes grow weak with sorrow,

my soul and body with grief.

¹⁰My life is consumed by anguish

and my years by groaning;

my strength fails because of my affliction,

and my bones grow weak.

¹¹Because of all my enemies,

I am the utter contempt of my neighbours

and an object of dread to my closest friends –

those who see me on the street flee from me.

¹²I am forgotten as though I were dead;

I have become like broken pottery.

¹³For I hear many whispering,

‘Terror on every side!’

They conspire against me

and plot to take my life.

¹⁴But I trust in you, Lord;

I say, ‘You are my God.’

¹⁵My times are in your hands;

deliver me from the hands of my enemies,

from those who pursue me.

¹⁶Let your face shine on your servant;

save me in your unfailing love.

¹⁷Let me not be put to shame, Lord,

for I have cried out to you;

but let the wicked be put to shame

and be silent in the realm of the dead.

¹⁸Let their lying lips be silenced,

for with pride and contempt

they speak arrogantly against the righteous.

¹⁹How abundant are the good things

that you have stored up for those who fear you,

that you bestow in the sight of all,

on those who take refuge in you.

²⁰In the shelter of your presence you hide them

from all human intrigues;

you keep them safe in your dwelling

from accusing tongues.

²¹Praise be to the Lord,

for he showed me the wonders of his love

when I was in a city under siege.

²²In my alarm I said,

‘I am cut off from your sight!’

Yet you heard my cry for mercy

when I called to you for help.

²³Love the Lord, all his faithful people!

The Lord preserves those who are true to him,

but the proud he pays back in full.

²⁴Be strong and take heart,

all you who hope in the Lord.

Chapter 32

Psalm 32

Of David. A maskil.

¹Blessed is the one

whose transgressions are forgiven,

whose sins are covered.

²Blessed is the one

whose sin the Lord does not count against them

and in whose spirit is no deceit.

³When I kept silent,

my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

⁴For day and night

your hand was heavy on me;

my strength was sapped

as in the heat of summer.

⁵Then I acknowledged my sin to you

and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, ‘I will confess

my transgressions to the Lord.’

And you forgave

the guilt of my sin.

⁶Therefore let all the faithful pray to you

while you may be found;

surely the rising of the mighty waters

will not reach them.

⁷You are my hiding-place;

you will protect me from trouble

and surround me with songs of deliverance.

⁸I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

⁹Do not be like the horse or the mule,

which have no understanding

but must be controlled by bit and bridle

or they will not come to you.

¹⁰Many are the woes of the wicked,

but the Lord’s unfailing love

surrounds the one who trusts in him.

¹¹Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;

sing, all you who are upright in heart!

Chapter 33

Psalm 33

¹Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;

it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

²Praise the Lord with the harp;

make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

³Sing to him a new song;

play skilfully, and shout for joy.

⁴For the word of the Lord is right and true;

he is faithful in all he does.

⁵The Lord loves righteousness and justice;

the earth is full of his unfailing love.

⁶By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

⁷He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;

he puts the deep into storehouses.

⁸Let all the earth fear the Lord;

let all the people of the world revere him.

⁹For he spoke, and it came to be;

he commanded, and it stood firm.

¹⁰The Lord foils the plans of the nations;

he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.

¹¹But the plans of the Lord stand firm for ever,

the purposes of his heart through all generations.

¹²Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

the people he chose for his inheritance.

¹³From heaven the Lord looks down

and sees all mankind;

¹⁴from his dwelling-place he watches

all who live on earth –

¹⁵he who forms the hearts of all,

who considers everything they do.

¹⁶No king is saved by the size of his army;

no warrior escapes by his great strength.

¹⁷A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;

despite all its great strength it cannot save.

¹⁸But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,

on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

¹⁹to deliver them from death

and keep them alive in famine.

²⁰We wait in hope for the Lord;

he is our help and our shield.

²¹In him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in his holy name.

²²May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,

even as we put our hope in you.

Chapter 34

Psalm 34,

Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left.

¹I will extol the Lord at all times;

his praise will always be on my lips.

²I will glory in the Lord;

let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

³Glorify the Lord with me:

let us exalt his name together.

⁴I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

he delivered me from all my fears.

⁵Those who look to him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

⁶This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;

he saved him out of all his troubles.

⁷The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,

and he delivers them.

⁸Taste and see that the Lord is good;

blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

⁹Fear the Lord, you his holy people,

for those who fear him lack nothing.

¹⁰The lions may grow weak and hungry,

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

¹¹Come, my children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

¹²Whoever of you loves life

and desires to see many good days,

¹³keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from telling lies.

¹⁴Turn from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.

¹⁵The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and his ears are attentive to their cry;

¹⁶but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

to blot out their name from the earth.

¹⁷The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;

he delivers them from all their troubles.

¹⁸The Lord is close to the broken-hearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

¹⁹The righteous person may have many troubles,

but the Lord delivers him from them all;

²⁰he protects all his bones,

not one of them will be broken.

²¹Evil will slay the wicked;

the foes of the righteous will be condemned.

²²The Lord will rescue his servants;

no-one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

Chapter 35

Psalm 35

Of David.

¹Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me;

fight against those who fight against me.

²Take up shield and armour;

arise and come to my aid.

³Brandish spear and javelin

against those who pursue me.

Say to me,

‘I am your salvation.’

⁴May those who seek my life

be disgraced and put to shame;

may those who plot my ruin

be turned back in dismay.

⁵May they be like chaff before the wind,

with the angel of the Lord driving them away;

⁶may their path be dark and slippery,

with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

⁷Since they hid their net for me without cause

and without cause dug a pit for me,

⁸may ruin overtake them by surprise –

may the net they hid entangle them,

may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.

⁹Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord

and delight in his salvation.

¹⁰My whole being will exclaim,

‘Who is like you, Lord?

You rescue the poor from those too strong for them,

the poor and needy from those who rob them.’

¹¹Ruthless witnesses come forward;

they question me on things I know nothing about.

¹²They repay me evil for good

and leave me like one bereaved.

¹³Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth

and humbled myself with fasting.

When my prayers returned to me unanswered,

¹⁴I went about mourning

as though for my friend or brother.

I bowed my head in grief

as though weeping for my mother.

¹⁵But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;

assailants gathered against me without my knowledge.

They slandered me without ceasing.

¹⁶Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked;

they gnashed their teeth at me.

¹⁷How long, Lord, will you look on?

Rescue me from their ravages,

my precious life from these lions.

¹⁸I will give you thanks in the great assembly;

among the throngs I will praise you.

¹⁹Do not let those gloat over me

who are my enemies without cause;

do not let those who hate me without reason

maliciously wink the eye.

²⁰They do not speak peaceably,

but devise false accusations

against those who live quietly in the land.

²¹They sneer at me and say, ‘Aha! Aha!

With our own eyes we have seen it.’

²²Lord, you have seen this; do not be silent.

Do not be far from me, Lord.

²³Awake, and rise to my defence!

Contend for me, my God and Lord.

²⁴Vindicate me in your righteousness, Lord my God;

do not let them gloat over me.

²⁵Do not let them think, ‘Aha, just what we wanted!’

or say, ‘We have swallowed him up.’

²⁶May all who gloat over my distress

be put to shame and confusion;

may all who exalt themselves over me

be clothed with shame and disgrace.

²⁷May those who delight in my vindication

shout for joy and gladness;

may they always say, ‘The Lord be exalted,

who delights in the well-being of his servant.’

²⁸My tongue will proclaim your righteousness,

your praises all day long.

Chapter 36

Psalm 36

For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord.

¹I have a message from God in my heart

concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:

There is no fear of God

before their eyes.

²In their own eyes they flatter themselves

too much to detect or hate their sin.

³The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful;

they fail to act wisely or do good.

⁴Even on their beds they plot evil;

they commit themselves to a sinful course

and do not reject what is wrong.

⁵Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the skies.

⁶Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,

your justice like the great deep.

You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.

⁷How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!

People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

⁸They feast in the abundance of your house;

you give them drink from your river of delights.

⁹For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light we see light.

¹⁰Continue your love to those who know you,

your righteousness to the upright in heart.

¹¹May the foot of the proud not come against me,

nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

¹²See how the evildoers lie fallen –

thrown down, not able to rise!

Chapter 37

Psalm 37

Of David.

¹Do not fret because of those who are evil

or be envious of those who do wrong;

²for like the grass they will soon wither,

like green plants they will soon die away.

³Trust in the Lord and do good;

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

⁴Take delight in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

⁵Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him and he will do this:

⁶he will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,

your vindication like the noonday sun.

⁷Be still before the Lord

and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes.

⁸Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;

do not fret – it leads only to evil.

⁹For those who are evil will be destroyed,

but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land.

¹⁰A little while, and the wicked will be no more;

though you look for them, they will not be found.

¹¹But the meek will inherit the land

and enjoy peace and prosperity.

¹²The wicked plot against the righteous

and gnash their teeth at them;

¹³but the Lord laughs at the wicked,

for he knows their day is coming.

¹⁴The wicked draw the sword

and bend the bow

to bring down the poor and needy,

to slay those whose ways are upright.

¹⁵But their swords will pierce their own hearts,

and their bows will be broken.

¹⁶Better the little that the righteous have

than the wealth of many wicked;

¹⁷for the power of the wicked will be broken,

but the Lord upholds the righteous.

¹⁸The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care,

and their inheritance will endure for ever.

¹⁹In times of disaster they will not wither;

in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.

²⁰But the wicked will perish:

though the Lord’s enemies are like the flowers of the field,

they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.

²¹The wicked borrow and do not repay,

but the righteous give generously;

²²those the Lord blesses will inherit the land,

but those he curses will be destroyed.

²³The Lord makes firm the steps

of the one who delights in him;

²⁴though he may stumble, he will not fall,

for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

²⁵I was young and now I am old,

yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken

or their children begging bread.

²⁶They are always generous and lend freely;

their children will be a blessing.

²⁷Turn from evil and do good;

then you will dwell in the land for ever.

²⁸For the Lord loves the just

and will not forsake his faithful ones.

Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed;

the offspring of the wicked will perish.

²⁹The righteous will inherit the land

and dwell in it for ever.

³⁰The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,

and their tongues speak what is just.

³¹The law of their God is in their hearts;

their feet do not slip.

³²The wicked lie in wait for the righteous,

intent on putting them to death;

³³but the Lord will not leave them in the power of the wicked

or let them be condemned when brought to trial.

³⁴Hope in the Lord

and keep his way.

He will exalt you to inherit the land;

when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it.

³⁵I have seen a wicked and ruthless man

flourishing like a luxuriant native tree,

³⁶but he soon passed away and was no more;

though I looked for him, he could not be found.

³⁷Consider the blameless, observe the upright;

a future awaits those who seek peace.

³⁸But all sinners will be destroyed;

there will be no future for the wicked.

³⁹The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;

he is their stronghold in time of trouble.

⁴⁰The Lord helps them and delivers them;

he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in him.

Chapter 38

Psalm 38

A psalm of David. A petition.

¹Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.

²Your arrows have pierced me,

and your hand has come down on me.

³Because of your wrath there is no health in my body;

there is no soundness in my bones because of my sin.

⁴My guilt has overwhelmed me

like a burden too heavy to bear.

⁵My wounds fester and are loathsome

because of my sinful folly.

⁶I am bowed down and brought very low;

all day long I go about mourning.

⁷My back is filled with searing pain;

there is no health in my body.

⁸I am feeble and utterly crushed;

I groan in anguish of heart.

⁹All my longings lie open before you, Lord:

my sighing is not hidden from you.

¹⁰My heart pounds, my strength fails me;

even the light has gone from my eyes.

¹¹My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;

my neighbours stay far away.

¹²Those who want to kill me set their traps,

those who would harm me talk of my ruin;

all day long they scheme and lie.

¹³I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,

like the mute, who cannot speak;

¹⁴I have become like one who does not hear,

whose mouth can offer no reply.

¹⁵Lord, I wait for you;

you will answer, Lord my God.

¹⁶For I said, ‘Do not let them gloat

or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip.’

¹⁷For I am about to fall,

and my pain is ever with me.

¹⁸I confess my iniquity;

I am troubled by my sin.

¹⁹Many have become my enemies without cause;

those who hate me without reason are numerous.

²⁰Those who repay my good with evil

lodge accusations against me,

though I seek only to do what is good.

²¹Lord, do not forsake me;

do not be far from me, my God.

²²Come quickly to help me,

my Lord and my Saviour.

Chapter 39

Psalm 39

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

¹I said, ‘I will watch my ways

and keep my tongue from sin;

I will put a muzzle on my mouth

while in the presence of the wicked.’

²So I remained utterly silent,

not even saying anything good.

But my anguish increased;

³my heart grew hot within me.

While I meditated, the fire burned;

then I spoke with my tongue:

⁴‘Show me, Lord, my life’s end

and the number of my days;

let me know how fleeting my life is.

⁵You have made my days a mere handbreadth;

the span of my years is as nothing before you.

Everyone is but a breath,

even those who seem secure.

⁶‘Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;

in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth

without knowing whose it will finally be.

⁷‘But now, Lord, what do I look for?

My hope is in you.

⁸Save me from all my transgressions;

do not make me the scorn of fools.

⁹I was silent; I would not open my mouth,

for you are the one who has done this.

¹⁰Remove your scourge from me;

I am overcome by the blow of your hand.

¹¹When you rebuke and discipline anyone for their sin,

you consume their wealth like a moth –

surely everyone is but a breath.

¹²‘Hear my prayer, Lord,

listen to my cry for help;

do not be deaf to my weeping.

I dwell with you as a foreigner,

a stranger, as all my ancestors were.

¹³Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again

before I depart and am no more.’

Chapter 40

Psalm 40

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

¹I waited patiently for the Lord;

he turned to me and heard my cry.

²He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand.

³He put a new song in my mouth,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear the Lord

and put their trust in him.

⁴Blessed is the one

who trusts in the Lord,

who does not look to the proud,

to those who turn aside to false gods.

⁵Many, Lord my God,

are the wonders you have done,

the things you planned for us.

None can compare with you;

were I to speak and tell of your deeds,

they would be too many to declare.

⁶Sacrifice and offering you did not desire –

but my ears you have opened –

burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.

⁷Then I said, ‘Here I am, I have come –

it is written about me in the scroll.

⁸I desire to do your will, my God;

your law is within my heart.’

⁹I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly;

I do not seal my lips, Lord,

as you know.

¹⁰I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;

I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help.

I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness

from the great assembly.

¹¹Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord;

may your love and faithfulness always protect me.

¹²For troubles without number surround me;

my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.

They are more than the hairs of my head,

and my heart fails within me.

¹³Be pleased to save me, Lord;

come quickly, Lord, to help me.

¹⁴May all who want to take my life

be put to shame and confusion;

may all who desire my ruin

be turned back in disgrace.

¹⁵May those who say to me, ‘Aha! Aha!’

be appalled at their own shame.

¹⁶But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who long for your saving help always say,

‘The Lord is great!’

¹⁷But as for me, I am poor and needy;

may the Lord think of me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

you are my God, do not delay.

Chapter 41

Psalm 41

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹Blessed are those who have regard for the weak;

the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.

²The Lord protects and preserves them –

they are counted among the blessed in the land –

he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.

³The Lord sustains them on their sick-bed

and restores them from their bed of illness.

⁴I said, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord;

heal me, for I have sinned against you.’

⁵My enemies say of me in malice,

‘When will he die and his name perish?’

⁶When one of them comes to see me,

he speaks falsely, while his heart gathers slander;

then he goes out and spreads it around.

⁷All my enemies whisper together against me;

they imagine the worst for me, saying,

⁸‘A vile disease has afflicted him;

he will never get up from the place where he lies.’

⁹Even my close friend,

someone I trusted,

one who shared my bread,

has turned against me.

¹⁰But may you have mercy on me, Lord;

raise me up, that I may repay them.

¹¹I know that you are pleased with me,

for my enemy does not triumph over me.

¹²Because of my integrity you uphold me

and set me in your presence for ever.

¹³Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

Amen and Amen.

Chapter 42

Book II

Psalms 42–72

Psalm 42,

For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah.

¹As the deer pants for streams of water,

so my soul pants for you, my God.

²My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When can I go and meet with God?

³My tears have been my food

day and night,

while people say to me all day long,

‘Where is your God?’

⁴These things I remember

as I pour out my soul:

how I used to go to the house of God

under the protection of the Mighty One

with shouts of joy and praise

among the festive throng.

⁵Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Saviour and my God.

⁶My soul is downcast within me;

therefore I will remember you

from the land of the Jordan,

the heights of Hermon – from Mount Mizar.

⁷Deep calls to deep

in the roar of your waterfalls;

all your waves and breakers

have swept over me.

⁸By day the Lord directs his love,

at night his song is with me –

a prayer to the God of my life.

⁹I say to God my Rock,

‘Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go about mourning,

oppressed by the enemy?’

¹⁰My bones suffer mortal agony

as my foes taunt me,

saying to me all day long,

‘Where is your God?’

¹¹Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Saviour and my God.

Chapter 43

Psalm 43

¹Vindicate me, my God,

and plead my cause

against an unfaithful nation.

Rescue me from those who are

deceitful and wicked.

²You are God my stronghold.

Why have you rejected me?

Why must I go about mourning,

oppressed by the enemy?

³Send me your light and your faithful care,

let them lead me;

let them bring me to your holy mountain,

to the place where you dwell.

⁴Then I will go to the altar of God,

to God, my joy and my delight.

I will praise you with the lyre,

O God, my God.

⁵Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Saviour and my God.

Chapter 44

Psalm 44

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.

¹We have heard it with our ears, O God;

our ancestors have told us

what you did in their days,

in days long ago.

²With your hand you drove out the nations

and planted our ancestors;

you crushed the peoples

and made our ancestors flourish.

³It was not by their sword that they won the land,

nor did their arm bring them victory;

it was your right hand, your arm,

and the light of your face, for you loved them.

⁴You are my King and my God,

who decrees victories for Jacob.

⁵Through you we push back our enemies;

through your name we trample our foes.

⁶I put no trust in my bow,

my sword does not bring me victory;

⁷but you give us victory over our enemies,

you put our adversaries to shame.

⁸In God we make our boast all day long,

and we will praise your name for ever.

⁹But now you have rejected and humbled us;

you no longer go out with our armies.

¹⁰You made us retreat before the enemy,

and our adversaries have plundered us.

¹¹You gave us up to be devoured like sheep

and have scattered us among the nations.

¹²You sold your people for a pittance,

gaining nothing from their sale.

¹³You have made us a reproach to our neighbours,

the scorn and derision of those around us.

¹⁴You have made us a byword among the nations;

the peoples shake their heads at us.

¹⁵I live in disgrace all day long,

and my face is covered with shame

¹⁶at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,

because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.

¹⁷All this came upon us,

though we had not forgotten you;

we had not been false to your covenant.

¹⁸Our hearts had not turned back;

our feet had not strayed from your path.

¹⁹But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals;

you covered us over with deep darkness.

²⁰If we had forgotten the name of our God

or spread out our hands to a foreign god,

²¹would not God have discovered it,

since he knows the secrets of the heart?

²²Yet for your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

²³Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep?

Rouse yourself! Do not reject us for ever.

²⁴Why do you hide your face

and forget our misery and oppression?

²⁵We are brought down to the dust;

our bodies cling to the ground.

²⁶Rise up and help us;

rescue us because of your unfailing love.

Chapter 45

Psalm 45

For the director of music. To the tune of ‘Lilies’. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil. A wedding song.

¹My heart is stirred by a noble theme

as I recite my verses for the king;

my tongue is the pen of a skilful writer.

²You are the most excellent of men

and your lips have been anointed with grace,

since God has blessed you for ever.

³Gird your sword on your side, you mighty one;

clothe yourself with splendour and majesty.

⁴In your majesty ride forth victoriously

in the cause of truth, humility and justice;

let your right hand achieve awesome deeds.

⁵Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies;

let the nations fall beneath your feet.

⁶Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;

a sceptre of justice will be the sceptre of your kingdom.

⁷You love righteousness and hate wickedness;

therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions

by anointing you with the oil of joy.

⁸All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;

from palaces adorned with ivory

the music of the strings makes you glad.

⁹Daughters of kings are among your honoured women;

at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

¹⁰Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention:

Forget your people and your father’s house.

¹¹Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;

honour him, for he is your lord.

¹²The city of Tyre will come with a gift,

people of wealth will seek your favour.

¹³All glorious is the princess within her chamber;

her gown is interwoven with gold.

¹⁴In embroidered garments she is led to the king;

her virgin companions follow her –

those brought to be with her.

¹⁵Led in with joy and gladness,

they enter the palace of the king.

¹⁶Your sons will take the place of your fathers;

you will make them princes throughout the land.

¹⁷I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;

therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.

Chapter 46

Psalm 46

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.

¹God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

³though its waters roar and foam

and the mountains quake with their surging.

⁴There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy place where the Most High dwells.

⁵God is within her, she will not fall;

God will help her at break of day.

⁶Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;

he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

⁷The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

⁸Come and see what the Lord has done,

the desolations he has brought on the earth.

⁹He makes wars cease

to the ends of the earth.

He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the shields with fire.

¹⁰He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.’

¹¹The Lord Almighty is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Chapter 47

Psalm 47

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹Clap your hands, all you nations;

shout to God with cries of joy.

²For the Lord Most High is awesome,

the great King over all the earth.

³He subdued nations under us,

peoples under our feet.

⁴He chose our inheritance for us,

the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.

⁵God has ascended amid shouts of joy,

the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.

⁶Sing praises to God, sing praises;

sing praises to our King, sing praises.

⁷For God is the King of all the earth;

sing to him a psalm of praise.

⁸God reigns over the nations;

God is seated on his holy throne.

⁹The nobles of the nations assemble

as the people of the God of Abraham,

for the kings of the earth belong to God;

he is greatly exalted.

Chapter 48

Psalm 48

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.

¹Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise,

in the city of our God, his holy mountain.

²Beautiful in its loftiness,

the joy of the whole earth,

like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion,

the city of the Great King.

³God is in her citadels;

he has shown himself to be her fortress.

⁴When the kings joined forces,

when they advanced together,

⁵they saw her and were astounded;

they fled in terror.

⁶Trembling seized them there,

pain like that of a woman in labour.

⁷You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish

shattered by an east wind.

⁸As we have heard,

so we have seen

in the city of the Lord Almighty,

in the city of our God:

God makes her secure

for ever.

⁹Within your temple, O God,

we meditate on your unfailing love.

¹⁰Like your name, O God,

your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;

your right hand is filled with righteousness.

¹¹Mount Zion rejoices,

the villages of Judah are glad

because of your judgments.

¹²Walk about Zion, go round her,

count her towers,

¹³consider well her ramparts,

view her citadels,

that you may tell of them

to the next generation.

¹⁴For this God is our God for ever and ever;

he will be our guide even to the end.

Chapter 49

Psalm 49

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹Hear this, all you peoples;

listen, all who live in this world,

²both low and high,

rich and poor alike:

³My mouth will speak words of wisdom;

the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.

⁴I will turn my ear to a proverb;

with the harp I will expound my riddle:

⁵Why should I fear when evil days come,

when wicked deceivers surround me –

⁶those who trust in their wealth

and boast of their great riches?

⁷No-one can redeem the life of another

or give to God a ransom for them –

⁸the ransom for a life is costly,

no payment is ever enough –

⁹so that they should live on for ever

and not see decay.

¹⁰For all can see that the wise die,

that the foolish and the senseless also perish,

leaving their wealth to others.

¹¹Their tombs will remain their houses for ever,

their dwellings for endless generations,

though they had named lands after themselves.

¹²People, despite their wealth, do not endure;

they are like the beasts that perish.

¹³This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,

and of their followers, who approve their sayings.

¹⁴They are like sheep and are destined to die;

death will be their shepherd

(but the upright will prevail over them in the morning).

Their forms will decay in the grave,

far from their princely mansions.

¹⁵But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;

he will surely take me to himself.

¹⁶Do not be overawed when others grow rich,

when the splendour of their houses increases;

¹⁷for they will take nothing with them when they die,

their splendour will not descend with them.

¹⁸Though while they live they count themselves blessed –

and people praise you when you prosper –

¹⁹they will join those who have gone before them,

who will never again see the light of life.

²⁰People who have wealth but lack understanding

are like the beasts that perish.

Chapter 50

Psalm 50

A psalm of Asaph.

¹The Mighty One, God, the Lord,

speaks and summons the earth

from the rising of the sun to where it sets.

²From Zion, perfect in beauty,

God shines forth.

³Our God comes

and will not be silent;

a fire devours before him,

and around him a tempest rages.

⁴He summons the heavens above,

and the earth, that he may judge his people:

⁵‘Gather to me this consecrated people,

who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.’

⁶And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,

for he is a God of justice.,

⁷‘Listen, my people, and I will speak;

I will testify against you, Israel:

I am God, your God.

⁸I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices

or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.

⁹I have no need of a bull from your stall

or of goats from your pens,

¹⁰for every animal of the forest is mine,

and the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹I know every bird in the mountains,

and the insects in the fields are mine.

¹²If I were hungry I would not tell you,

for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls

or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴‘Sacrifice thank-offerings to God,

fulfil your vows to the Most High,

¹⁵and call on me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you will honour me.’

¹⁶But to the wicked person, God says:

‘What right have you to recite my laws

or take my covenant on your lips?

¹⁷You hate my instruction

and cast my words behind you.

¹⁸When you see a thief, you join with him;

you throw in your lot with adulterers.

¹⁹You use your mouth for evil

and harness your tongue to deceit.

²⁰You sit and testify against your brother

and slander your own mother’s son.

²¹When you did these things and I kept silent,

you thought I was exactly like you.

But I now arraign you

and set my accusations before you.

²²‘Consider this, you who forget God,

or I will tear you to pieces, with no-one to rescue you:

²³those who sacrifice thank-offerings honour me,

and to the blameless I will show my salvation.’

Chapter 51

Psalm 51

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

¹Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

²Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

³For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is always before me.

⁴Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight;

so you are right in your verdict

and justified when you judge.

⁵Surely I was sinful at birth,

sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

⁶Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;

you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

⁷Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

⁹Hide your face from my sins

and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

¹¹Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

so that sinners will turn back to you.

¹⁴Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

you who are God my Saviour,

and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

¹⁵Open my lips, Lord,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

¹⁶You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

¹⁷My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart

you, God, will not despise.

¹⁸May it please you to prosper Zion,

to build up the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,

in burnt offerings offered whole;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Chapter 52

Psalm 52

For the director of music. A maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: ‘David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.’

¹Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?

Why do you boast all day long,

you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?

²You who practise deceit,

your tongue plots destruction;

it is like a sharpened razor.

³You love evil rather than good,

falsehood rather than speaking the truth.

⁴You love every harmful word,

you deceitful tongue!

⁵Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:

he will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent;

he will uproot you from the land of the living.

⁶The righteous will see and fear;

they will laugh at you, saying,

⁷‘Here now is the man

who did not make God his stronghold

but trusted in his great wealth

and grew strong by destroying others!’

⁸But I am like an olive tree

flourishing in the house of God;

I trust in God’s unfailing love

for ever and ever.

⁹For what you have done I will always praise you

in the presence of your faithful people.

And I will hope in your name,

for your name is good.

Chapter 53

Psalm 53

For the director of music. According to mahalath. A maskil of David.

¹The fool says in his heart,

‘There is no God.’

They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;

there is no-one who does good.

²God looks down from heaven

on all mankind

to see if there are any who understand,

any who seek God.

³Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt;

there is no-one who does good,

not even one.

⁴Do all these evildoers know nothing?

They devour my people as though eating bread;

they never call on God.

⁵But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,

where there was nothing to dread.

God scattered the bones of those who attacked you;

you put them to shame, for God despised them.

⁶Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When God restores his people,

let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

Chapter 54

Psalm 54

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David. When the Ziphites had gone to Saul and said, ‘Is not David hiding among us?’

¹Save me, O God, by your name;

vindicate me by your might.

²Hear my prayer, O God;

listen to the words of my mouth.

³Arrogant foes are attacking me;

ruthless people are trying to kill me –

people without regard for God.

⁴Surely God is my help;

the Lord is the one who sustains me.

⁵Let evil recoil on those who slander me;

in your faithfulness destroy them.

⁶I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;

I will praise your name, Lord, for it is good.

⁷You have delivered me from all my troubles,

and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

Chapter 55

Psalm 55

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David.

¹Listen to my prayer, O God,

do not ignore my plea;

²hear me and answer me.

My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught

³because of what my enemy is saying,

because of the threats of the wicked;

for they bring down suffering on me

and assail me in their anger.

⁴My heart is in anguish within me;

the terrors of death have fallen on me.

⁵Fear and trembling have beset me;

horror has overwhelmed me.

⁶I said, ‘Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest.

⁷I would flee far away

and stay in the desert;

⁸I would hurry to my place of shelter,

far from the tempest and storm.’

⁹Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,

for I see violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they prowl about on its walls;

malice and abuse are within it.

¹¹Destructive forces are at work in the city;

threats and lies never leave its streets.

¹²If an enemy were insulting me,

I could endure it;

if a foe were rising against me,

I could hide.

¹³But it is you, a man like myself,

my companion, my close friend,

¹⁴with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship

at the house of God,

as we walked about

among the worshippers.

¹⁵Let death take my enemies by surprise;

let them go down alive to the realm of the dead,

for evil finds lodging among them.

¹⁶As for me, I call to God,

and the Lord saves me.

¹⁷Evening, morning and noon

I cry out in distress,

and he hears my voice.

¹⁸He rescues me unharmed

from the battle waged against me,

even though many oppose me.

¹⁹God, who is enthroned from of old,

who does not change –

he will hear them and humble them,

because they have no fear of God.

²⁰My companion attacks his friends;

he violates his covenant.

²¹His talk is smooth as butter,

yet war is in his heart;

his words are more soothing than oil,

yet they are drawn swords.

²²Cast your cares on the Lord

and he will sustain you;

he will never let

the righteous be shaken.

²³But you, God, will bring down the wicked

into the pit of decay;

the bloodthirsty and deceitful

will not live out half their days.

But as for me, I trust in you.

Chapter 56

Psalm 56

For the director of music. To the tune of ‘A Dove on Distant Oaks’. Of David. A miktam. When the Philistines had seized him in Gath.

¹Be merciful to me, my God,

for my enemies are in hot pursuit;

all day long they press their attack.

²My adversaries pursue me all day long;

in their pride many are attacking me.

³When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

⁴In God, whose word I praise –

in God I trust and am not afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?

⁵All day long they twist my words;

all their schemes are for my ruin.

⁶They conspire, they lurk,

they watch my steps,

hoping to take my life.

⁷Because of their wickedness do not let them escape;

in your anger, God, bring the nations down.

⁸Record my misery;

list my tears on your scroll –

are they not in your record?

⁹Then my enemies will turn back

when I call for help.

By this I will know that God is for me.

¹⁰In God, whose word I praise,

in the Lord, whose word I praise –

¹¹in God I trust and am not afraid.

What can man do to me?

¹²I am under vows to you, my God;

I will present my thank-offerings to you.

¹³For you have delivered me from death

and my feet from stumbling,

that I may walk before God

in the light of life.

Chapter 57

Psalm 57

For the director of music. To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy’. Of David. A miktam. When he had fled from Saul into the cave.

¹Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me,

for in you I take refuge.

I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings

until the disaster has passed.

²I cry out to God Most High,

to God, who vindicates me.

³He sends from heaven and saves me,

rebuking those who hotly pursue me –

God sends forth his love and his faithfulness.

⁴I am in the midst of lions;

I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts –

men whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are sharp swords.

⁵Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

let your glory be over all the earth.

⁶They spread a net for my feet –

I was bowed down in distress.

They dug a pit in my path –

but they have fallen into it themselves.

⁷My heart, O God, is steadfast,

my heart is steadfast;

I will sing and make music.

⁸Awake, my soul!

Awake, harp and lyre!

I will awaken the dawn.

⁹I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;

I will sing of you among the peoples.

¹⁰For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;

your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

¹¹Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;

let your glory be over all the earth.

Chapter 58

Psalm 58

For the director of music. To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy’. Of David. A miktam.

¹Do you rulers indeed speak justly?

Do you judge people with equity?

²No, in your heart you devise injustice,

and your hands mete out violence on the earth.

³Even from birth the wicked go astray;

from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.

⁴Their venom is like the venom of a snake,

like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,

⁵that will not heed the tune of the charmer,

however skilful the enchanter may be.

⁶Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;

Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!

⁷Let them vanish like water that flows away;

when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.

⁸May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,

like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.

⁹Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns –

whether they be green or dry – the wicked will be swept away.

¹⁰The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,

when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.

¹¹Then people will say,

‘Surely the righteous still are rewarded;

surely there is a God who judges the earth.’

Chapter 59

Psalm 59

For the director of music. To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy’. Of David. A miktam. When Saul had sent men to watch David’s house in order to kill him.

¹Deliver me from my enemies, O God;

be my fortress against those who are attacking me.

²Deliver me from evildoers

and save me from those who are after my blood.

³See how they lie in wait for me!

Fierce men conspire against me

for no offence or sin of mine, Lord.

⁴I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.

Arise to help me; look on my plight!

⁵You, Lord God Almighty,

you who are the God of Israel,

rouse yourself to punish all the nations;

show no mercy to wicked traitors.

⁶They return at evening,

snarling like dogs,

and prowl about the city.

⁷See what they spew from their mouths –

the words from their lips are sharp as swords,

and they think, ‘Who can hear us?’

⁸But you laugh at them, Lord;

you scoff at all those nations.

⁹You are my strength, I watch for you;

you, God, are my fortress,

¹⁰my God on whom I can rely.

God will go before me

and will let me gloat over those who slander me.

¹¹But do not kill them, Lord our shield,

or my people will forget.

In your might uproot them

and bring them down.

¹²For the sins of their mouths,

for the words of their lips,

let them be caught in their pride.

For the curses and lies they utter,

¹³consume them in your wrath,

consume them till they are no more.

Then it will be known to the ends of the earth

that God rules over Jacob.

¹⁴They return at evening,

snarling like dogs,

and prowl about the city.

¹⁵They wander about for food

and howl if not satisfied.

¹⁶But I will sing of your strength,

in the morning I will sing of your love;

for you are my fortress,

my refuge in times of trouble.

¹⁷You are my strength, I sing praise to you;

you, God, are my fortress,

my God on whom I can rely.

Chapter 60

Psalm 60

For the director of music. To the tune of ‘The Lily of the Covenant’. A miktam of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

¹You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;

you have been angry – now restore us!

²You have shaken the land and torn it open;

mend its fractures, for it is quaking.

³You have shown your people desperate times;

you have given us wine that makes us stagger.

⁴But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner

to be unfurled against the bow.

⁵Save us and help us with your right hand,

that those you love may be delivered.

⁶God has spoken from his sanctuary:

‘In triumph I will parcel out Shechem

and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.

⁷Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;

Ephraim is my helmet,

Judah is my sceptre.

⁸Moab is my washbasin,

on Edom I toss my sandal;

over Philistia I shout in triumph.’

⁹Who will bring me to the fortified city?

Who will lead me to Edom?

¹⁰Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us

and no longer go out with our armies?

¹¹Give us aid against the enemy,

for human help is worthless.

¹²With God we shall gain the victory,

and he will trample down our enemies.

Chapter 61

Psalm 61

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.

¹Hear my cry, O God;

listen to my prayer.

²From the ends of the earth I call to you,

I call as my heart grows faint;

lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

³For you have been my refuge,

a strong tower against the foe.

⁴I long to dwell in your tent for ever

and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

⁵For you, God, have heard my vows;

you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

⁶Increase the days of the king’s life,

his years for many generations.

⁷May he be enthroned in God’s presence for ever;

appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.

⁸Then I will ever sing in praise of your name

and fulfil my vows day after day.

Chapter 62

Psalm 62

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.

¹Truly my soul finds rest in God;

my salvation comes from him.

²Truly he is my rock and my salvation;

he is my fortress, I shall never be shaken.

³How long will you assault me?

Would all of you throw me down –

this leaning wall, this tottering fence?

⁴Surely they intend to topple me

from my lofty place;

they take delight in lies.

With their mouths they bless,

but in their hearts they curse.

⁵Yes, my soul, find rest in God;

my hope comes from him.

⁶Truly he is my rock and my salvation;

he is my fortress, I shall not be shaken.

⁷My salvation and my honour depend on God;

he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

⁸Trust in him at all times, you people;

pour out your hearts to him,

for God is our refuge.

⁹Surely the lowborn are but a breath,

the highborn are but a lie.

If weighed on a balance, they are nothing;

together they are only a breath.

¹⁰Do not trust in extortion

or put vain hope in stolen goods;

though your riches increase,

do not set your heart on them.

¹¹One thing God has spoken,

two things I have heard:

‘Power belongs to you, God,

¹²and with you, Lord, is unfailing love’;

and, ‘You reward everyone

according to what they have done.’

Chapter 63

Psalm 63

A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

¹You, God, are my God,

earnestly I seek you;

I thirst for you,

my whole being longs for you,

in a dry and parched land

where there is no water.

²I have seen you in the sanctuary

and beheld your power and your glory.

³Because your love is better than life,

my lips will glorify you.

⁴I will praise you as long as I live,

and in your name I will lift up my hands.

⁵I will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;

with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

⁶On my bed I remember you;

I think of you through the watches of the night.

⁷Because you are my help,

I sing in the shadow of your wings.

⁸I cling to you;

your right hand upholds me.

⁹Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;

they will go down to the depths of the earth.

¹⁰They will be given over to the sword

and become food for jackals.

¹¹But the king will rejoice in God;

all who swear by God will glory in him,

while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

Chapter 64

Psalm 64

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹Hear me, my God, as I voice my complaint;

protect my life from the threat of the enemy.

²Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,

from the plots of evildoers.

³They sharpen their tongues like swords

and aim cruel words like deadly arrows.

⁴They shoot from ambush at the innocent;

they shoot suddenly, without fear.

⁵They encourage each other in evil plans,

they talk about hiding their snares;

they say, ‘Who will see it?’

⁶They plot injustice and say,

‘We have devised a perfect plan!’

Surely the human mind and heart are cunning.

⁷But God will shoot them with his arrows;

they will suddenly be struck down.

⁸He will turn their own tongues against them

and bring them to ruin;

all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.

⁹All people will fear;

they will proclaim the works of God

and ponder what he has done.

¹⁰The righteous will rejoice in the Lord

and take refuge in him;

all the upright in heart will glory in him!

Chapter 65

Psalm 65

For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.

¹Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion;

to you our vows will be fulfilled.

²You who answer prayer,

to you all people will come.

³When we were overwhelmed by sins,

you forgave our transgressions.

⁴Blessed are those you choose

and bring near to live in your courts!

We are filled with the good things of your house,

of your holy temple.

⁵You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,

God our Saviour,

the hope of all the ends of the earth

and of the farthest seas,

⁶who formed the mountains by your power,

having armed yourself with strength,

⁷who stilled the roaring of the seas,

the roaring of their waves,

and the turmoil of the nations.

⁸The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;

where morning dawns, where evening fades,

you call forth songs of joy.

⁹You care for the land and water it;

you enrich it abundantly.

The streams of God are filled with water

to provide the people with corn,

for so you have ordained it.

¹⁰You drench its furrows and level its ridges;

you soften it with showers and bless its crops.

¹¹You crown the year with your bounty,

and your carts overflow with abundance.

¹²The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;

the hills are clothed with gladness.

¹³The meadows are covered with flocks

and the valleys are mantled with corn;

they shout for joy and sing.

Chapter 66

Psalm 66

For the director of music. A song. A psalm.

¹Shout for joy to God, all the earth!

²Sing the glory of his name;

make his praise glorious.

³Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!

So great is your power

that your enemies cringe before you.

⁴All the earth bows down to you;

they sing praise to you,

they sing the praises of your name.’

⁵Come and see what God has done,

his awesome deeds for mankind!

⁶He turned the sea into dry land,

they passed through the waters on foot –

come, let us rejoice in him.

⁷He rules for ever by his power,

his eyes watch the nations –

let not the rebellious rise up against him.

⁸Praise our God, all peoples,

let the sound of his praise be heard;

⁹he has preserved our lives

and kept our feet from slipping.

¹⁰For you, God, tested us;

you refined us like silver.

¹¹You brought us into prison

and laid burdens on our backs.

¹²You let people ride over our heads;

we went through fire and water,

but you brought us to a place of abundance.

¹³I will come to your temple with burnt offerings

and fulfil my vows to you –

¹⁴vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke

when I was in trouble.

¹⁵I will sacrifice fat animals to you

and an offering of rams;

I will offer bulls and goats.

¹⁶Come and hear, all you who fear God;

let me tell you what he has done for me.

¹⁷I cried out to him with my mouth;

his praise was on my tongue.

¹⁸If I had cherished sin in my heart,

the Lord would not have listened;

¹⁹but God has surely listened

and has heard my prayer.

²⁰Praise be to God,

who has not rejected my prayer

or withheld his love from me!

Chapter 67

Psalm 67

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.

¹May God be gracious to us and bless us

and make his face shine on us –

²so that your ways may be known on earth,

your salvation among all nations.

³May the peoples praise you, God;

may all the peoples praise you.

⁴May the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for you rule the peoples with equity

and guide the nations of the earth.

⁵May the peoples praise you, God;

may all the peoples praise you.

⁶The land yields its harvest;

God, our God, blesses us.

⁷May God bless us still,

so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

Chapter 68

Psalm 68

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. A song.

¹May God arise, may his enemies be scattered;

may his foes flee before him.

²May you blow them away like smoke –

as wax melts before the fire,

may the wicked perish before God.

³But may the righteous be glad

and rejoice before God;

may they be happy and joyful.

⁴Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,

extol him who rides on the clouds;

rejoice before him – his name is the Lord.

⁵A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,

is God in his holy dwelling.

⁶God sets the lonely in families,

he leads out the prisoners with singing;

but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

⁷When you, God, went out before your people,

when you marched through the wilderness,

⁸the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain,

before God, the One of Sinai,

before God, the God of Israel.

⁹You gave abundant showers, O God;

you refreshed your weary inheritance.

¹⁰Your people settled in it,

and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor.

¹¹The Lord announces the word,

and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng:

¹²‘Kings and armies flee in haste;

the women at home divide the plunder.

¹³Even while you sleep among the sheepfolds,

the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver,

its feathers with shining gold.’

¹⁴When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land,

it was like snow fallen on Mount Zalmon.

¹⁵Mount Bashan, majestic mountain,

Mount Bashan, rugged mountain,

¹⁶why gaze in envy, you rugged mountain,

at the mountain where God chooses to reign,

where the Lord himself will dwell for ever?

¹⁷The chariots of God are tens of thousands

and thousands of thousands;

the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.

¹⁸When you ascended on high,

you took many captives;

you received gifts from people,

even from the rebellious –

that you,Lord God, might dwell there.

¹⁹Praise be to the Lord, to God our Saviour,

who daily bears our burdens.

²⁰Our God is a God who saves;

from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.

²¹Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies,

the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.

²²The Lord says, ‘I will bring them from Bashan;

I will bring them from the depths of the sea,

²³that your feet may wade in the blood of your foes,

while the tongues of your dogs have their share.’

²⁴Your procession, God, has come into view,

the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.

²⁵In front are the singers, after them the musicians;

with them are the young women playing the tambourines.

²⁶Praise God in the great congregation;

praise the Lord in the assembly of Israel.

²⁷There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them,

there the great throng of Judah’s princes,

and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.

²⁸Summon your power, God;

show us your strength, our God, as you have done before.

²⁹Because of your temple at Jerusalem

kings will bring you gifts.

³⁰Rebuke the beast among the reeds,

the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations.

Humbled, may the beast bring bars of silver.

Scatter the nations who delight in war.

³¹Envoys will come from Egypt;

Cush will submit herself to God.

³²Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth,

sing praise to the Lord,

³³to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens,

who thunders with mighty voice.

³⁴Proclaim the power of God,

whose majesty is over Israel,

whose power is in the heavens.

³⁵You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary;

the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.

Praise be to God!

Chapter 69

Psalm 69

For the director of music. To the tune of ‘Lilies’. Of David.

¹Save me, O God,

for the waters have come up to my neck.

²I sink in the miry depths,

where there is no foothold.

I have come into the deep waters;

the floods engulf me.

³I am worn out calling for help;

my throat is parched.

My eyes fail,

looking for my God.

⁴Those who hate me without reason

outnumber the hairs of my head;

many are my enemies without cause,

those who seek to destroy me.

I am forced to restore

what I did not steal.

⁵You, God, know my folly;

my guilt is not hidden from you.

⁶Lord, the Lord Almighty,

may those who hope in you

not be disgraced because of me;

God of Israel,

may those who seek you

not be put to shame because of me.

⁷For I endure scorn for your sake,

and shame covers my face.

⁸I am a foreigner to my own family,

a stranger to my own mother’s children;

⁹for zeal for your house consumes me,

and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

¹⁰When I weep and fast,

I must endure scorn;

¹¹when I put on sackcloth,

people make sport of me.

¹²Those who sit at the gate mock me,

and I am the song of the drunkards.

¹³But I pray to you, Lord,

in the time of your favour;

in your great love, O God,

answer me with your sure salvation.

¹⁴Rescue me from the mire,

do not let me sink;

deliver me from those who hate me,

from the deep waters.

¹⁵Do not let the floodwaters engulf me

or the depths swallow me up

or the pit close its mouth over me.

¹⁶Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love;

in your great mercy turn to me.

¹⁷Do not hide your face from your servant;

answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.

¹⁸Come near and rescue me;

deliver me because of my foes.

¹⁹You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed;

all my enemies are before you.

²⁰Scorn has broken my heart

and has left me helpless;

I looked for sympathy, but there was none,

for comforters, but I found none.

²¹They put gall in my food

and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

²²May the table set before them become a snare;

may it become retribution and a trap.

²³May their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see,

and their backs be bent for ever.

²⁴Pour out your wrath on them;

let your fierce anger overtake them.

²⁵May their place be deserted;

let there be no-one to dwell in their tents.

²⁶For they persecute those you wound

and talk about the pain of those you hurt.

²⁷Charge them with crime upon crime;

do not let them share in your salvation.

²⁸May they be blotted out of the book of life

and not be listed with the righteous.

²⁹But as for me, afflicted and in pain –

may your salvation, God, protect me.

³⁰I will praise God’s name in song

and glorify him with thanksgiving.

³¹This will please the Lord more than an ox,

more than a bull with its horns and hooves.

³²The poor will see and be glad –

you who seek God, may your hearts live!

³³The Lord hears the needy

and does not despise his captive people.

³⁴Let heaven and earth praise him,

the seas and all that move in them,

³⁵for God will save Zion

and rebuild the cities of Judah.

Then people will settle there and possess it;

³⁶the children of his servants will inherit it,

and those who love his name will dwell there.

Chapter 70

Psalm 70

For the director of music. Of David. A petition.

¹Hasten, O God, to save me;

come quickly, Lord, to help me.

²May those who want to take my life

be put to shame and confusion;

may all who desire my ruin

be turned back in disgrace.

³May those who say to me, ‘Aha! Aha!’

turn back because of their shame.

⁴But may all who seek you

rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who long for your saving help always say,

‘The Lord is great!’

⁵But as for me, I am poor and needy;

come quickly to me, O God.

You are my help and my deliverer;

Lord, do not delay.

Chapter 71

Psalm 71

¹In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;

let me never be put to shame.

²In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;

turn your ear to me and save me.

³Be my rock of refuge,

to which I can always go;

give the command to save me,

for you are my rock and my fortress.

⁴Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.

⁵For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord,

my confidence since my youth.

⁶From my birth I have relied on you;

you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.

I will ever praise you.

⁷I have become a sign to many;

you are my strong refuge.

⁸My mouth is filled with your praise,

declaring your splendour all day long.

⁹Do not cast me away when I am old;

do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

¹⁰For my enemies speak against me;

those who wait to kill me conspire together.

¹¹They say, ‘God has forsaken him;

pursue him and seize him,

for no-one will rescue him.’

¹²Do not be far from me, my God;

come quickly, God, to help me.

¹³May my accusers perish in shame;

may those who want to harm me

be covered with scorn and disgrace.

¹⁴As for me, I shall always have hope;

I will praise you more and more.

¹⁵My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,

of your saving acts all day long –

though I know not how to relate them all.

¹⁶I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord;

I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.

¹⁷Since my youth, God, you have taught me,

and to this day I declare your marvellous deeds.

¹⁸Even when I am old and grey,

do not forsake me, my God,

till I declare your power to the next generation,

your mighty acts to all who are to come.

¹⁹Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,

you who have done great things.

Who is like you, God?

²⁰Though you have made me see troubles,

many and bitter,

you will restore my life again;

from the depths of the earth

you will again bring me up.

²¹You will increase my honour

and comfort me once more.

²²I will praise you with the harp

for your faithfulness, my God;

I will sing praise to you with the lyre,

Holy One of Israel.

²³My lips will shout for joy

when I sing praise to you –

I whom you have delivered.

²⁴My tongue will tell of your righteous acts

all day long,

for those who wanted to harm me

have been put to shame and confusion.

Chapter 72

Psalm 72

Of Solomon.

¹Endow the king with your justice, O God,

the royal son with your righteousness.

²May he judge your people in righteousness,

your afflicted ones with justice.

³May the mountains bring prosperity to the people,

the hills the fruit of righteousness.

⁴May he defend the afflicted among the people

and save the children of the needy;

may he crush the oppressor.

⁵May he endure as long as the sun,

as long as the moon, through all generations.

⁶May he be like rain falling on a mown field,

like showers watering the earth.

⁷In his days may the righteous flourish

and prosperity abound till the moon is no more.

⁸May he rule from sea to sea

and from the River to the ends of the earth.

⁹May the desert tribes bow before him

and his enemies lick the dust.

¹⁰May the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores

bring tribute to him.

May the kings of Sheba and Seba

present him with gifts.

¹¹May all kings bow down to him

and all nations serve him.

¹²For he will deliver the needy who cry out,

the afflicted who have no-one to help.

¹³He will take pity on the weak and the needy

and save the needy from death.

¹⁴He will rescue them from oppression and violence,

for precious is their blood in his sight.

¹⁵Long may he live!

May gold from Sheba be given to him.

May people ever pray for him

and bless him all day long.

¹⁶May corn abound throughout the land;

on the tops of the hills may it sway.

May the crops flourish like Lebanon

and thrive like the grass of the field.

¹⁷May his name endure for ever;

may it continue as long as the sun.

Then all nations will be blessed through him,

and they will call him blessed.

¹⁸Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel,

who alone does marvellous deeds.

¹⁹Praise be to his glorious name for ever;

may the whole earth be filled with his glory.

Amen and Amen.

²⁰This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.

Chapter 73

Book III

Psalms 73–89

Psalm 73

A psalm of Asaph.

¹Surely God is good to Israel,

to those who are pure in heart.

²But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;

I had nearly lost my foothold.

³For I envied the arrogant

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴They have no struggles;

their bodies are healthy and strong.

⁵They are free from common human burdens;

they are not plagued by human ills.

⁶Therefore pride is their necklace;

they clothe themselves with violence.

⁷From their callous hearts comes iniquity;

their evil imaginations have no limits.

⁸They scoff, and speak with malice;

with arrogance they threaten oppression.

⁹Their mouths lay claim to heaven,

and their tongues take possession of the earth.

¹⁰Therefore their people turn to them

and drink up waters in abundance.

¹¹They say, ‘How would God know?

Does the Most High know anything?’

¹²This is what the wicked are like –

always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.

¹³Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure

and have washed my hands in innocence.

¹⁴All day long I have been afflicted,

and every morning brings new punishments.

¹⁵If I had spoken out like that,

I would have betrayed your children.

¹⁶When I tried to understand all this,

it troubled me deeply

¹⁷till I entered the sanctuary of God;

then I understood their final destiny.

¹⁸Surely you place them on slippery ground;

you cast them down to ruin.

¹⁹How suddenly are they destroyed,

completely swept away by terrors!

²⁰They are like a dream when one awakes;

when you arise, Lord,

you will despise them as fantasies.

²¹When my heart was grieved

and my spirit embittered,

²²I was senseless and ignorant;

I was a brute beast before you.

²³Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

²⁴You guide me with your counsel,

and afterwards you will take me into glory.

²⁵Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

²⁶My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion for ever.

²⁷Those who are far from you will perish;

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

²⁸But as for me, it is good to be near God.

I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;

I will tell of all your deeds.

Chapter 74

Psalm 74

A maskil of Asaph.

¹O God, why have you rejected us for ever?

Why does your anger smoulder against the sheep of your pasture?

²Remember the nation you purchased long ago,

the people of your inheritance, whom you redeemed –

Mount Zion, where you dwelt.

³Turn your steps towards these everlasting ruins,

all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.

⁴Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;

they set up their standards as signs.

⁵They behaved like men wielding axes

to cut through a thicket of trees.

⁶They smashed all the carved panelling

with their axes and hatchets.

⁷They burned your sanctuary to the ground;

they defiled the dwelling-place of your Name.

⁸They said in their hearts, ‘We will crush them completely!’

They burned every place where God was worshipped in the land.

⁹We are given no signs from God;

no prophets are left,

and none of us knows how long this will be.

¹⁰How long will the enemy mock you, God?

Will the foe revile your name for ever?

¹¹Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?

Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!

¹²But God is my King from long ago;

he brings salvation on the earth.

¹³It was you who split open the sea by your power;

you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.

¹⁴It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan

and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.

¹⁵It was you who opened up springs and streams;

you dried up the ever-flowing rivers.

¹⁶The day is yours, and yours also the night;

you established the sun and moon.

¹⁷It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;

you made both summer and winter.

¹⁸Remember how the enemy has mocked you, Lord,

how foolish people have reviled your name.

¹⁹Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts;

do not forget the lives of your afflicted people for ever.

²⁰Have regard for your covenant,

because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.

²¹Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;

may the poor and needy praise your name.

²²Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;

remember how fools mock you all day long.

²³Do not ignore the clamour of your adversaries,

the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.

Chapter 75

Psalm 75

For the director of music. To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy’. A psalm of Asaph. A song.

¹We praise you, God,

we praise you, for your Name is near;

people tell of your wonderful deeds.

²You say, ‘I choose the appointed time;

it is I who judge with equity.

³When the earth and all its people quake,

it is I who hold its pillars firm.

⁴To the arrogant I say, “Boast no more,”

and to the wicked, “Do not lift up your horns.

⁵Do not lift your horns against heaven;

do not speak so defiantly.” ’

⁶No-one from the east or the west

or from the desert can exalt themselves.

⁷It is God who judges:

he brings one down, he exalts another.

⁸In the hand of the Lord is a cup

full of foaming wine mixed with spices;

he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth

drink it down to its very dregs.

⁹As for me, I will declare this for ever;

I will sing praise to the God of Jacob,

¹⁰who says, ‘I will cut off the horns of all the wicked,

but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.’

Chapter 76

Psalm 76

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph. A song.

¹God is renowned in Judah;

in Israel his name is great.

²His tent is in Salem,

his dwelling-place in Zion.

³There he broke the flashing arrows,

the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.

⁴You are radiant with light,

more majestic than mountains rich with game.

⁵The valiant lie plundered,

they sleep their last sleep;

not one of the warriors

can lift his hands.

⁶At your rebuke, God of Jacob,

both horse and chariot lie still.

⁷It is you alone who are to be feared.

Who can stand before you when you are angry?

⁸From heaven you pronounced judgment,

and the land feared and was quiet –

⁹when you, God, rose up to judge,

to save all the afflicted of the land.

¹⁰Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,

and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

¹¹Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfil them;

let all the neighbouring lands

bring gifts to the One to be feared.

¹²He breaks the spirit of rulers;

he is feared by the kings of the earth.

Chapter 77

Psalm 77

For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm.

¹I cried out to God for help;

I cried out to God to hear me.

²When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;

at night I stretched out untiring hands,

and I would not be comforted.

³I remembered you, God, and I groaned;

I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.

⁴You kept my eyes from closing;

I was too troubled to speak.

⁵I thought about the former days,

the years of long ago;

⁶I remembered my songs in the night.

My heart meditated and my spirit asked:

⁷‘Will the Lord reject for ever?

Will he never show his favour again?

⁸Has his unfailing love vanished for ever?

Has his promise failed for all time?

⁹Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Has he in anger withheld his compassion?’

¹⁰Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal:

the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.

¹¹I will remember the deeds of the Lord;

yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

¹²I will consider all your works

and meditate on all your mighty deeds.’

¹³Your ways, God, are holy.

What god is as great as our God?

¹⁴You are the God who performs miracles;

you display your power among the peoples.

¹⁵With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

¹⁶The waters saw you, God,

the waters saw you and writhed;

the very depths were convulsed.

¹⁷The clouds poured down water,

the heavens resounded with thunder;

your arrows flashed back and forth.

¹⁸Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,

your lightning lit up the world;

the earth trembled and quaked.

¹⁹Your path led through the sea,

your way through the mighty waters,

though your footprints were not seen.

²⁰You led your people like a flock

by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Chapter 78

Psalm 78

A maskil of Asaph.

¹My people, hear my teaching;

listen to the words of my mouth.

²I will open my mouth with a parable;

I will utter hidden things, things from of old –

³things we have heard and known,

things our ancestors have told us.

⁴We will not hide them from their descendants;

we will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,

his power, and the wonders he has done.

⁵He decreed statutes for Jacob

and established the law in Israel,

which he commanded our ancestors

to teach their children,

⁶so that the next generation would know them,

even the children yet to be born,

and they in turn would tell their children.

⁷Then they would put their trust in God

and would not forget his deeds

but would keep his commands.

⁸They would not be like their ancestors –

a stubborn and rebellious generation,

whose hearts were not loyal to God,

whose spirits were not faithful to him.

⁹The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,

turned back on the day of battle;

¹⁰they did not keep God’s covenant

and refused to live by his law.

¹¹They forgot what he had done,

the wonders he had shown them.

¹²He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors

in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

¹³He divided the sea and led them through;

he made the water stand up like a wall.

¹⁴He guided them with the cloud by day

and with light from the fire all night.

¹⁵He split the rocks in the wilderness

and gave them water as abundant as the seas;

¹⁶he brought streams out of a rocky crag

and made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷But they continued to sin against him,

rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.

¹⁸They wilfully put God to the test

by demanding the food they craved.

¹⁹They spoke against God;

they said, ‘Can God really

spread a table in the wilderness?

²⁰True, he struck the rock,

and water gushed out,

streams flowed abundantly,

but can he also give us bread?

Can he supply meat for his people?’

²¹When the Lord heard them, he was furious;

his fire broke out against Jacob,

and his wrath rose against Israel,

²²for they did not believe in God

or trust in his deliverance.

²³Yet he gave a command to the skies above

and opened the doors of the heavens;

²⁴he rained down manna for the people to eat,

he gave them the grain of heaven.

²⁵Human beings ate the bread of angels;

he sent them all the food they could eat.

²⁶He let loose the east wind from the heavens

and by his power made the south wind blow.

²⁷He rained meat down on them like dust,

birds like sand on the seashore.

²⁸He made them come down inside their camp,

all around their tents.

²⁹They ate till they were gorged –

he had given them what they craved.

³⁰But before they turned from what they craved,

even while the food was still in their mouths,

³¹God’s anger rose against them;

he put to death the sturdiest among them,

cutting down the young men of Israel.

³²In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;

in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.

³³So he ended their days in futility

and their years in terror.

³⁴Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;

they eagerly turned to him again.

³⁵They remembered that God was their Rock,

that God Most High was their Redeemer.

³⁶But then they would flatter him with their mouths,

lying to him with their tongues;

³⁷their hearts were not loyal to him,

they were not faithful to his covenant.

³⁸Yet he was merciful;

he forgave their iniquities

and did not destroy them.

Time after time he restrained his anger

and did not stir up his full wrath.

³⁹He remembered that they were but flesh,

a passing breeze that does not return.

⁴⁰How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness

and grieved him in the wasteland!

⁴¹Again and again they put God to the test;

they vexed the Holy One of Israel.

⁴²They did not remember his power –

the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,

⁴³the day he displayed his signs in Egypt,

his wonders in the region of Zoan.

⁴⁴He turned their river into blood;

they could not drink from their streams.

⁴⁵He sent swarms of flies that devoured them,

and frogs that devastated them.

⁴⁶He gave their crops to the grasshopper,

their produce to the locust.

⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail

and their sycamore-figs with sleet.

⁴⁸He gave over their cattle to the hail,

their livestock to bolts of lightning.

⁴⁹He unleashed against them his hot anger,

his wrath, indignation and hostility –

a band of destroying angels.

⁵⁰He prepared a path for his anger;

he did not spare them from death

but gave them over to the plague.

⁵¹He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt,

the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.

⁵²But he brought his people out like a flock;

he led them like sheep through the wilderness.

⁵³He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;

but the sea engulfed their enemies.

⁵⁴And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,

to the hill country his right hand had taken.

⁵⁵He drove out nations before them

and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;

he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.

⁵⁶But they put God to the test

and rebelled against the Most High;

they did not keep his statutes.

⁵⁷Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless,

as unreliable as a faulty bow.

⁵⁸They angered him with their high places;

they aroused his jealousy with their idols.

⁵⁹When God heard them, he was furious;

he rejected Israel completely.

⁶⁰He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,

the tent he had set up among humans.

⁶¹He sent the ark of his might into captivity,

his splendour into the hands of the enemy.

⁶²He gave his people over to the sword;

he was furious with his inheritance.

⁶³Fire consumed their young men,

and their young women had no wedding songs;

⁶⁴their priests were put to the sword,

and their widows could not weep.

⁶⁵Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,

as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.

⁶⁶He beat back his enemies;

he put them to everlasting shame.

⁶⁷Then he rejected the tents of Joseph,

he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;

⁶⁸but he chose the tribe of Judah,

Mount Zion, which he loved.

⁶⁹He built his sanctuary like the heights,

like the earth that he established for ever.

⁷⁰He chose David his servant

and took him from the sheepfolds;

⁷¹from tending the sheep he brought him

to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,

of Israel his inheritance.

⁷²And David shepherded them with integrity of heart;

with skilful hands he led them.

Chapter 79

Psalm 79

A psalm of Asaph.

¹O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;

they have defiled your holy temple,

they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.

²They have left the dead bodies of your servants

as food for the birds of the sky,

the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.

³They have poured out blood like water

all around Jerusalem,

and there is no-one to bury the dead.

⁴We are objects of contempt to our neighbours,

of scorn and derision to those around us.

⁵How long, Lord? Will you be angry for ever?

How long will your jealousy burn like fire?

⁶Pour out your wrath on the nations

that do not acknowledge you,

on the kingdoms

that do not call on your name;

⁷for they have devoured Jacob

and devastated his homeland.

⁸Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;

may your mercy come quickly to meet us,

for we are in desperate need.

⁹Help us, God our Saviour,

for the glory of your name;

deliver us and forgive our sins

for your name’s sake.

¹⁰Why should the nations say,

‘Where is their God?’

Before our eyes, make known among the nations

that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.

¹¹May the groans of the prisoners come before you;

with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.

¹²Pay back into the laps of our neighbours seven times

the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.

¹³Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,

will praise you for ever;

from generation to generation

we will proclaim your praise.

Chapter 80

Psalm 80

For the director of music. To the tune of ‘The Lilies of the Covenant’. Of Asaph. A psalm.

¹Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead Joseph like a flock.

You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,

shine forth ²before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.

Awaken your might;

come and save us.

³Restore us, O God;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.

⁴How long, Lord God Almighty,

will your anger smoulder

against the prayers of your people?

⁵You have fed them with the bread of tears;

you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.

⁶You have made us an object of derision to our neighbours,

and our enemies mock us.

⁷Restore us, God Almighty;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.

⁸You transplanted a vine from Egypt;

you drove out the nations and planted it.

⁹You cleared the ground for it,

and it took root and filled the land.

¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shade,

the mighty cedars with its branches.

¹¹Its branches reached as far as the Sea,

its shoots as far as the River.

¹²Why have you broken down its walls

so that all who pass by pick its grapes?

¹³Boars from the forest ravage it,

and insects from the fields feed on it.

¹⁴Return to us, God Almighty!

Look down from heaven and see!

Watch over this vine,

¹⁵the root your right hand has planted,

the son you have raised up for yourself.

¹⁶Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;

at your rebuke your people perish.

¹⁷Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,

the son of man you have raised up for yourself.

¹⁸Then we will not turn away from you;

revive us, and we will call on your name.

¹⁹Restore us, Lord God Almighty;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.

Chapter 81

Psalm 81

For the director of music. According to gittith. Of Asaph.

¹Sing for joy to God our strength;

shout aloud to the God of Jacob!

²Begin the music, strike the tambourine,

play the melodious harp and lyre.

³Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,

and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;

⁴this is a decree for Israel,

an ordinance of the God of Jacob.

⁵When God went out against Egypt,

he established it as a statute for Joseph.

I heard an unknown voice say:

⁶‘I removed the burden from their shoulders;

their hands were set free from the basket.

⁷In your distress you called and I rescued you,

I answered you out of a thundercloud;

I tested you at the waters of Meribah.

⁸Hear me, my people, and I will warn you –

if you would only listen to me, Israel!

⁹You shall have no foreign god among you;

you shall not worship any god other than me.

¹⁰I am the Lord your God,

who brought you up out of Egypt.

Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

¹¹‘But my people would not listen to me;

Israel would not submit to me.

¹²So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts

to follow their own devices.

¹³‘If my people would only listen to me,

if Israel would only follow my ways,

¹⁴how quickly I would subdue their enemies

and turn my hand against their foes!

¹⁵Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,

and their punishment would last for ever.

¹⁶But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;

with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.’

Chapter 82

Psalm 82

A psalm of Asaph.

¹God presides in the great assembly;

he renders judgment among the ‘gods’:

²‘How long will you defend the unjust

and show partiality to the wicked?

³Defend the weak and the fatherless;

uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

⁴Rescue the weak and the needy;

deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

⁵‘The “gods” know nothing, they understand nothing.

They walk about in darkness;

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

⁶‘I said, “You are ‘gods’;

you are all sons of the Most High.”

⁷But you will die like mere mortals;

you will fall like every other ruler.’

⁸Rise up, O God, judge the earth,

for all the nations are your inheritance.

Chapter 83

Psalm 83

A song. A psalm of Asaph.

¹O God, do not remain silent;

do not turn a deaf ear,

do not stand aloof, O God.

²See how your enemies growl,

how your foes rear their heads.

³With cunning they conspire against your people;

they plot against those you cherish.

⁴‘Come,’ they say, ‘let us destroy them as a nation,

so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.’

⁵With one mind they plot together;

they form an alliance against you –

⁶the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,

of Moab and the Hagrites,

⁷Byblos, Ammon and Amalek,

Philistia, with the people of Tyre.

⁸Even Assyria has joined them

to reinforce Lot’s descendants.

⁹Do to them as you did to Midian,

as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon,

¹⁰who perished at Endor

and became like dung on the ground.

¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,

all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,

¹²who said, ‘Let us take possession

of the pasture-lands of God.’

¹³Make them like tumble-weed, my God,

like chaff before the wind.

¹⁴As fire consumes the forest

or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,

¹⁵so pursue them with your tempest

and terrify them with your storm.

¹⁶Cover their faces with shame, Lord,

so that they will seek your name.

¹⁷May they ever be ashamed and dismayed;

may they perish in disgrace.

¹⁸Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord –

that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.

Chapter 84

Psalm 84

For the director of music. According to gittith. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹How lovely is your dwelling-place,

Lord Almighty!

²My soul yearns, even faints,

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh cry out

for the living God.

³Even the sparrow has found a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may have her young –

a place near your altar,

Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

⁴Blessed are those who dwell in your house;

they are ever praising you.

⁵Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

⁶As they pass through the Valley of Baka,

they make it a place of springs;

the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

⁷They go from strength to strength,

till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;

listen to me, God of Jacob.

⁹Look on our shield, O God;

look with favour on your anointed one.

¹⁰Better is one day in your courts

than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

¹¹For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

the Lord bestows favour and honour;

no good thing does he withhold

from those whose way of life is blameless.

¹²Lord Almighty,

blessed is the one who trusts in you.

Chapter 85

Psalm 85

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹You, Lord, showed favour to your land;

you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

²You forgave the iniquity of your people

and covered all their sins.

³You set aside all your wrath

and turned from your fierce anger.

⁴Restore us again, God our Saviour,

and put away your displeasure towards us.

⁵Will you be angry with us for ever?

Will you prolong your anger through all generations?

⁶Will you not revive us again,

that your people may rejoice in you?

⁷Show us your unfailing love, Lord,

and grant us your salvation.

⁸I will listen to what God the Lord says;

he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants –

but let them not turn to folly.

⁹Surely his salvation is near those who fear him,

that his glory may dwell in our land.

¹⁰Love and faithfulness meet together;

righteousness and peace kiss each other.

¹¹Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,

and righteousness looks down from heaven.

¹²The Lord will indeed give what is good,

and our land will yield its harvest.

¹³Righteousness goes before him

and prepares the way for his steps.

Chapter 86

Psalm 86

A prayer of David.

¹Hear me, Lord, and answer me,

for I am poor and needy.

²Guard my life, for I am faithful to you;

save your servant who trusts in you.

You are my God; ³have mercy on me, Lord,

for I call to you all day long.

⁴Bring joy to your servant, Lord,

for I put my trust in you.

⁵You, Lord, are forgiving and good,

abounding in love to all who call to you.

⁶Hear my prayer, Lord;

listen to my cry for mercy.

⁷When I am in distress, I call to you,

because you answer me.

⁸Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;

no deeds can compare with yours.

⁹All the nations you have made

will come and worship before you, Lord;

they will bring glory to your name.

¹⁰For you are great and do marvellous deeds;

you alone are God.

¹¹Teach me your way, Lord,

that I may rely on your faithfulness;

give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name.

¹²I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;

I will glorify your name for ever.

¹³For great is your love towards me;

you have delivered me from the depths,

from the realm of the dead.

¹⁴Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God;

ruthless people are trying to kill me –

they have no regard for you.

¹⁵But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,

slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

¹⁶Turn to me and have mercy on me;

show your strength on behalf of your servant;

save me, because I serve you

just as my mother did.

¹⁷Give me a sign of your goodness,

that my enemies may see it and be put to shame,

for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Chapter 87

Psalm 87

Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. A song.

¹He has founded his city on the holy mountain.

²The Lord loves the gates of Zion

more than all the other dwellings of Jacob.

³Glorious things are said of you,

city of God:

⁴‘I will record Rahab and Babylon

among those who acknowledge me –

Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush –

and will say, “This one was born in Zion.” ’

⁵Indeed, of Zion it will be said,

‘This one and that one were born in her,

and the Most High himself will establish her.’

⁶The Lord will write in the register of the peoples:

‘This one was born in Zion.’

⁷As they make music they will sing,

‘All my fountains are in you.’

Chapter 88

Psalm 88

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.

¹Lord, you are the God who saves me;

day and night I cry out to you.

²May my prayer come before you;

turn your ear to my cry.

³I am overwhelmed with troubles

and my life draws near to death.

⁴I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

I am like one without strength.

⁵I am set apart with the dead,

like the slain who lie in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

who are cut off from your care.

⁶You have put me in the lowest pit,

in the darkest depths.

⁷Your wrath lies heavily on me;

you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.

⁸You have taken from me my closest friends

and have made me repulsive to them.

I am confined and cannot escape;

⁹my eyes are dim with grief.

I call to you, Lord, every day;

I spread out my hands to you.

¹⁰Do you show your wonders to the dead?

Do their spirits rise up and praise you?

¹¹Is your love declared in the grave,

your faithfulness in Destruction?

¹²Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,

or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

¹³But I cry to you for help, Lord;

in the morning my prayer comes before you.

¹⁴Why, Lord, do you reject me

and hide your face from me?

¹⁵From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;

I have borne your terrors and am in despair.

¹⁶Your wrath has swept over me;

your terrors have destroyed me.

¹⁷All day long they surround me like a flood;

they have completely engulfed me.

¹⁸You have taken from me friend and neighbour –

darkness is my closest friend.

Chapter 89

Psalm 89

A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.

¹I will sing of the Lord’s great love for ever;

with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known

through all generations.

²I will declare that your love stands firm for ever,

that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.

³You said, ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one,

I have sworn to David my servant,

⁴“I will establish your line for ever

and make your throne firm through all generations.” ’

⁵The heavens praise your wonders, Lord,

your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.

⁶For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord?

Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings?

⁷In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;

he is more awesome than all who surround him.

⁸Who is like you, Lord God Almighty?

You, Lord, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

⁹You rule over the surging sea;

when its waves mount up, you still them.

¹⁰You crushed Rahab like one of the slain;

with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.

¹¹The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;

you founded the world and all that is in it.

¹²You created the north and the south;

Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name.

¹³Your arm is endowed with power;

your hand is strong, your right hand exalted.

¹⁴Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;

love and faithfulness go before you.

¹⁵Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,

who walk in the light of your presence, Lord.

¹⁶They rejoice in your name all day long;

they celebrate your righteousness.

¹⁷For you are their glory and strength,

and by your favour you exalt our horn.

¹⁸Indeed, our shield belongs to the Lord,

our king to the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹Once you spoke in a vision,

to your faithful people you said:

‘I have bestowed strength on a warrior;

I have raised up a young man from among the people.

²⁰I have found David my servant;

with my sacred oil I have anointed him.

²¹My hand will sustain him;

surely my arm will strengthen him.

²²The enemy will not get the better of him;

the wicked will not oppress him.

²³I will crush his foes before him

and strike down his adversaries.

²⁴My faithful love will be with him,

and through my name his horn will be exalted.

²⁵I will set his hand over the sea,

his right hand over the rivers.

²⁶He will call out to me, “You are my Father,

my God, the Rock my Saviour.”

²⁷And I will appoint him to be my firstborn,

the most exalted of the kings of the earth.

²⁸I will maintain my love to him for ever,

and my covenant with him will never fail.

²⁹I will establish his line for ever,

his throne as long as the heavens endure.

³⁰‘If his sons forsake my law

and do not follow my statutes,

³¹if they violate my decrees

and fail to keep my commands,

³²I will punish their sin with the rod,

their iniquity with flogging;

³³but I will not take my love from him,

nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.

³⁴I will not violate my covenant

or alter what my lips have uttered.

³⁵Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness –

and I will not lie to David –

³⁶that his line will continue for ever

and his throne endure before me like the sun;

³⁷it will be established for ever like the moon,

the faithful witness in the sky.’

³⁸But you have rejected, you have spurned,

you have been very angry with your anointed one.

³⁹You have renounced the covenant with your servant

and have defiled his crown in the dust.

⁴⁰You have broken through all his walls

and reduced his strongholds to ruins.

⁴¹All who pass by have plundered him;

he has become the scorn of his neighbours.

⁴²You have exalted the right hand of his foes;

you have made all his enemies rejoice.

⁴³Indeed, you have turned back the edge of his sword

and have not supported him in battle.

⁴⁴You have put an end to his splendour

and cast his throne to the ground.

⁴⁵You have cut short the days of his youth;

you have covered him with a mantle of shame.

⁴⁶How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself for ever?

How long will your wrath burn like fire?

⁴⁷Remember how fleeting is my life.

For what futility you have created all humanity!

⁴⁸Who can live and not see death,

or who can escape the power of the grave?

⁴⁹Lord, where is your former great love,

which in your faithfulness you swore to David?

⁵⁰Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked,

how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations,

⁵¹the taunts with which your enemies, Lord, have mocked,

with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.

⁵²Praise be to the Lord for ever!

Amen and Amen.

Chapter 90

Book IV

Psalms 90–106

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God.

¹Lord, you have been our dwelling-place

throughout all generations.

²Before the mountains were born

or you brought forth the whole world,

from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³You turn people back to dust,

saying, ‘Return to dust, you mortals.’

⁴A thousand years in your sight

are like a day that has just gone by,

or like a watch in the night.

⁵Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death –

they are like the new grass of the morning:

⁶In the morning it springs up new,

but by evening it is dry and withered.

⁷We are consumed by your anger

and terrified by your indignation.

⁸You have set our iniquities before you,

our secret sins in the light of your presence.

⁹All our days pass away under your wrath;

we finish our years with a moan.

¹⁰Our days may come to seventy years,

or eighty, if our strength endures;

yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,

for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

¹¹If only we knew the power of your anger!

Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.

¹²Teach us to number our days,

that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

¹³Relent, Lord! How long will it be?

Have compassion on your servants.

¹⁴Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,

that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

¹⁵Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

for as many years as we have seen trouble.

¹⁶May your deeds be shown to your servants,

your splendour to their children.

¹⁷May the favour of the Lord our God rest on us;

establish the work of our hands for us –

yes, establish the work of our hands.

Chapter 91

Psalm 91

¹Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

²I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.’

³Surely he will save you

from the fowler’s snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

⁴He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

⁵You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

⁶nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.

⁷A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

⁸You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

⁹If you say, ‘The Lord is my refuge,’

and you make the Most High your dwelling,

¹⁰no harm will overtake you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

¹¹For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

¹²they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

¹³You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

¹⁴‘Because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

¹⁵He will call on me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honour him.

¹⁶With long life I will satisfy him

and show him my salvation.’

Chapter 92

Psalm 92

A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.

¹It is good to praise the Lord

and make music to your name, O Most High,

²proclaiming your love in the morning

and your faithfulness at night,

³to the music of the ten-stringed lyre

and the melody of the harp.

⁴For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;

I sing for joy at what your hands have done.

⁵How great are your works, Lord,

how profound your thoughts!

⁶Senseless people do not know,

fools do not understand,

⁷that though the wicked spring up like grass

and all evildoers flourish,

they will be destroyed for ever.

⁸But you, Lord, are for ever exalted.

⁹For surely your enemies, Lord,

surely your enemies will perish;

all evildoers will be scattered.

¹⁰You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox;

fine oils have been poured on me.

¹¹My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;

my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.

¹²The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,

they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;

¹³planted in the house of the Lord,

they will flourish in the courts of our God.

¹⁴They will still bear fruit in old age,

they will stay fresh and green,

¹⁵proclaiming, ‘The Lord is upright;

he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.’

Chapter 93

Psalm 93

¹The Lord reigns, he is robed in majesty;

the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength;

indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.

²Your throne was established long ago;

you are from all eternity.

³The seas have lifted up, Lord,

the seas have lifted up their voice;

the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.

⁴Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,

mightier than the breakers of the sea –

the Lord on high is mighty.

⁵Your statutes, Lord, stand firm;

holiness adorns your house

for endless days.

Chapter 94

Psalm 94

¹The Lord is a God who avenges.

O God who avenges, shine forth.

²Rise up, Judge of the earth;

pay back to the proud what they deserve.

³How long, Lord, will the wicked,

how long will the wicked be jubilant?

⁴They pour out arrogant words;

all the evildoers are full of boasting.

⁵They crush your people, Lord;

they oppress your inheritance.

⁶They slay the widow and the foreigner;

they murder the fatherless.

⁷They say, ‘The Lord does not see;

the God of Jacob takes no notice.’

⁸Take notice, you senseless ones among the people;

you fools, when will you become wise?

⁹Does he who fashioned the ear not hear?

Does he who formed the eye not see?

¹⁰Does he who disciplines nations not punish?

Does he who teaches mankind lack knowledge?

¹¹The Lord knows all human plans;

he knows that they are futile.

¹²Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord,

the one you teach from your law;

¹³you grant them relief from days of trouble,

till a pit is dug for the wicked.

¹⁴For the Lord will not reject his people;

he will never forsake his inheritance.

¹⁵Judgment will again be founded on righteousness,

and all the upright in heart will follow it.

¹⁶Who will rise up for me against the wicked?

Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?

¹⁷Unless the Lord had given me help,

I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.

¹⁸When I said, ‘My foot is slipping,’

your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.

¹⁹When anxiety was great within me,

your consolation brought me joy.

²⁰Can a corrupt throne be allied with you –

a throne that brings on misery by its decrees?

²¹The wicked band together against the righteous

and condemn the innocent to death.

²²But the Lord has become my fortress,

and my God the rock in whom I take refuge.

²³He will repay them for their sins

and destroy them for their wickedness;

the Lord our God will destroy them.

Chapter 95

Psalm 95

¹Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;

let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

²Let us come before him with thanksgiving

and extol him with music and song.

³For the Lord is the great God,

the great King above all gods.

⁴In his hand are the depths of the earth,

and the mountain peaks belong to him.

⁵The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land.

⁶Come, let us bow down in worship,

let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;

⁷for he is our God

and we are the people of his pasture,

the flock under his care.

Today, if only you would hear his voice,

⁸‘Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,

as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,

⁹where your ancestors tested me;

they tried me, though they had seen what I did.

¹⁰For forty years I was angry with that generation;

I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,

and they have not known my ways.”

¹¹So I declared on oath in my anger,

“They shall never enter my rest.” ’

Chapter 96

Psalm 96

¹Sing to the Lord a new song;

sing to the Lord, all the earth.

²Sing to the Lord, praise his name;

proclaim his salvation day after day.

³Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvellous deeds among all peoples.

⁴For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;

he is to be feared above all gods.

⁵For all the gods of the nations are idols,

but the Lord made the heavens.

⁶Splendour and majesty are before him;

strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

⁷Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,

ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

⁸Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name;

bring an offering and come into his courts.

⁹Worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness;

tremble before him, all the earth.

¹⁰Say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns.’

The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;

he will judge the peoples with equity.

¹¹Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;

let the sea resound, and all that is in it.

¹²Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;

let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.

¹³Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,

he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness

and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Chapter 97

Psalm 97

¹The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;

let the distant shores rejoice.

²Clouds and thick darkness surround him;

righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

³Fire goes before him

and consumes his foes on every side.

⁴His lightning lights up the world;

the earth sees and trembles.

⁵The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,

before the Lord of all the earth.

⁶The heavens proclaim his righteousness,

and all peoples see his glory.

⁷All who worship images are put to shame,

those who boast in idols –

worship him, all you gods!

⁸Zion hears and rejoices

and the villages of Judah are glad

because of your judgments, Lord.

⁹For you, Lord, are the Most High over all the earth;

you are exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰Let those who love the Lord hate evil,

for he guards the lives of his faithful ones

and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

¹¹Light shines on the righteous

and joy on the upright in heart.

¹²Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous,

and praise his holy name.

Chapter 98

Psalm 98

A psalm.

¹Sing to the Lord a new song,

for he has done marvellous things;

his right hand and his holy arm

have worked salvation for him.

²The Lord has made his salvation known

and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

³He has remembered his love

and his faithfulness to Israel;

all the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation of our God.

⁴Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,

burst into jubilant song with music;

⁵make music to the Lord with the harp,

with the harp and the sound of singing,

⁶with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn –

shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

⁷Let the sea resound, and everything in it,

the world, and all who live in it.

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands,

let the mountains sing together for joy;

⁹let them sing before the Lord,

for he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness

and the peoples with equity.

Chapter 99

Psalm 99

¹The Lord reigns,

let the nations tremble;

he sits enthroned between the cherubim,

let the earth shake.

²Great is the Lord in Zion;

he is exalted over all the nations.

³Let them praise your great and awesome name –

he is holy.

⁴The King is mighty, he loves justice –

you have established equity;

in Jacob you have done

what is just and right.

⁵Exalt the Lord our God

and worship at his footstool;

he is holy.

⁶Moses and Aaron were among his priests,

Samuel was among those who called on his name;

they called on the Lord

and he answered them.

⁷He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;

they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.

⁸Lord our God,

you answered them;

you were to Israel a forgiving God,

though you punished their misdeeds.

⁹Exalt the Lord our God

and worship at his holy mountain,

for the Lord our God is holy.

Chapter 100

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

¹Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

²Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

³Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

⁵For the Lord is good and his love endures for ever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Chapter 101

Psalm 101

Of David. A psalm.

¹I will sing of your love and justice;

to you, Lord, I will sing praise.

²I will be careful to lead a blameless life –

when will you come to me?

I will conduct the affairs of my house

with a blameless heart.

³I will not look with approval

on anything that is vile.

I hate what faithless people do;

I will have no part in it.

⁴The perverse of heart shall be far from me;

I will have nothing to do with what is evil.

⁵Whoever slanders their neighbour in secret,

I will put to silence;

whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart,

I will not tolerate.

⁶My eyes will be on the faithful in the land,

that they may dwell with me;

the one whose way of life is blameless

will minister to me.

⁷No-one who practises deceit

will dwell in my house;

no-one who speaks falsely

will stand in my presence.

⁸Every morning I will put to silence

all the wicked in the land;

I will cut off every evildoer

from the city of the Lord.

Chapter 102

Psalm 102

A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord.

¹Hear my prayer, Lord;

let my cry for help come to you.

²Do not hide your face from me

when I am in distress.

Turn your ear to me;

when I call, answer me quickly.

³For my days vanish like smoke;

my bones burn like glowing embers.

⁴My heart is blighted and withered like grass;

I forget to eat my food.

⁵In my distress I groan aloud

and am reduced to skin and bones.

⁶I am like a desert owl,

like an owl among the ruins.

⁷I lie awake; I have become

like a bird alone on a roof.

⁸All day long my enemies taunt me;

those who rail against me use my name as a curse.

⁹For I eat ashes as my food

and mingle my drink with tears

¹⁰because of your great wrath,

for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.

¹¹My days are like the evening shadow;

I wither away like grass.

¹²But you, Lord, sit enthroned for ever;

your renown endures through all generations.

¹³You will arise and have compassion on Zion,

for it is time to show favour to her;

the appointed time has come.

¹⁴For her stones are dear to your servants;

her very dust moves them to pity.

¹⁵The nations will fear the name of the Lord,

all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.

¹⁶For the Lord will rebuild Zion

and appear in his glory.

¹⁷He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;

he will not despise their plea.

¹⁸Let this be written for a future generation,

that a people not yet created may praise the Lord:

¹⁹‘The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high,

from heaven he viewed the earth,

²⁰to hear the groans of the prisoners

and release those condemned to death.’

²¹So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion

and his praise in Jerusalem

²²when the peoples and the kingdoms

assemble to worship the Lord.

²³In the course of my life he broke my strength;

he cut short my days.

²⁴So I said:

‘Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;

your years go on through all generations.

²⁵In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,

and the heavens are the work of your hands.

²⁶They will perish, but you remain;

they will all wear out like a garment.

Like clothing you will change them

and they will be discarded.

²⁷But you remain the same,

and your years will never end.

²⁸The children of your servants will live in your presence;

their descendants will be established before you.’

Chapter 103

Psalm 103

Of David.

¹Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

²Praise the Lord, my soul,

and forget not all his benefits –

³who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

⁴who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

⁵who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶The Lord works righteousness

and justice for all the oppressed.

⁷He made known his ways to Moses,

his deeds to the people of Israel:

⁸the Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

⁹He will not always accuse,

nor will he harbour his anger for ever;

¹⁰he does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

¹¹For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

¹²as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

¹⁴for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵The life of mortals is like grass,

they flourish like a flower of the field;

¹⁶the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more.

¹⁷But from everlasting to everlasting

the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,

and his righteousness with their children’s children –

¹⁸with those who keep his covenant

and remember to obey his precepts.

¹⁹The Lord has established his throne in heaven,

and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰Praise the Lord, you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his bidding,

who obey his word.

²¹Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,

you his servants who do his will.

²²Praise the Lord, all his works

everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Chapter 104

Psalm 104

¹Praise the Lord, my soul.

Lord my God, you are very great;

you are clothed with splendour and majesty.

²The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment;

he stretches out the heavens like a tent

³and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.

He makes the clouds his chariot

and rides on the wings of the wind.

⁴He makes winds his messengers,

flames of fire his servants.

⁵He set the earth on its foundations;

it can never be moved.

⁶You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

⁷But at your rebuke the waters fled,

at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;

⁸they flowed over the mountains,

they went down into the valleys,

to the place you assigned for them.

⁹You set a boundary they cannot cross;

never again will they cover the earth.

¹⁰He makes springs pour water into the ravines;

it flows between the mountains.

¹¹They give water to all the beasts of the field;

the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

¹²The birds of the sky nest by the waters;

they sing among the branches.

¹³He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;

the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.

¹⁴He makes grass grow for the cattle,

and plants for people to cultivate –

bringing forth food from the earth:

¹⁵wine that gladdens human hearts,

oil to make their faces shine,

and bread that sustains their hearts.

¹⁶The trees of the Lord are well watered,

the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

¹⁷There the birds make their nests;

the stork has its home in the junipers.

¹⁸The high mountains belong to the wild goats;

the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.

¹⁹He made the moon to mark the seasons,

and the sun knows when to go down.

²⁰You bring darkness, it becomes night,

and all the beasts of the forest prowl.

²¹The lions roar for their prey

and seek their food from God.

²²The sun rises, and they steal away;

they return and lie down in their dens.

²³Then people go out to their work,

to their labour until evening.

²⁴How many are your works, Lord!

In wisdom you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

²⁵There is the sea, vast and spacious,

teeming with creatures beyond number –

living things both large and small.

²⁶There the ships go to and fro,

and Leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

²⁷All creatures look to you

to give them their food at the proper time.

²⁸When you give it to them,

they gather it up;

when you open your hand,

they are satisfied with good things.

²⁹When you hide your face,

they are terrified;

when you take away their breath,

they die and return to the dust.

³⁰When you send your Spirit,

they are created,

and you renew the face of the ground.

³¹May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;

may the Lord rejoice in his works –

³²he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,

who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³I will sing to the Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

³⁴May my meditation be pleasing to him,

as I rejoice in the Lord.

³⁵But may sinners vanish from the earth

and the wicked be no more.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Praise the Lord.

Chapter 105

Psalm 105

¹Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;

make known among the nations what he has done.

²Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

³Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

⁴Look to the Lord and his strength;

seek his face always.

⁵Remember the wonders he has done,

his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

⁶you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,

his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.

⁷He is the Lord our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.

⁸He remembers his covenant for ever,

the promise he made, for a thousand generations,

⁹the covenant he made with Abraham,

the oath he swore to Isaac.

¹⁰He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

¹¹‘To you I will give the land of Canaan

as the portion you will inherit.’

¹²When they were but few in number,

few indeed, and strangers in it,

¹³they wandered from nation to nation,

from one kingdom to another.

¹⁴He allowed no-one to oppress them;

for their sake he rebuked kings:

¹⁵‘Do not touch my anointed ones;

do my prophets no harm.’

¹⁶He called down famine on the land

and destroyed all their supplies of food;

¹⁷and he sent a man before them –

Joseph, sold as a slave.

¹⁸They bruised his feet with shackles,

his neck was put in irons,

¹⁹till what he foretold came to pass,

till the word of the Lord proved him true.

²⁰The king sent and released him,

the ruler of peoples set him free.

²¹He made him master of his household,

ruler over all he possessed,

²²to instruct his princes as he pleased

and teach his elders wisdom.

²³Then Israel entered Egypt;

Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham.

²⁴The Lord made his people very fruitful;

he made them too numerous for their foes,

²⁵whose hearts he turned to hate his people,

to conspire against his servants.

²⁶He sent Moses his servant,

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

²⁷They performed his signs among them,

his wonders in the land of Ham.

²⁸He sent darkness and made the land dark –

for had they not rebelled against his words?

²⁹He turned their waters into blood,

causing their fish to die.

³⁰Their land teemed with frogs,

which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.

³¹He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,

and gnats throughout their country.

³²He turned their rain into hail,

with lightning throughout their land;

³³he struck down their vines and fig-trees

and shattered the trees of their country.

³⁴He spoke, and the locusts came,

grasshoppers without number;

³⁵they ate up every green thing in their land,

ate up the produce of their soil.

³⁶Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land,

the firstfruits of all their manhood.

³⁷He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,

and from among their tribes no-one faltered.

³⁸Egypt was glad when they left,

because dread of Israel had fallen on them.

³⁹He spread out a cloud as a covering,

and a fire to give light at night.

⁴⁰They asked, and he brought them quail;

he fed them well with the bread of heaven.

⁴¹He opened the rock, and water gushed out;

it flowed like a river in the desert.

⁴²For he remembered his holy promise

given to his servant Abraham.

⁴³He brought out his people with rejoicing,

his chosen ones with shouts of joy;

⁴⁴he gave them the lands of the nations,

and they fell heir to what others had toiled for –

⁴⁵that they might keep his precepts

and observe his laws.

Praise the Lord.

Chapter 106

Psalm 106

¹Praise the Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures for ever.

²Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord

or fully declare his praise?

³Blessed are those who act justly,

who always do what is right.

⁴Remember me, Lord, when you show favour to your people,

come to my aid when you save them,

⁵that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones,

that I may share in the joy of your nation

and join your inheritance in giving praise.

⁶We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;

we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

⁷When our ancestors were in Egypt,

they gave no thought to your miracles;

they did not remember your many kindnesses,

and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.

⁸Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,

to make his mighty power known.

⁹He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;

he led them through the depths as through a desert.

¹⁰He saved them from the hand of the foe;

from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.

¹¹The waters covered their adversaries;

not one of them survived.

¹²Then they believed his promises

and sang his praise.

¹³But they soon forgot what he had done

and did not wait for his plan to unfold.

¹⁴In the desert they gave in to their craving;

in the wilderness they put God to the test.

¹⁵So he gave them what they asked for,

but sent a wasting disease among them.

¹⁶In the camp they grew envious of Moses

and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord.

¹⁷The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;

it buried the company of Abiram.

¹⁸Fire blazed among their followers;

a flame consumed the wicked.

¹⁹At Horeb they made a calf

and worshipped an idol cast from metal.

²⁰They exchanged their glorious God

for an image of a bull, which eats grass.

²¹They forgot the God who saved them,

who had done great things in Egypt,

²²miracles in the land of Ham

and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

²³So he said he would destroy them –

had not Moses, his chosen one,

stood in the breach before him

to keep his wrath from destroying them.

²⁴Then they despised the pleasant land;

they did not believe his promise.

²⁵They grumbled in their tents

and did not obey the Lord.

²⁶So he swore to them with uplifted hand

that he would make them fall in the wilderness,

²⁷make their descendants fall among the nations

and scatter them throughout the lands.

²⁸They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor

and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;

²⁹they aroused the Lord’s anger by their wicked deeds,

and a plague broke out among them.

³⁰But Phinehas stood up and intervened,

and the plague was checked.

³¹This was credited to him as righteousness

for endless generations to come.

³²By the waters of Meribah they angered the Lord,

and trouble came to Moses because of them;

³³for they rebelled against the Spirit of God,

and rash words came from Moses’ lips.

³⁴They did not destroy the peoples

as the Lord had commanded them,

³⁵but they mingled with the nations

and adopted their customs.

³⁶They worshipped their idols,

which became a snare to them.

³⁷They sacrificed their sons

and their daughters to false gods.

³⁸They shed innocent blood,

the blood of their sons and daughters,

whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,

and the land was desecrated by their blood.

³⁹They defiled themselves by what they did;

by their deeds they prostituted themselves.

⁴⁰Therefore the Lord was angry with his people

and abhorred his inheritance.

⁴¹He gave them into the hands of the nations,

and their foes ruled over them.

⁴²Their enemies oppressed them

and subjected them to their power.

⁴³Many times he delivered them,

but they were bent on rebellion

and they wasted away in their sin.

⁴⁴Yet he took note of their distress

when he heard their cry;

⁴⁵for their sake he remembered his covenant

and out of his great love he relented.

⁴⁶He caused all who held them captive

to show them mercy.

⁴⁷Save us, Lord our God,

and gather us from the nations,

that we may give thanks to your holy name

and glory in your praise.

⁴⁸Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting.

Let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

Praise the Lord.

Chapter 107

Book V

Psalms 107–150

Psalm 107

¹Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures for ever.

²Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story –

those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,

³those he gathered from the lands,

from east and west, from north and south.

⁴Some wandered in desert wastelands,

finding no way to a city where they could settle.

⁵They were hungry and thirsty,

and their lives ebbed away.

⁶Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

⁷He led them by a straight way

to a city where they could settle.

⁸Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

⁹for he satisfies the thirsty

and fills the hungry with good things.

¹⁰Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,

prisoners suffering in iron chains,

¹¹because they rebelled against God’s commands

and despised the plans of the Most High.

¹²So he subjected them to bitter labour;

they stumbled, and there was no-one to help.

¹³Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

¹⁴He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,

and broke away their chains.

¹⁵Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

¹⁶for he breaks down gates of bronze

and cuts through bars of iron.

¹⁷Some became fools through their rebellious ways

and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.

¹⁸They loathed all food

and drew near the gates of death.

¹⁹Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

²⁰He sent out his word and healed them;

he rescued them from the grave.

²¹Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

²²Let them sacrifice thank-offerings

and tell of his works with songs of joy.

²³Some went out on the sea in ships;

they were merchants on the mighty waters.

²⁴They saw the works of the Lord,

his wonderful deeds in the deep.

²⁵For he spoke and stirred up a tempest

that lifted high the waves.

²⁶They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;

in their peril their courage melted away.

²⁷They reeled and staggered like drunkards;

they were at their wits’ end.