The Ways of the Righteous and the Wicked

• nor does he stand in the way of sinners;
• nor does he sit in the assembly of mockers.
• 2 is his delight, and on his law he meditates day and night.
• 3  that gives its fruit in its season;
• its leaf also does not wither.
  • Therefore all that he does prospers.
  • 4  Instead, they are like the chaff that the wind scatters.
  • 5 the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
  • 6 the way of the righteous,[fn]but the way of the wicked will perish.

The Messiah’s Reign

• and countries plotting[fn] in vain?[fn]
  • 2 The kings of the earth establish themselves, and the rulers conspire[fn] together
• against Yahweh and his anointed:
  • 3  and cast their cords from us!”
• 4 He who sits enthroned in the heavens laughs. The Lord derides them.
• 5  and in his fury he terrifies them:
  • 6  on Zion, my holy mountain.”
• 7  Yahweh said to me:
  • “You are my son;
  • today I have begotten you.
  • 8 the nations your heritage, and your possession the ends of the earth.
  • 9  Like a potter’s vessel you will shatter them.”
  • 10  Be warned, O rulers of the earth.
  • 11  and rejoice with trembling.
  • 12  lest he be angry and you perish on the way,
  • for his anger burns quickly.
• Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

A Call to Yahweh in Distress

• 3 many are rising against me.
• 2 are saying about my soul, “There is no deliverance for him from[fn] God.SelahNone[fn]
• 3 [fn] you, Yahweh, are a shield around me, my glory and the one who lifts up my head.
• 4 With my voice I call to Yahweh and he answers me from[fn]Selah
• 5  I woke up because Yahweh sustains me.
• 6  who all around have set themselves against me.
• 7  for you strike all my enemies on the cheek.
• The teeth of the wicked you break.
• 8  may your blessing be over your people.Selah

Safety in Yahweh

• 4 [fn]In trouble[fn]
• Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.
• 2 [fn] be a disgrace? How long will you love vanity?
• How long will you seek lies?[fn]Selah
• 3 [fn] for himselfthe faithful one.[fn]Yahweh hears when I call to him.
• 4  Commune in your heart[fn] on your bed and be silent.Selah
• 5 [fn] and[fn] Yahweh.
• 6 something good?” Lift up over[fn] us the light of your face, O Yahweh.
• 7  more than[fn] their grain and their wine abound.
• 8 [fn] for you alone, O Yahweh, make me dwell safely.

A Prayer for Guidance and Protection

• 5 Give heed to my sighing.[fn]
• 2 [fn] my king and my God,for to you I pray.
• 3 the morning you will hear my voice. In the morning I will set forth[fn]my case to you and I will watch.[fn]
• 4 are not a God who desires[fn] wickedness.Evil cannot dwell with you.
• 5 [fn] your eyes. You hate all evildoers.
• 6 [fn][fn] and deceit Yahweh abhors.
• 7 [fn] through the abundance of your steadfast love[fn] I will enter your house.[fn]
• I will bow down[fn] toward[fn] in awe of you.
• 8  make straight before me your way.
• 9 anything reliable in his mouth; their inner part is destruction.[fn]
• Their throat is an open grave;
• with their tongue they speak deceit.[fn]
• 10 let them fall because of their plans.
• Because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
• for they have rebelled against you.
• 11  Let them ever[fn] sing for joy,
• [fn] you spread protection over them;
• And let those[fn] who love your name exult in you.
• 12 the righteous. O Yahweh, like a[fn] shield you surround him with good favor.

An Appeal for Forgiveness and Deliverance

• A psalm of David.[fn]
• 6 and do not discipline me in your wrath.
• 2  Heal me, O Yahweh, for my bones are terrified.
• 3  But you, O Yahweh, how long?
• 4 [fn] Save me for the sake of your steadfast love.[fn]
• 5  In Sheol, who will give thanks to you?
• 6 [fn] my bed every night.
• With my tears[fn] my couch.
• 7  it grows old because of all my oppressors.
• 8  for Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping.
• 9  Yahweh has accepted my prayer.
• 10  They shall turn back; they shall suddenly be ashamed.

Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

• on account of Cush, a Benjaminite.[fn]
• 7 Save me from all who pursue me, and deliver me.
• 2  ripping to pieces, with none to deliver.
• 3  if there is wrong in my hands,
• 4 [fn] with harm, or if I have plundered my enemy without cause,
• 5  and overtake and trample my life into the ground,
• and lay my honor in the dust.Selah
• 6  and lift yourself up against the wrath[fn] of my oppressors,
• and awake for me,
• since you have commanded judgment.
• 7 the assembly of peoples surround you, and over it return on high.
• 8  O Yahweh, vindicate me
• according to my innocence[fn] and according to my integrity within me.
• 9  but establish the righteous,
• and test the hearts and innermost being, O righteous God.
• 10 is with God who saves the upright of heart.
• 11 is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day.
• 12 [fn] does not repent, he[fn] will sharpen his sword. He has bent his bow and he has[fn] it.
• 13  He has made his arrows fiery shafts.
• 14 [fn] travails with[fn] evil. He is pregnant with trouble,
• and he gives birth to deception.
• 15  then falls in the trap he has made.
• 16  and his violence comes down on his skull.
• 17  and I will sing praise to the name of Yahweh, the Most High.

Yahweh’s Glory in Creation

• 8 is your name in all the earth, who put your splendor above the heavens.
• 2 [fn] strength on account of your enemies,
• to silence the enemy and the avenger.
• 3  the moon and the stars which you set in place—
• 4 is a human being that you think of him? and a child of humankind that you care for him?
• 5 [fn] and with glory and with majesty you crowned him.
• 6  all things you have placed under his feet:
• 7  and also the wild animals of the field,
• 8 the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea, everything that passes along the paths of seas.
• 9  how majestic is your name in all of the earth!

Praise for Yahweh’s Justice

• 9 I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
• 2  I will sing the praise of your name, O Most High.
• 3  they will stumble and perish because of your presence.
• 4  you have sat on the throne judging correctly.
• 5 the nations; you have destroyed the wicked.
• Their name you have blotted out
• forever and ever.
• 6 in ruins forever, and you have uprooted their cities;
• their very memory has perished.
• 7 enthroned forever. He has established his throne for judgment.
• 8 the world with righteousness. He will judge the peoples with equity.
• 9  a stronghold in times of distress.
• 10  for you do not forsake those who seek you, O Yahweh.
• 11 praises to Yahweh who sits enthroned[fn] in Zion.Tell his deeds among the peoples,
• 12 who[fn] remembers them. He does not forget the distressed cry of the afflicted.
• 13  See my suffering from those who hate me,
• you who lift me up from the gates of death,
• 14  In the gates of the daughter of Zion
• let me rejoice in your salvation.
• 15 The nations have fallen in the pit that they made; their foot is caught in the net that they hid.
• 16  he has executed judgment.
• The wicked is snared by the work of his hands.HiggaionNone[fn]Selah
• 17 The wicked shall turn back to Sheol, all the nations forgetting God,
• 18 the needy shall not always be forgotten; the hope of the poor shall never perish.
• 19 [fn] prevail; let the nations be judged before you.
• 20  Let the nations know they are merely human.Selah

A Prayer for God to Throw down the Wicked

• Why do you hide[fn] during times of distress?
• 2 the wicked persecutes[fn]the poor. Let them be caught in the schemes that they devised,
• 3 the wicked boasts about the desire of his[fn] and the one greedy for gain curses and treats Yahweh with contempt.
• 4 [fn] the wicked will not seek God. There is no God in any of his thoughts.
• 5 [fn] endure at all times.[fn] Your judgments are aloof from him.
• As for all his enemies, he scoffs at them.
• 6 [fn] during which I will have no trouble.”
• 7  with deceits and oppression;
• under his tongue are trouble and evil.
• 8  in the hiding places he kills the innocent.
• His eyes[fn] for the helpless.
• 9 [fn] like a lion in a thicket. He lies in ambush to seize the poor;
• he seizes the poor by catching him in his net.
• 10 [fn] he is bowed down;[fn] so[fn] the helpless host[fn] falls by his[fn]
• 11  He has hidden his face.
• He never sees.”
• 12  O God, lift up your hand.
• Do not forget the afflicted.
• 13  He says in his heart, “You will not call me to account.”
• 14 But you have seen; indeed you have noted trouble and grief to take it into your hand.
• The helpless abandons himself upon you;
• you have been the helper for the orphan.
• 15 the arm of the wicked, and as for the evil man—
• seek out his wickedness until you find none.
• 16 is king forever and ever; the nations have perished from his land.
• 17 The longing of the afflicted you have heard, O Yahweh. You will make their heart secure. You will[fn]
• 18 for the fatherless and the oppressed so that a mere mortal from the earth will no longer cause terror.

Confidence in Yahweh’s Righteousness

• 11 how can you say to my soul,
• “Flee to your mountain like a bird”?
• 2 [fn] They have fitted their arrow to the string,
• to shoot from the darkness
• at the upright of heart.
• 3  what can the righteous do?[fn]
• 4 is in his holy temple; Yahweh is in the heavens on his throne.
• His eyelids see;
• they test the children of humankind.
• 5 the righteous, but the wicked and the lover of violence
• his soul hates.
• 6 [fn] on the wicked. Burning sulfur and scorching wind
• will be the portion of their cup.
• 7 is righteous; he loves righteous deeds.
• The upright shall see his face.

Human Faithlessness and God’s Faithfulness

• 12 the pious have ceased to be; for the faithful have vanished
• from among the children of humankind.
• 2 [fn] With flattering lips,
• with[fn] they speak.
• 3  the tongue speaking great boasts—
• 4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are on our side.
• Who is master over us?”
• 5 the oppression of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the poor,
• now I will rise up,” Yahweh says.
• “I shall put them in the safety for which they[fn] long.”
• 6 are pure words like silver refined in the crucible on the ground,
• refined seven times.
• 7  You will preserve him[fn]
• from this generation always.
• 8 The wicked prowl about when vileness is exalted among the children of humankind.

Trust in the Salvation of Yahweh

• 13 How long will you hide your face from me?
• 2 [fn] in my soul, and sorrow in my heart all the day?
• How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
• 3 [fn] and answer me, O Yahweh my God. Give light to my eyes
• lest I sleep the sleep of death,
• 4 and lest my enemy should say, “I have overcome him,” lest my enemies rejoice because I am shaken.
• 5 [fn] My heart will rejoice in your deliverance.
• 6 [fn] I will sing to Yahweh because he has dealt bountifully with me.

The Folly of the Godless and God’s Final Triumph

• 14 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt.
• They do abominable deeds.
• There is none who does good.
• 2  to see whether there is one who has insight,
• one who cares about God.
• 3  they are altogether corrupt.
• There is not one who does good;
• there is not even one.
• 4  they who eat my people as though they were eating bread?
• They do not call on Yahweh.
• 5 [fn] because God is with the generation of the righteous.
• 6 the plan of the poor, because[fn] Yahweh is his refuge.
• 7 [fn] would come salvation for Israel! When Yahweh returns the fortunes of his people,
• Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be happy.

A Description of Those Who May Dwell with Yahweh

• 15 Who may dwell on your holy mountain?
• 2  He who speaks honestly in his heart.
• 3  He does not harm his friend,
• nor[fn] a disgrace against his neighbor.
• 4 is contemptible, but he honors those who respect Yahweh.
• He takes an oath to his own injury and does not retract it.
• 5  and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
• He who does these things
• will never be shaken.

Confidence in Yahweh

• 16 for I take refuge in you.
• 2 Oh my soul you have said[fn] to Yahweh, “Youare my Lord. I have no good apart from you.”
• 3 the saints who are in the land, they are the noble ones in whom is all my desire.
• 4 who hurry after[fn] anothergod increase their sorrows. I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
• nor take up their names on my lips.
• 5 is the portion which is my share and my cup. You hold my lot.
• 6 The measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Yes, my inheritance is delightful for me.
• 7  yes, at night my[fn] instructs me.
• 8  Because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken.
• 9  Yes, my body will dwell in safety,
• 10  you will not give your faithful one to see the grave.
• 11 the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy.
• At your right hand are pleasures forever.

Prayer for Vindication and Protection

• 17 Hear my cry; heed my prayer
• I make without deceitful lips.
• 2  let your eyes see fairness.
• 3  you have examined me by night;
• you have tested me; you found nothing.
• I have decided that my mouth will not transgress.
• 4 the works of humankind, by the word of your lips,
• I have kept from the ways of the violent.
• 5 I have held my steps in your path My feet will not slip.
• 6  because you will answer me, O God.
• Incline your ear to me.
• Hear my words.[fn]
• 7  O Savior of those who take refuge
• at your right hand[fn]
• from those who rise up against them.
• 8 [fn] Hide me in the shadow of your wings
• 9 the[fn] of the wicked who destroy me, those enemies against my life,
• they that surround me.
• 10 [fn] heart; with their mouth they speak arrogantly.
• 11 every step. They[fn]
• [fn] me to the ground.
• 12 [fn] a lion; he longs to tear apart, and like a strong lion crouching in hiding places.
• 13 [fn] Make him bow down.
• Rescue with your sword my life from the wicked,
• 14 this world. Their share is in[fn] and you fill their stomach with your treasure.
• They are satisfied with children.
• They bequeath their excess to their children.
• 15 By contrast, I in righteousness shall see your face. Upon awakening I will be satisfied seeing your form.

Praise to God for His Deliverance

• who spoke to Yahweh the words of this song
• [fn] Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies,
• and from the hand of Saul.[fn]
• 18  “I love you, O Yahweh, my strength.”
• 2 is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I have taken refuge,
• my shield and the horn of my deliverance, my stronghold.
• 3  and I was saved from my enemies.
• 4  and streams of ruin overwhelmed me.
• 5  the snares of death confronted me.
• 6  and to my God I cried for help.
• He heard my voice from his temple,
• and my cry for help
• came up before his presence into his ears.
• 7  and the foundations of the mountains trembled,
• and they staggered because he was angry.
• 8  and fire from his mouth consumed.
• Burning coals blazed from him.
• 9 the heavens and came down with a thick cloud under his feet.
• 10  and he swooped down on wings of wind.
• 11  all about him his covering
• was a darkness of waters,[fn]
• 12  his clouds passed over
• with hail and coals of fire.
• 13  and the Most High uttered his voice
• with hail and coals of fire.
• 14 [fn] and many lightning bolts and routed them.
• 15 the sea became visible, and the foundations of the world were uncovered
• by your rebuke, O Yahweh,
• by the[fn] of the wind of your nose.
• 16 [fn] from on high; he seized me. He drew me from many waters.
• 17  and from those who hated me
• because they were stronger than I.
• 18  but Yahweh was my support.
• 19  He delivered me because he delighted in me.
• 20  According to the cleanness of my hands
• he has repaid me.
• 21  and have not acted wickedly against my God,
• 22 are before me, and his statutes I have not removed from me,
• 23  and I kept myself from my guilt.
• 24  according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
• 25 the loyal you show yourself loyal. To the blameless you show yourself blameless.
• 26 the pure you show yourself pure. but to the wicked you show yourself shrewd.
• 27  but haughty eyes you humiliate.
• 28  Yahweh, my God, lights up my darkness.
• 29  and with my God I can scale a wall.
• 30 [fn] God—his way is blameless. The word of Yahweh is flawless.[fn]
• He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
• 31 is God apart from Yahweh, and who is a rock except our God?
• 32 with strength, and made safe[fn] my way,
• 33  and on my high places he makes me stand.
• 34 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
• 35  and your right hand supported me,
• and your humility made me great.
• 36  and my ankles did not slip.
• 37  I did not turn back until they were finished off.
• 38  they fell under my feet.
• 39 with strength for the battle; those rising against me you made to kneel under me.
• 40 [fn] then I destroyed those who hated me.
• 41  even to Yahweh, but he did not answer them.
• 42 [fn] I emptied them[fn] out like mud of the streets.
• 43  you set me as head (over) nations.
• People I did not know served me;
• 44 [fn] they obeyed me. The children of a foreign land feigned obedience before me.
• 45 The children of a foreign land[fn] and they came trembling from their strongholds.
• 46 be my rock, and may the God of my salvation be exalted—
• 47  and subdued peoples under me,
• 48  Indeed, you exalted me higher than those who rose against me.
• You delivered me from the man of violence.
• 49  and I will sing the praise of your name:
• 50  and who shows loyal love for his anointed,
• to David and to his descendants forever.

Yahweh’s Creation and Law

• 19 are telling the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands.
• 2 [fn] they pour forth speech, and[fn] they tell knowledge.
• 3  their sound is inaudible.
• 4 Yet in all the world their line[fn] goes out,and their words to the end of the world.
• In them[fn] he has pitched a tent for the sun,
• 5 is like a bridegroom who comes out of his bridal chamber.
• It is glad like a strong man
• to run its course.
• 6 is from one[fn] end of the heavensand its circuit to the other end[fn] of them;
• and nothing is hidden from its heat.
• 7 is perfect, reviving life.[fn]The testimony of Yahweh is firm, making wise the simple.
• 8 are right, making the heart rejoice. The command of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes.
• 9 is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of Yahweh are true; they are righteous altogether,
• 10  and sweeter than honey, even honey in the comb.
• 11 is warned[fn] by them;in keeping them is great reward.
• 12 his errors? Acquit me from hidden faults.
• 13 sins;[fn]let them not rule over me.
• Then I shall be blameless,
• and I shall be innocent of great transgression.
• 14  be acceptable in your presence,
• O Yahweh, my rock and my redeemer.

God’s Blessing on the King

• 20 the day of trouble. May the name of Jacob’s God protect[fn] you.
• 2 [fn] from the sanctuary, and from Zion may he sustain you.
• 3  and your burnt offering may he[fn]
• 4 [fn] and your every plan may he fulfill.Selah
• 5  and in the name of our God may we set up banners.
• May Yahweh fulfill all your requests.
• 6 [fn] He will answer him from his holy heaven
• with the victorious power of his right hand.
• 7 [fn] but we boast in the name of Yahweh, our God.
• 8  and we will rise and stand firm.
• 9 [fn] O Yahweh. Let the king answer us when we call.

Joy in the Salvation of Yahweh

• 21 the king will rejoice in your strength, and how greatly he will delight in your help.[fn]
• 2  and have not withheld the request of his lips.Selah
• 3 with blessings of good things. You set on his head a crown of fine gold.
• 4 it to him— length of days forever and ever.
• 5 is great because of your help.[fn]Splendor and majesty you have bestowed upon him.
• 6 on him blessings forever. You make him glad with the joy of your presence.
• 7  and through the steadfast love[fn] of the Most High
• he shall not be moved.
• 8  your right hand will find those who hate you.
• 9  at the time of your appearance.
• Yahweh will swallow them in his wrath
• and fire will consume them.
• 10 [fn] from the earth, and their[fn] from among the children of humankind.
• 11 [fn] evil against you, though they have planned a scheme, they will not prevail.
• 12 [fn] you will aim arrows on your bowstrings at their faces.
• 13  and we sing and praise your power.

Suffering and Waiting for Deliverance

• 22 Why are you far from helping me, far from the words of my groaning?
• 2  and by night but I have no rest.[fn]
• 3 are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
• 4 [fn] trusted you; they trusted and you delivered them.
• 5  they trusted you and were not ashamed.
• 6 am a worm and not a man, scorned by humankind and despised by people.
• 7 who see me mock me. They open wide their lips;
• they shake the head, saying:
• 8 [fn] Let him rescue him. Let him deliver him because he delights in him.”
• 9 you took me from the belly; you made me trust while on my mother’s breasts.
• 10 the womb. From my mother’s belly you have been my God.
• 11  because trouble is near;
• because there is no helper.
• 12  mighty bulls of Bashan have surrounded me.
• 13  like a lion tearing and roaring.
• 14  and all my bones are out of joint.
• My heart is like wax;
• it is melted[fn]
• 15  and my tongue is sticking to my jaws;
• and you have placed me in the dust of death.
• 16  a gang of evildoers has encircled me.
• Like the lion[fn] they are at my hands and my feet.
• 17  they gaze, they look at me.
• 18  and for my clothing they cast lots.[fn]
• 19  O my help, hasten to help me.
• 20 the sword, my only life from the power of the dogs.[fn]
• 21 the mouth of the lion, and from the horns of the wild oxen answer me.
• 22  inside the assembly I will praise you.
• 23  Glorify him, all you seed of Jacob,
• and be in awe of him, all you seed of Israel,
• 24 the affliction of the afflicted, and has not hid his face from him;
• but he listened to him when he cried for help.
• 25 is my praise. In the great assembly,
• I will pay my vows before those who revere him.
• 26 The afflicted will eat and will be satisfied. Those who seek him will praise Yahweh.
• May your[fn] heart live forever.
• 27 the ends of the earth will remember and turn to Yahweh.
• All the families of the nations
• will worship before you.
• 28  and he rules over the nations.
• 29 the[fn] of the earth will eat and worship. Before him all of those descending into the dust will kneel,
• even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
• 30 [fn] will serve him. Regarding the Lord, it will be told to the next generation.
• 31 [fn] deeds to a people yet to be born, that he has done it.

Yahweh the Shepherd

• 23 I will not lack for anything.
• 2  by quiet waters he leads me.
• 3 [fn] He leads me in[fn]
  • for the sake of his name.
  • 4  because you are with me.
• Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
  • 5  in the presence of my oppressors.
• You anoint my head with oil;
  • my cup is overflowing.
  • 6  all the days of my life,
• and I will stay[fn] in the house[fn] of Yahweh
  • [fn]

The King of Glory

• 24 the world and those who live in it,
• 2 the seas, and has established it on the rivers.
• 3 the mountain of Yahweh? And who may stand in his holy place?
• 4  who does not lift up his soul to falseness,
• and does not swear deceitfully.
• 5  and justice[fn] from the God of his salvation.
• 6 is the sort of those who seek[fn] him,those who seek your face, even Jacob.Selah
• 7  and rise up, O ancient doorways,
• that the king of glory[fn] may enter.
• 8 is the king of glory?[fn]Yahweh, strong and mighty;
• Yahweh, mighty in war!
• 9  and lift up, O ancient doorways,
• that the king of glory[fn] may enter.
• 10 [fn] Yahweh of hosts,
• He is the king of glory![fn]Selah

A Prayer for Guidance, Deliverance, and Forgiveness

25 
• 2 Do not let my enemies exult over me.
• 3  Those who betray without cause should be put to shame.
• 4  Teach me your paths.
• 5  because you are the God of my salvation.
• I await you[fn]
• 6  and your acts of loyal love,
• because they are from of old.
• 7  the sins of my youth or my transgressions.
• According to your loyal love remember me if you will,
• for the sake of your goodness, O Yahweh.
• 8 is Yahweh; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
• 9 the humble to walk in justice, and teaches the humble his way.
• 10 are loyal love and faithfulness for those who keep his covenant and statutes.[fn]
• 11  forgive my sin, because it is great.
• 12 is the man fearing Yahweh? He will instruct him in the way he should choose.
• 13  and his offspring will possess the land.
• 14 is for those who fear him, and he makes known his covenant to them.
• 15 are continually toward Yahweh, because he will take my feet from the net.
• 16  because I am lonely and afflicted.
• 17  bring me out from my distresses.
• 18  and forgive[fn] all my sins.
• 19  and they hate me with violent hatred.
• 20  Let me not be put to shame, because I take shelter in you.
• 21  because I wait for you.
• 22  from all its troubles.

A Prayer for Vindication

• 26 and I have trusted Yahweh and not wavered.
• 2  Try my[fn] and my[fn]
• 3 is before my eyes, and I walk about in your faithfulness.
• 4  nor will I go about with hypocrites.
• 5 the crowd of evildoers, and with the wicked I will not sit.
• 6  and I will walk about your altar, O Yahweh,
• 7  and tell of all your wondrous deeds.
• 8 the dwelling of your house,[fn]and[fn]
• 9 [fn] with the sinners, nor my life with men of bloodshed,
• 10 is an evil plan, and whose right hand is full of bribes.[fn]
• 11  Redeem me and be gracious to me.
• 12  In assemblies I will bless Yahweh.

A Declaration of Trust

• 27 is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
• Yahweh is the refuge of my life;
• of whom shall I be afraid?
• 2  my adversaries and my enemies who drew near to me—
• they themselves stumbled and fell.
• 3  my heart will not fear.
• Though war arise against me,
• even in this I will remain confident.
• 4 thing I have asked from Yahweh; it I will seek:
• that I may dwell in the house[fn] of Yahweh all the days of my life,
• to behold the beauty of Yahweh,
• and to consider[fn] his temple.
• 5 the day of trouble. He will conceal me in the hiding place of his tent.
• He will set me high upon a rock.
• 6  And I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy.
• I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to Yahweh.
• 7 when I call, and be gracious to me and answer me.
• 8  Your face, O Yahweh, I do seek.
• 9  do not turn your servant away in anger.
• You have been my help; do not abandon nor forsake me,
• O God of my salvation.
• 10  then Yahweh will receive me.
• 11  and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.
• 12  because false witnesses have arisen against me,
• and each breathing out violence.[fn]
• 13 [fn] I believethat I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living.
• 14  Be strong and let your heart show strength,
• and wait for Yahweh.

A Prayer for Help, and Joy in Its Answer

• 28 O my rock, do not be deaf to me.
• Or else, if you are silent to me,
  • then I will become like those descending to the pit.
  • 2  when I cry to you for help,
• when I lift up my hands
  • toward your holy inner sanctuary.
  • 3 the wicked or with the workers of evil,
• who speak of peace with their neighbors,
  • while evil is in their heart.
  • 4  even according to the evil of their deeds.
• Give to them according to the work of their hands;
  • repay them their rightful due.
  • 5  nor the work of his hands,
• he will destroy them
  • and not rebuild them.
  • 6 is Yahweh, because he has heard the voice of my supplications.
  • 7 is my strength and my shield. My heart trusts him and I am helped.
• So my heart rejoices,
  • and with my song I will give thanks to him.
  • 8 is their strength, and he is the refuge for the salvation of his anointed one.
  • 9  and bless your heritage.
• Shepherd them also and carry them always.

Praise to God for His Glory and Strength

• 29 [fn]ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.
• 2 [fn] his name. Worship Yahweh in holy array.
• 3 is over the waters; the God of glory thunders.
• Yahweh is over many waters.
• 4 is powerful. The voice of Yahweh is majestic.
• 5 the cedars. Yahweh shatters even the cedars of Lebanon.
• 6  Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox.
• 7 [fn] flames of fire.
• 8 the wilderness. Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
• 9 [fn] to give birth and strips the forests bare.
• And at his temple all in it say, “Glory!”
• 10 enthroned at the flood, and Yahweh sits as king forever.
• 11  May Yahweh bless his people with peace.

Thanksgiving for Answered Prayer

• 30 because you have drawn me up,
• and have not made my enemies rejoice over me.
• 2  I cried for help to you,
• and you healed me.
• 3  You preserved me alive
• from among those going down[fn] to the pit.
• 4  and give thanks[fn]
• 5 there is a moment in his anger; there is a lifetime in his favor.
• Weeping lodges for the evening,
• but in the morning comes rejoicing.
• 6  “I shall not be moved ever.”
• 7  you caused my strong mountain to stand.
• You hid your face. I was bewildered.
• 8  and to the Lord I pleaded for grace saying,
• 9 is there in my[fn] in my going down into the pit?
• Will the dust praise you?
• Will it tell of your faithfulness?
• 10  O Yahweh, be my helper.”
• 11  You have removed my sackcloth
• and clothed me with joy
• 12 [fn] may sing praises to you and not be quiet.
• O Yahweh, my God,
• I will give thanks to you forever.

Yahweh Is a Fortress

• 31 Let me not be put to shame ever.
• Deliver me by your righteousness.
• 2  Quickly deliver me.
• Become my rock of refuge,
• [fn] to save me.
• 3 are my rock and my fortress. So, for the sake of your name,
• lead me and guide me.
• 4 the net that they have secretly set for me, for you are my refuge.
• 5  You have redeemed me, O Yahweh, faithful God.[fn]
• 6  but I trust Yahweh.
• 7  Because you have seen my misery,
• you know the distresses of my life.[fn]
• 8  into the hand of the enemy.
• You have set my feet in a broad place.
• 9 to me, O Yahweh, because I have distress.
• My eye wastes away because of vexation,
• along with my soul and my[fn]
• 10  and my years with sighing.
• My strength stumbles because of my iniquity,
• and my bones waste away.
• 11  especially to my neighbors,
• and a dread to my acquaintances.
• Those who see me in the street flee from me.
• 12 one dead, out of[fn] I am like a destroyed vessel.
• 13 the rumor of many, “Terror on every side!”
• When conspiring together against me,
• they have plotted to take my life.
• 14  I say, “You are my God.”
• 15 [fn] are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies
• and from those who pursue me.
• 16  Save me by your loyal love.
• 17  Let the wicked be put to shame.
• Let them go silently[fn] to Sheol.
• 18 that speak against the righteous[fn] unrestrained
• with arrogance and contempt.
• 19 is your goodness that you have stored up for those who fear you,
• that you perform for those who take refuge in you
• before the children of humankind.
• 20  from the plots of man.
• You will hide them in a shelter from the strife of tongues.
• 21 is Yahweh, because he has worked marvelously his loyal love to me
• in a besieged city.
• 22  “I am cut off from before your eyes.”
• However you heard the voice of my supplications
• when I cried to you for help.
• 23  Yahweh preserves the faithful
• but repays abundantly the one who acts arrogantly.
• 24 [fn] heart show strength, all you who wait for Yahweh.

Thanksgiving for Forgiveness of Sins

• 32 is he whose transgression is taken away, whose sin is covered.
• 2 is a person to whom Yahweh does not impute iniquity and in whose spirit there is not deceit.
• 3  due to my groaning all the day.
• 4  My vigor was changed into the dry heat of summer.Selah
• 5  I said, “I will confess concerning my transgressions to Yahweh,”
• and you took away the guilt of my sin.Selah
• 6 the faithful pray to you at the time for finding you.
• Surely at the flood of many waters they will not reach him.
• 7 are my hiding place; from trouble you preserve me.
• With cries of deliverance you surround me.Selah
• 8 [fn] will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go.
• I will advise you with my eye upon you.
• 9 or like a mule, without understanding; that needs his tackle—bridle and rein—for restraint
• or he would not come near you.
• 10 the pains of the wicked, but for the one who trusts Yahweh
• loyal love surrounds him.
• 11 you righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright of heart.

Praise to Yahweh for His Character and Creation

• for praise is fitting for the upright.
• 2 the lyre; with a harp of ten strings play to him.
• 3  play skillfully with jubilant shout.
• 4 is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.
• 5 He loves righteousness and justice. The earth is full of the loyal love of Yahweh.
• 6 the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
• 7 He gathered the waters of the sea like a heap. He put the deeps in storehouses.
• 8  Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
• 9 [fn] and it came to pass.[fn] and it stood firm.
• 10 [fn] the plan of nations; he frustrates[fn] the intents of peoples.
• 11  the intents of his heart[fn]
• 12 is the nation whose God is Yahweh, the people he has chosen for his inheritance.
• 13  he sees all the children of humankind.
• 14 [fn] he gazes on all the inhabitants of the earth,
• 15  he who understands all their works.
• 16 is not saved by the greatness of an army. The warrior is not delivered by the greatness of strength.
• 17 is a false hope for victory, nor can it save by the greatness of its power.
• 18 is on those who fear him, on those who hope[fn] for his loyal love
• 19  and to keep them alive in famine.
• 20  he is our help and our shield.
• 21  because in his holy name we trust.
• 22 [fn] we hope in you.

Thanksgiving for Yahweh’s Deliverance

• so that he drove him out, and so he departed.[fn]
• 34 his praise shall be in my mouth continually.
• 2  let the humble hear and be glad.
• 3  and let us exalt his name together.
• 4  and from all my terrors he delivered me.
• 5  and their faces shall not be ashamed.[fn]
• 6 man called and Yahweh heard, and saved him from all his troubles.
• 7  around those who fear him,
• and he rescues them.
• 8 is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
• 9 you his saints,[fn]for there is no lack for those who fear him.
• 10 The young lions are in want and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh will not lack for any good thing.
• 11 you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.
• 12 is the man who desires life, who loves many days in order to see good?
• 13  and your lips from speaking deceit.
• 14  Seek peace and pursue it.
• 15 are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry for help.
• 16 is against evildoers, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
• 17 [fn] cry out and Yahweh hears and delivers them from all of their troubles.
• 18 is near to those who are heartbroken and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
• 19 are the distresses of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers him out of them all.
• 20 He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken.
• 21 the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will incur guilt.
• 22  and none who take refuge in him will incur guilt.

A Prayer for Rescue from Enemies

• 35 fight those who fight me.
• 2  and rise to my aid.
• 3 the spear and javelin to meet those who pursue me. Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”
• 4  Let those who plot calamity against me be repulsed and ashamed.
• 5 the wind, with the angel of Yahweh[fn]
• 6  with the angel of Yahweh pursuing them.
• 7  without cause they dug it for my life.
• 8 [fn] come on him, and his net that he hid, let it catch him.
• Let him fall into it in ruin.
• 9  it will rejoice in his salvation.
• 10 is like you, who delivers the poor from one stronger than he
• and the poor and needy from the one who robs him?”
• 11  they ask me concerning what I do not know.
• 12  It is bereavement to my soul.
• 13 was sackcloth. I weakened my soul with fasting,
• and my prayer[fn]
• 14 [fn] as though he were a friend or as a brother to me. As one lamenting a mother, I was bowed down in mourning.
• 15  smiters whom I did not know gathered against me.
• They tore and did not cease.
• 16 the ungodly of the mockers at feasts,[fn]they gnashed at me with their teeth.
• 17  Restore my life from their ravages,[fn]
• my only life from the young lions.
• 18 to you in the great assembly; among the mighty people I will praise you.
• 19 are wrongfully my enemies[fn] rejoice over me.Nor let those who hate me without cause wink the eye.
• 20  but against the quiet ones of the land
• they plan deceitful words.
• 21 [fn] against me. They said, “Aha! Aha!
• Our eyes have seen it.”
• 22  O Lord, do not be far from me.
• 23  for my cause, O my God and my Lord.
• 24  O Yahweh my God,
• and do not let them rejoice over me.
• 25 [fn] “Aha, our desire.” Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
• 26  who rejoice at my misfortune.
• Let them put on shame and insult,
• who magnify themselves against me.
• 27  who delight in my vindication;
• and let them say continually, “Yahweh is great,
• who delights in the welfare of his servant.”
• 28  and your praise all day.

Human Wickedness and God’s Love

• 36 in the midst of his[fn] heart.
• There is no fear of God before his eyes.
• 2  hating to detect his iniquity.[fn]
• 3 are wickedness and deceit. He has ceased to have insight and to do good.
• 4  He puts himself on a way that is not good.
• He does not reject evil.
• 5 extends into the heavens, your faithfulness unto the clouds.
• 6 is[fn] your judgments like the great deep.
• You save man and beast, O Yahweh.
• 7 is your loyal love, O God, and the children of humankind
• take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
• 8 [fn] of your house,[fn] and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
• 9 the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
• 10  and your righteousness to the upright of heart.
• 11  nor let a wicked hand make me to wander homeless.
• 12  they are thrust down and not able to rise.

The Protection of the Righteous and the Destruction of the Wicked

• 37 do not be envious of doers of wickedness.
• 2  and like green vegetation they will wither.
• 3  Abide in the land and feed on faithfulness.[fn]
• 4 and he will give to you the requests of your heart.
• 5 [fn] Yahweh your way; Trust also on him and he will act.
• 6  and your justice like the noonday.
• 7  Do not fret about one who succeeds in his way,
• about a man making plots.
• 8  Do not fret; it only brings evil.
• 9  but those who wait for Yahweh—
• they will possess the land.
• 10 [fn] yet a little while and the wicked will not be, and you will look carefully upon his place, but he will not be.
• 11 the afflicted will possess the land, and they will take pleasure in an abundance of peace.
• 12 The wicked plans evil against the righteous, and gnashes at him with his teeth.
• 13 The Lord laughs at him, for he sees that his day is coming.
• 14 The wicked have drawn the sword and have bent their bow to throw down the poor and the needy,
• to kill those upright in their way.
• 15 own heart, and their bows shall be broken.
• 16 The little belonging to the righteous is better than the wealth of many wicked.
• 17 the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but Yahweh supports the righteous.
• 18 the days of the blameless, and their inheritance will be forever.
• 19 [fn] and in the days of famine they will be satisfied.
• 20 the wicked will perish, and the enemies of Yahweh will be like the splendor of the pastures.
• They vanish; in smoke they vanish.
• 21 The wicked borrows and does not repay, but the righteous is gracious and gives.
• 22 by him shall possess the land, but those cursed by him shall be cut off.
• 23 The steps of a man are established by Yahweh, and he takes pleasure in his way.
• 24  for Yahweh supports him with his hand.
• 25 now old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
• or his children[fn] bread.
• 26 is gracious and lends, and his children are a blessing.
• 27  and so abide forever.
• 28  and will not forsake his faithful ones.
• They are protected forever.
• But the children of the wicked will be cut off.
• 29 The righteous will possess the land and abide in it forever.
• 30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice.
• 31 is in his heart. His steps will not slip.
• 32 The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to kill him.
• 33  and he will not let him be condemned when he is judged.
• 34  and he will exalt you to possess the land.
• When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
• 35 the wicked acting violently and spreading himself out
• like a luxuriant native tree.
• 36 [fn] and behold, he was not. And I sought him, but he could not be found.
• 37 the blameless and look at the upright, for there is a future for a man of peace.
• 38  The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
• 39 [fn] the salvation of the righteous is from Yahweh, their refuge in the time of trouble.
• 40  He rescues them from the wicked and saves them,
• because they take refuge in him.

A Prayer of Repentance

• 38 or chastise me in your wrath.
• 2  and your hand has pressed down on me.
• 3  There is no health in my bones because of my sin.
• 4  like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
• 5  because of my foolishness.
• 6  All the day I go about mourning.
• 7 of burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh.
• 8  I groan because of the roaring of my heart.
• 9  and my sighing is not hidden from you.
• 10  and the light of my eyes, that also is not with me.
• 11  and my relatives stand afar off.
• 12  and those intent on my harm speak threats.
• They also plot deceit all day.
• 13 the deaf I cannot hear, and I am like the mute who cannot open his mouth.
• 14 so I am like a man who hears not, and in whose mouth there are no retorts.
• 15  You will answer, O Lord my God.
• 16 Help, lest they rejoice over me, lest they boast against me when my foot slips.”
• 17 am ready to stumble, and my pain is before me continually.
• 18  I am anxious because of my sin.
• 19 [fn] are numerous, and those who hate me wrongfully[fn] are many.
• 20  accuse me in return for my pursuing good.
• 21  O my God, do not be far from me.
• 22  O Lord, my salvation.

The Brevity of Human Life

• 39 [fn] with my tongue.
• I will keep a muzzle over my mouth
• as long as the wicked are before me.”
• 2 with silence. I was silent even from saying good things, and my pain was stirred up.
• 3  in my sighing a fire burned.
• Then I spoke with my tongue,
• 4  and what is the measure of my days.
• Let me know how transient I am.”
• 5 mere handbreadths, and my lifespan as nothing next to you.
• Surely every person standing firm is complete vanity.Selah
• 6 mere[fn] surely in vain they bustle about.
• He heaps up possessions but does not know who will gather them in.
• 7  My hope is for you.
• 8  do not make me the taunt of the fool.
• 9  for you, yourself, have done it.
• 10  By the opposition of your hand I perish.
• 11 When with rebukes you chastise a man for sin, you[fn][fn] like a moth his delightful things.
• Surely everyone is a mere vapor.[fn]Selah
• 12 to my cry for help; do not be deaf to my tears.
• For I am an alien[fn] with you,
• a sojourner like all my ancestors.[fn]
• 13 away from me that I may be cheerful, before I depart and I am no more.

God’s Faithfulness and Deliverance

• 40 And he inclined to me
• and heard my cry for help.
• 2 so he brought me up from the roaring pit,[fn]from the miry clay.
• And he put my feet upon a rock;
• he made my steps steady.
• 3  a praise to our God.
• Many will see and fear,
• and will trust Yahweh.
• 4 is the man who makes Yahweh his trust and does not turn to the proud and to those who fall away to a lie.[fn]
• 5 your wonderful deeds and your thoughts toward us.
• There is none to compare with you.
• If I tried to proclaim and tell of them,
• they would be too numerous to count.
• 6 [fn]
• Burnt offering and sin offering you have not demanded.
• 7  In the scroll of the book
• it is written concerning me:
• 8  and your law is[fn]
• 9 of righteousness in the great congregation. Look, I have not shut my lips.
• O Yahweh,[fn]
• 10  I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation.
• I have not concealed your loyal love or your faithfulness
• from the great congregation.
• 11  Let your loyal love and your faithfulness
• continually preserve me.
• 12  My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see.
• They are more than the hairs of my head,
• and my heart fails me.
• 13  O Yahweh, hurry to help me.
• 14  who seek to take away my life.[fn]
• Let them be repulsed and humiliated
• who desire my harm.
• 15  those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
• 16  all those who seek you.
• Let them say continually, “Yahweh is great!”
• —those who love your salvation.
• 17 am poor and needy. Let my Lord consider me.
• You are my help and my deliverer.
• O my God, do not delay.

Thanksgiving for God’s Provision in Time of Sickness

• 41 is the one who has regard for the poor; in the day of disaster, Yahweh delivers him.
• 2  he is blessed in the land,
• and you do not give him
• into the will[fn] of his enemies.
• 3 his sick bed. In his illness, you[fn]
• 4 to me. Heal me,[fn] for I have sinned against you.”
• 5  “When will he die and his name perish?”  
• 6 me, he speaks falsely; his heart gathers disaster for itself.
• He goes out to the street; he speaks.  
• 7  Against me they assume the[fn] for me:
• 8  and now that he lies down, he will not rise up again.”
• 9 [fn] whom I trusted, who ate my bread,
• has lifted his heel against me.
• 10  that I may repay them.
• 11  because my enemy has not shouted in triumph over me.
• 12  and you have set me in your presence forever.
• 13 be Yahweh, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
• Amen and Amen.

Hope in God in the Midst of Despair

• 42 so my soul longs for you, O God.
• 2 the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?[fn]
• 3  while they say to me all day long,
• “Where is your God?”
• 4  that I would go with the multitude;
• I led them in procession to the house[fn] of God,
• with a voice of rejoicing and thanksgiving,
• a crowd celebrating a festival.
• 5 [fn] O my soul, and disturbed within me?
• Hope in God, because I will again praise him,
• for the salvation of his presence.
• 6 [fn] therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan
• and the heights of Hermon, from the mountain of Mizar.
• 7 is calling to deep at[fn] the thunder of your waterfalls.
• All your breakers and your waves
• have passed over me.
• 8  and in the night his song is with me,
• a prayer to the God of my life.
• 9  “Why have you forgotten me?
• Why must I walk about mourning
• because of the oppression of the enemy?”
• 10 As with a shattering in my bones my oppressors taunt me,
• while they say to me[fn]
• “Where is your God?”
• 11 [fn] O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me?
• Hope in God, because I shall again praise him,
• [fn] and my God.

A Prayer for Rescue

• against[fn] an unfaithful[fn] nation.
• From a man of deceit and wickedness rescue me,
• 2 are the God of my refuge. Why have you rejected me?
• Why must I go about mourning
• because of the oppression of the enemy?
• 3  they shall lead[fn] me.
• They shall bring me to[fn]
• and to your dwelling places.
• 4 [fn] I will go to the altar of God, to God,[fn]
• and I will praise you with lyre,
• O God, my God.
• 5 [fn] O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me?
• Hope in God, because I will again praise him,
• [fn] and my God.

Present Defeat and Past Deliverance

• 44 our ancestors[fn] have told us
• of work you worked in their days,
  • in days of old.
  • 2 with your hand drove out the nations, but them[fn] you planted.
• You harmed the peoples,
  • but them[fn] you let spread out.
  • 3  did they possess the land,
  • and their arm did not give them victory.
• Rather it was your right hand and your arm
  • and the light of your presence,
  • because you delighted in them.
  • 4  Command[fn] victories for Jacob.
  • 5  by your name we tread down those who rise up against us.
  • 6  and my sword cannot give me victory.
  • 7 [fn] and have humiliated those who hate us.
  • 8  and we will give thanks to your name forever.Selah
  • 9  and have not gone out with our armies.
  • 10 the enemy, and so those who hate us have plundered for themselves.
  • 11 for food, and among the nations you have scattered us.
  • 12 [fn] and did not profit by their price.
  • 13  a derision and a scorn to those around us.
  • 14  a shaking of the head among the peoples.
  • 15 [fn] my disgrace is before me, and the shame of my face covers me,
  • 16 the voice of the taunter and the reviler, because of the enemy and the avenger.
  • 17  and we have not been false to your covenant.
  • 18  and our steps have not turned aside from your way.
  • 19  and have covered us with deep shadow.
  • 20  or had spread out our hands in prayer to a foreign god,
  • 21  for he knows the secrets of the heart?
  • 22 [fn] we are accounted as sheep for slaughter.
  • 23  Awake! Do not reject forever.
  • 24  Have you forgotten our misery and our oppression?
  • 25  Our[fn] clings to the ground.
  • 26 Be a help for us, and redeem us for the sake of your loyal love.

Celebration of a Royal Wedding

• A maskil. A song of love.[fn]
• 45 with a good word; I recite my[fn] to the king.
• My tongue is the pen of a skilled scribe.
• 2 the most handsome of the sons of humankind; grace is poured out on your lips;
• therefore God has blessed you forever.
• 3 your thigh, O mighty one, in your splendor and your majesty.
• 4 in your majesty[fn] because of truth and humility and righteousness.
• And let your right hand teach you awesome deeds.
• 5 are sharp; peoples fall under you
• in the midst of the king’s enemies.
• 6 is forever and ever. A scepter of uprightness is
• the scepter of your kingdom.
• 7  Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
• from among your companions with festive oil.
• 8 are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia. From palaces of ivory stringed instruments gladden you.
• 9 are among your noble ladies. The queen stands at your right hand in gold of Ophir.
• 10 [fn] and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father’s house.
• 11 [fn] Because he is your lord, therefore[fn] bow down to him.
• 12 will come with a gift. The rich from among people will seek your[fn]
• 13 [fn] her garment is of gold embroidered cloth.
• 14 in colorful garments. The young women behind her, her attendants,
• are being brought to you.
• 15  They enter the palace of the king.
• 16 [fn] fathers will be your sons. You will make them princes in all the land.[fn]
• 17  therefore peoples will praise you forever and ever.

God Provides for and Protects His People

• According to Alamoth. A song.[fn]
• 46 is our refuge and strength, a very sufficient help in troubles.
• 2 the earth change, and though the mountains totter into the[fn] of the sea,
• 3 and foam, though mountains shake with its surging water.Selah
• 4 There is a river whose streams gladden the city of God, the holiest of the dwellings of the Most High.
• 5 is in the midst of her; she will not be made to totter.
• God will help her[fn]
• 6  he utters his voice, the earth melts.
• 7 is with us; our high stronghold is the God of Jacob.Selah
• 8  who has placed desolations on the earth.
• 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and cuts off the spear.
• The wagons of war he burns with fire.
• 10 am God. I will be exalted among the nations;
• I will be exalted in the earth.
• 11 is with us; the God of Jacob is our high stronghold.

God Is King over All the Earth

• 47 you peoples, clap your hands.[fn]Shout to God with a voice of rejoicing.
• 2 is awesome,[fn]a great king over all the earth.
• 3  and nations under our feet.
• 4  the pride of Jacob whom he loves.
• 5  Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet.
• 6 to God, sing praises. Sing praises to our king, sing praises.
• 7 is king of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding.[fn]
• 8  God sits on his holy throne.
• 9 The princes of the peoples are gathered together with the people of Abraham’s God.
• For the shields of the earth belong to God.
• He is very exalted.

The Greatness of God in Zion

• 48 is great and very worthy of praise in the city of our God, in his[fn]
• 2  is[fn][fn]
• the city of the great king.
• 3 is in her citadels; he is known as a high stronghold.
• 4 [fn] they advanced together.
• 5 [fn] it, so they were astonished. They were terrified; they ran off.
• 6  pain as of a woman in labor.
• 7  you shatter[fn] the ships of Tarshish.[fn]
• 8  in the city of Yahweh of hosts, in the city of our God.
• God will establish her forever.Selah
• 9  in the midst of your temple.
• 10 is your name, O God, so is your praise to the ends of the earth.
• Your right hand is full of righteousness.
• 11 [fn] rejoice; let the daughters of Judah rejoice
• because of your judgments.
• 12  count her towers.
• 13 [fn] her ramparts. Go through her citadels
• so that you can tell the next generation
• 14 is God, our God forever and ever.[fn] will guide us until death.

Wealth and the Fate of the Wicked

• 49 you peoples; give ear, all you inhabitants of the world,
• 2  rich and poor together.
• 3  and the meditation of my heart will be understanding.
• 4  I will[fn] my riddle on a lyre.
• 5 [fn] when iniquity surrounds me at my heels,
• 6  and boast about the abundance of their riches?
• 7  He cannot give to God his ransom
• 8 [fn] the redemption price for their life is costly and it always fails),
• 9  and not see the pit.
• 10 that the wise die, together with the fool and brute they perish,
• and leave their wealth to the next generation.
• 11 they think their houses are forever, their dwelling places from generation to generation.
• They[fn] their lands by their own names.
• 12 his pomp. He is like the beasts that perish.
• 13 is the journey[fn]of those who have foolish confidence, and those after them who accept their sayings.Selah
• 14  death will shepherd them.
• But the upright will rule over them in the morning,
• and their forms will be for Sheol to consume,
• far from his lofty abode.
• 15  from the[fn] of Sheol,
• because he will receive me.Selah
• 16  when the wealth[fn] of his house increases,
• 17 away any of it. His wealth will not follow down after him.
• 18  —and people will praise you when you do well for yourself—
• 19 [fn] will go to the generation of his fathers. Never will they see light.
• 20 its pomp, but does not understand, is like the beasts that perish.

An Oracle Concerning Sacrifices

• 50 and summoned the earth,
• from the rising of the sun
• to its setting.
• 2 the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.
• 3  Before him fire devours,
• and around him it is very tempestuous.
• 4  and the earth that he might judge his people:
• 5  those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
• 6 the heavens declare his righteousness, because God himself is judge.Selah
• 7  O Israel, and I will testify against you.
• I am God, your God.
• 8 a lack of your sacrifices that I rebuke you, and your burnt offerings are before me continually.
• 9  or from your stalls a he-goat,
• 10  the cattle on a thousand hills.
• 11 the mountains, and every moving creature in the field is mine.
• 12  because the world and its fullness are mine.
• 13 the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
• 14  and pay your vows to the Most High.
• 15 the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”
• 16  “What right have you to recite my statutes
• and[fn]
• 17  and cast my words behind you?
• 18  and your association is with adulterers.
• 19  and you harness your tongue to deceit.
• 20  you slander your mother’s son.
• 21 things you have done, and I have been silent; You imagined that I was just like you.
• I will rebuke you and present an argument before your eyes.
• 22  lest I tear you apart, and there will be none to deliver.
• 23  and he who orders his way;
• I will show him the salvation of God.”

A Prayer of Repentance and Plea for Mercy

• When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.[fn]
• 51 According to your abundant mercies,
• blot out my transgressions.
• 2  and from my sin cleanse me.
• 3 [fn] my transgressions,[fn] and my sin is ever before me.
• 4  and have done this evil[fn] in your eyes,
• so that you are correct when you speak,
• you are blameless when you judge.
• 5  and in sin my mother conceived me.
• 6 in truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden parts you make me to know wisdom.
• 7  Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
• 8  let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
• 9  and all my iniquities blot out.
• 10  and renew a steadfast spirit[fn]
• 11  and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
• 12  and with a willing spirit sustain me.
• 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
• 14  the God of my salvation;
• then my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
• 15  and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
• 16 in sacrifice or I would give it. With a burnt offering you are not pleased.
• 17 are a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart,
• O God, you will not despise.
• 18  Build the walls of Jerusalem.
• 19 in righteous sacrifices, burnt offering and whole burnt offering.
• Then bulls will be offered on your altar.

God’s Judgment on the Wicked and Love for the Faithful

• When Doeg the Edomite came and informed Saul.
• And he said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”[fn]
• 52  The loyal love of God endures[fn]
• 2  like a sharp razor, working deceit.
• 3  a lie more than speaking[fn]Selah
• 4  O deceitful tongue,
• 5  He will snatch you and tear you away from your tent,
• and he will uproot you from the land of the living.Selah
• 6 the righteous will see and fear, and will laugh at him, saying,
• 7 who would not make God his refuge, but he trusted in the greatness of his wealth;
• he took refuge in his destructiveness.”
• 8 am like an olive tree flourishing in the house[fn] of God.
• I trust the loyal love of God forever and ever.
• 9 of what you have done, and I will wait on your name, because it is good,
• in the presence of your faithful ones.

The Folly of the Godless and Salvation for Israel

• A maskil of David.[fn]
• 53 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt and they have done abominable iniquity.
• There is none who does good.
• 2  to see whether there is one who has insight,
• one who seeks God.
• 3 [fn] have turned back. They are altogether corrupt.
• There is none who does good;
• there is not even one.
• 4  they who eat my people as though they were eating bread?
• They do not call on God.
• 5 [fn] where no fear had been,
• because God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you.
• You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.
• 6 [fn] would come salvation for Israel! When God returns the fortunes[fn] of his people,
• let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Answered Prayer for Deliverance from Adversaries

• A maskil of David,
• when the Ziphites went and said to Saul,
• “Is not David hiding himself among us?”[fn]
• 54  and by your power vindicate me.
• 2  heed the words of my mouth.
• 3  and ruthless men seek my life.
• They have not set God before them.Selah
• 4 is my helper; The Lord is with those who sustain my life.[fn]
• 5 [fn] my enemies for their[fn] evil;in your faithfulness destroy them.
• 6  I will give thanks to your name,
• O Yahweh, because it is good.
• 7  and my eye has looked with satisfaction on my enemies.

Betrayal of a Friend and Trust in God

• A maskil of David.[fn]
• 55 to my prayer, and do not hide yourself from my plea.
• 2  I am restless in my lamenting and I groan,
• 3 the voice of an enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked,
• because they bring down evil on me,
• and in anger they hold a grudge against me.
• 4  and deathly terrors fall on me.
• 5  and horror overwhelms me.
• 6 [fn] I had wings like a dove. I would fly away and be at rest.
• 7  I would dwell in the wilderness.Selah
• 8  from the raging wind and storm.”
• 9  because I see violence and strife in the city.
• 10  and iniquity and trouble are in its midst.
• 11 is within it, and oppression and deceit
• do not depart from its public square.
• 12 it is not an enemy that taunts me, or I could bear it.
• It is not one who hates me that magnifies himself over me,
• or I could hide myself from him.
• 13 it is you, a man my equal, my friend and confidant.
• 14 We who would take sweet counsel together; in the house[fn] of God
• we would walk with the throng.
• 15  because evil is in their home and[fn]
• 16  and Yahweh will save me.
• 17 [fn] I will lament and groan loudly, and he will hear my voice.
• 18 the battle against me,[fn]because those standing against me are among many.
• 19 [fn] he who is enthroned from of old,Selah
• Because they do not change,
• and they do not fear God.
• 20 [fn] he has defiled his covenant.
• 21 [fn] of his mouth were smooth, but there was battle in his heart.
• His words were smoother than oil,
• but they were drawn swords.
• 22  and he will sustain you.
• He will never allow the righteous to be moved.[fn]
• 23 the pit of corruption. The men of bloodshed and deceit will not live half their days,
• but I will trust you.

Prayer for Deliverance and Confidence in God

• Of David. A miktam.
• When the Philistines seized him in Gath.[fn]
• 56 fighting all the day he oppresses me.
• 2 [fn] trample all day, because many are attacking me proudly.
• 3 [fn] I fear, I trust you.
• 4  God I trust; I do not fear.
• What can mere flesh do to me?
• 5  all their thoughts are against me for evil.
• 6 [fn] they hide, they watch my[fn] as they lie in wait for my life.
• 7  In anger cast down the peoples, O God.
• 8  Put my tears in your bottle;
• are they not in your book?
• 9 [fn] I call.[fn] This I know because[fn] God is for me.
• 10 whose word I praise, Yahweh, whose word I praise,
• 11  What can mere humankind do to me?
• 12 My vows to you, O God, are binding upon me. I will pay thank offerings to you,
• 13  Have you not kept my feet from stumbling,
• that I may walk before God
• in the light of the living?

Prayer for Rescue from Enemies

• Of David. A miktam.
• When he fled from Saul into the cave.[fn]
• 57  because in you my soul takes refuge.
• In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge
• until destruction passes by.
• 2  to God who accomplishes things concerning me.
• 3  he will reproach the one who tramples me.Selah
• God will send his loyal love and his faithfulness.
• 4 is among lions. I lie down among those who devour—
• the children[fn] of humankind whose teeth are spears and arrows
• and whose tongues are sharp swords.
• 5  Let your glory be above all the earth.
• 6  my soul is bowed down.
• They have dug a pit before me;
• they have fallen into the midst of it.Selah
• 7 is steadfast, O God; My heart is steadfast.
• I will sing and give praise.
• 8  Awake, harp and lyre.
• I will awake the dawn.[fn]
• 9 I will give you praise among the nations.
• 10 is high to the heavens, and your faithfulness to the clouds.
• 11 the heavens, O God. Let your glory be above all the earth.

Judgment on the Wicked

• Of David. A miktam.[fn]
• 58 what is right when silent?[fn]Do you judge fairly the children of humankind?[fn]
• 2 your heart you plan injustices; in the land[fn] you weigh out the violence of your hands.
• 3 the womb. They go astray from the belly, speaking lies.
• 4 is like snake venom; They are like a deaf viper that closes its ear
• 5 the voice of charmers or the skilled caster of spells.
• 6  Break off the fangs of the young lions, O Yahweh.
• 7 away like water that runs off. When he bends the bow, let his arrows be as though they were cut off.[fn]
• 8 Let them be like a snail that melts away as it goes; like the stillborn of woman that do not see the sun.
• 9 the heat of a thornbush, whether green or[fn] he will sweep it away.[fn]
• 10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
• 11 [fn] will say, “Surely there is a[fn] for the righteous. Surely there is a God who judges in the land.”[fn]

A Prayer for Protection

• Of David. A miktam.
• When Saul dispatched men and they watched the house to kill him.[fn]
• 59 Protect[fn] me from those who rise up against me.
• 2 and from men of bloodshed save me.
• 3 [fn] The mighty attack[fn] against me,
• not because of my transgression or my sin, O Yahweh.
• 4  Awake to meet me and see.
• 5 of hosts, are the God of Israel. Rouse yourself to punish all the nations.
• Do not be gracious to any who treacherously plot evil.Selah
• 6 [fn] while they prowl the city.
• 7 talk with their mouth. Swords are on their lips,
• for they say, “Who hears?”
• 8  you will mock all the nations.
• 9 [fn] I will watch for you, because you, O God, are my (high) stronghold.
• 10 [fn] God of loyal love will meet me; God will cause me to look in triumph on my enemies.
• 11  Make them to wander by your power,
• and bring them down, O Lord, our shield.
• 12 By the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, even in their pride, let them be trapped,
• and for the curses[fn] and lies[fn] they proclaim.
• 13 so that they may know that God is ruling in Jacob
• to the ends of the earth.Selah
• 14 [fn] while they prowl the city.
• 15  If they are not satisfied, then they continue all night.[fn]
• 16 of your strength, and I will hail your loyal love in the morning,
• because you have been my high stronghold
• and a refuge in my[fn] of trouble.
• 17  because God is my high stronghold,
• my God of loyal love.

A Lament After a Defeat and a Prayer for Restoration

• A miktam of David. To teach.
• When he fought Mesopotamia and Aram Zobah, and Joab returned and struck Edom in the Valley of Salt, twelve thousand persons.[fn]
• 60 You have been angry. Restore us!
• 2 the land quake. You have split it open. Heal its fissures, because it totters.
• 3 things; You have given us wine that staggers.
• 4 [fn]Selah
• 5  Save by your right hand and answer us.
• 6  “I will rejoice;
• I will divide up Shechem,
• and portion out the valley of Succoth.
• 7 is mine, and Manasseh is mine, and Ephraim is the[fn] my head;
• Judah is my scepter.[fn]
• 8 is my washing pot; over Edom, I will cast my sandal.
• On account of me, O Philistia, raise a shout.”
• 9 the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
• 10  and not gone out with our armies, O God?
• 11 the adversary, for the help of humankind is futile.
• 12 [fn] and it is he who will tread down our enemies.

Confidence in God’s Protection

• 61 attend to my prayer.
• 2 [fn] I call to you when my heart grows faint.
• You will lead me to a rock that is higher than I.
• 3  a strong tower from the enemy.
• 4  Let me take refuge under the covering of your wings.Selah
• 5  You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
• 6  his years like those of[fn]
• 7 [fn] forever in the presence of God. Appoint loyal love and faithfulness to preserve him.
• 8  that I may fulfill[fn] my vows[fn]

Confidence in God’s Salvation

• A psalm of David.[fn]
• 62 waits in silence. From him is my salvation.
• 2 is my rock and my salvation, my high stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken.
• 3  All of you will be shattered[fn]
• like a leaning wall, a tottering fence.
• 4 [fn] plan to thrust him down from his high position; they are pleased with deception.
• With their mouths[fn] they bless,
• but[fn] they curse.Selah
• 5  because my hope is from him.
• 6 is my rock and my salvation, my high stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
• 7 rests my salvation and my glory; God[fn] is my strong rock, my refuge.
• 8  pour out before him your heart.
• God is a refuge for us.Selah
• 9 [fn] are men of low degree, a deception are men of high degree.
• [fn] in a balance,
• together they are lighter than a vapor.
• 10  and do not put vain confidence in robbery.
• If wealth increases,
• do not set your heart on it.
• 11  twice I have heard this:
• that strength belongs to God.
• 12 belongs loyal love, O Lord, because you will render to each according to his work.

Longing for God

• 63 are my God; I will seek you diligently.
• My soul thirsts for you; my flesh longs for you
• as in a dry and weary land without water.
• 2  beholding your strength and glory.
• 3 is better than life, my lips will praise you.
• 4  I will lift up my[fn] in your name.
• 5 as with the best and richest food, and with joyful lips my mouth will praise.
• 6  I meditate on you in the night watches.
• 7  therefore[fn] in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
• 8 [fn] you; your right hand upholds me.
• 9 who seek my life for ruin, they will go into the depths of the earth.
• 10 who would[fn] will become a portion for jackals.
• 11  Everyone who swears an oath by him will boast,
• because the mouth of the liars will be stopped.

A Plea for Divine Retribution

• 64 Preserve my life from the fear of the enemy.
• 2 the secret plots[fn] of evildoers,from the unrest of those who do iniquity,
• 3  They bend their bow to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
• 4 [fn] their[fn] hiding places at the blameless. Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
• 5 in the evil matter. They talk of secretly laying snares.
• They say, “Who will see them?”
• 6 [fn] injustices saying, “We have perfected[fn]
• Both the[fn] and heart of a man are deep.
• 7  with an arrow they will suddenly be wounded.
• 8 [fn] And they who would cause him[fn] to stumble,their own tongue will be against them.
• All who gaze on them will shake.[fn]
• 9 [fn] all men[fn] will fear, and will declare the working of God,
• and will understand his doing.
• 10 The righteous will rejoice in Yahweh and take refuge in him, and all the upright in heart will boast.

Thanksgiving for God’s Provision

• 65 and to you the vow shall be fulfilled.
• 2 you who hear prayer, to you all flesh will come.
• 3 [fn] prevail over me. As for our transgressions, you will[fn] them.
• 4 is one whom you choose and bring near, that he may abide in your courts.
• We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
• your holy temple.
• 5  O God of our salvation,
• you who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth
• and of the far-off seas,
• 6 who established the mountains by his strength, the one who is girded with might,
• 7 who stills the roar of the seas, the roar of their waves,
• and the commotion of the peoples,
• 8 [fn] the inhabitants of the farthest reaches are in awe of your signs. You make the dawn and sunset sing for joy.
• 9 [fn] the land[fn] and water it; you greatly enrich it.
• The stream of God is filled with waters.
• You provide their grain,
• for so you have established it.
• 10  penetrating its ridges.
• With rains you soften it;
• its growth you bless.
• 11 [fn] and your wagon paths drip with[fn]
• 12 on the pastures of the wilderness, and the hills gird themselves with joy.
• 13 The pasturelands put on flocks, and the valleys clothe themselves with grain.
• They shout in triumph;
• they even sing.

Thanksgiving to God for His Works

66 
• 2 [fn]
• 3  Because of the greatness of your strength,
• your enemies will cringe before you.
• 4  and sing praise to you.
• They will sing the praise of your name.”Selah
• 5 [fn] the works of God; he is awesome in his dealings[fn] with the children of humankind.
• 6 the sea into dry ground; they passed through the river on foot.
• There we rejoiced in him.
• 7 He rules by his might forever; his eyes keep watch on the nations.
• Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.[fn]Selah
• 8  and cause the sound of his praise to be heard,
• 9  and has not allowed our foot to slip.
• 10  you have tried us as silver is tried.
• 11  you placed a[fn] on our backs.
• 12 [fn] ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water,
• but you have brought us out to the place of abundance.[fn]
• 13 [fn] with burnt offerings. I will pay to you my vows
• 14  and my mouth spoke in my distress.
• 15  with the smoke of rams.
• I will do[fn] cattle with rams.Selah
• 16 and hear, all you God-fearers, and I will tell what he has done for me.[fn]
• 17  and he was extolled with my tongue.[fn]
• 18  the Lord would not have listened.
• 19  he has attended to the sound of my prayer.
• 20  who has not turned aside my prayer,
• or his loyal love from me.

A Prayer of Blessing

• 67 May he cause his face to shine toward us,Selah
• 2  your salvation among all nations.
• 3  let all of the peoples praise you.
• 4  because you judge the peoples with equity
• and guide the nations on the earth.Selah
• 5 the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.
• 6 The earth has yielded its produce. God, our God, will bless us.
• 7  and all the ends of the earth will fear him.

Praise to God for Providing Victory

• 68 and those who hate him will flee from before him.
• 2 them off. As wax melts before fire,
• the wicked will perish before God.
• 3 the righteous will be glad; they will exalt before God, and will rejoice with joy.
• 4  Lift up a song to the rider on the clouds—his name is Yah—[fn]
• and rejoice before him.
• 5  is God in his holy habitation.
• 6  he brings prisoners out into prosperity.
• But the rebellious abide in a barren land.
• 7  when you marched through the desert,Selah
• 8 the earth shook; the heavens also dripped rain at the presence of God who was at Sinai,
• at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
• 9  When your inheritance was weary you revived it.
• 10  You provided in your goodness for the poor, O God.
• 11 the word. Great is the company of women who announce:
• 12 The kings of armies flee, they flee, and she who remains at home divides the spoil.
• 13 men lie down between the sheepfolds, you will be like the wings of a dove covered in silver
• and its pinions in yellow gold.”
• 14  on Zalmon it snowed.[fn]
• 15 [fn] is the mountain of Bashan; a mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
• 16  This[fn] mountain God desires for his dwelling.
• Yes, Yahweh will abide in it forever.
• 17  are twice ten thousand, with thousands doubled.
• The Lord is among them at Sinai, distinctive in victory.[fn]
• 18 You have received gifts from among humankind,
• and even from the rebellious, so that Yah[fn] God may dwellthere.
• 19 with benefits,[fn]the God of our salvation.[fn]Selah
• 20 is a God of deliverances, and to the Yahweh the Lord belong escapes from death.
• 21  the hairy scalp of the one who[fn] in his guilt.
• 22 them back from Bashan; I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
• 23 them bloody for the tongues of your dogs to have their share from the enemies.”
• 24  the processions of my God, my king, distinctive in victory.[fn]
• 25 between them young women playing tambourines.
• 26 the assemblies, Yahweh from the fountain of Israel.
• 27 is little Benjamin ruling them, with the princes of Judah in their throng,
• the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
• 28  Show yourself strong, O God, by what you perform[fn] for us.
• 29 is above Jerusalem, kings will bring tribute to you.
• 30 the beasts in[fn]the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples,
• trampling the pieces of silver.[fn]
• Scatter the nations who delight in battles.
• 31 [fn] will come from Egypt; Cush will quickly stretch out her hands to God.
• 32  sing praise to the Lord,Selah
• 33  See, he gives forth his voice, a mighty voice.
• 34  His majesty is over Israel,
• and his strength is in the clouds.
• 35 are you, O God, from your sanctuary.[fn]The God of Israel, it is he who gives strength and might to the people.
• Blessed be God.

A Plea for Deliverance from Persecution

• 69 because waters have come up to my neck.[fn]
• 2 the mud of the deep, and there is no foothold. I have come to watery depths,
• and the torrent floods over me.
• 3 out; my throat is parched. My eyes are exhausted in my waiting for my God.
• 4  are those hating me without a cause.
• Those who are destroying me—my enemies wrongfully[fn]— are mighty.
• What I did not steal, I then must restore.
• 5 [fn] my foolishness, and my guilty deeds are not hidden from you.
• 6  O Lord Yahweh of hosts.
• Let those who seek you not be disgraced because of me,
• O God of Israel.
• 7  disgrace has covered my face.
• 8  and a foreigner to my mother’s sons,
• 9 [fn] has consumed me, and the reproaches of those reproaching you have fallen on me.
• 10  it became reproaches for me.
• 11  I became for them a byword.
• 12 the gate talk about me as also[fn]the songs of the drunkards.
• 13 is to you, O Yahweh, for a favorable time, O God, according to the abundance of your loyal love.
• Answer me with the faithfulness of your salvation.
• 14 the mud and do not let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me
• and from the watery depths.
• 15  or the deep swallow me,
• or the pit close its mouth over me.
• 16 is good; according to your abundant mercies, turn to me,
• 17  Because I am in trouble, answer me quickly.
• 18  Because of my enemies, ransom me.
• 19 [fn] to you are all my adversaries.
• 20  And I hoped for sympathy, but there was none,
• and for comforters, but I found none.
• 21 [fn] and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
• 22  and their times of peace a snare.
• 23  and make their loins continually tremble.
• 24  and let your burning anger overtake them.
• 25  Let none dwell in their tents,
• 26 those whom you, yourself, have struck, and they tell of the pain of those you have wounded.
• 27 [fn] and do not let them[fn]
• 28 the book of the living, and let them not be recorded with the righteous.
• 29 though I am afflicted and pained, your salvation will protect[fn] me, O God.
• 30  and magnify him with thanksgiving.
• 31 or bull, horned and hoofed.[fn]
• 32 The afflicted will see and rejoice. O God seekers, let your heart revive,[fn]
• 33 the needy and does not despise his own who are prisoners.
• 34  the seas and all that moves in them,
• 35  and build the cities of Judah,
• that they may dwell there and possess it.
• 36  and those who love his name will abide in it.

A Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies

• 70 make haste to deliver me. O Yahweh, make haste to help me.
• 2  who seek my life.
• Let them be repulsed and humiliated
• who desire my harm.
• 3  those who say, “Aha! Aha!”
• 4  all those who seek you.
• Let them say continually, “God is great!”
• those who love your salvation.
• 5 am poor and needy; O God hasten to me.
• You are my help and my deliverer.
• O Yahweh, do not delay.

A Prayer to God the Rock of Refuge

• let me never be put to shame.
• 2  incline your ear to me and save me.
• 3  you have ordained[fn] to save me,
• because you are my rock and my fortress.
• 4 the hand of the wicked, from the[fn] of the evildoer and the oppressor,
• 5 are my hope, O Lord Yahweh, my confidence from my youth.
• 6 [fn] It was you who[fn] me from the womb of my mother.
• My praise is of you continually.
• 7  but you are my strong refuge.
• 8  with your glory all the day.
• 9  when my strength fails do not abandon me.
• 10  and those who watch for my life conspire together,
• 11  Pursue and seize him, because there is no deliverer.”
• 12  My God, hurry to help me.
• 13  who are[fn]
• Let them wrap themselves with scorn and disgrace
• who seek my harm.
• 14  and increase your praise.
• 15  your salvation[fn]
• though I do not know the full sum of them.
• 16 to tell the mighty deeds of Lord Yahweh. I will[fn] your righteousness, yours only.
• 17  and up to now I have proclaimed your wonderful deeds.
• 18 I am old and gray, O God, do not abandon me
• until I proclaim your[fn] to this generation,
• your power to every one that comes after.
• 19 is to the height of heaven. You who have done great things,
• O God, who is like you?
• 20 [fn] to see many troubles and evils, you will again revive me.[fn]
• And from the depths of the earth
• you will again bring me up.
• 21  and you will comfort me all around.[fn]
• 22  and your faithfulness, O my God.
• I will sing praises to you with a lyre,
• O Holy One of Israel.
• 23  and my soul, which you have redeemed.
• 24  will speak of your righteousness all the day,
• because they have been put to shame, because they have been humiliated
• who seek my harm.

A Prayer for the Prosperity of God’s Anointed King

• 72 the king, and your righteousness to the king’s son.
• 2  and your poor with justice.
• 3 the mountains yield prosperity[fn] for the people,and the hills in righteousness.
• 4 for the poor of the people, save the children of the needy,
• and crush the oppressor.
• 5 [fn][fn][fn][fn]
• 6  like showers watering the earth.
• 7 what is right blossom in his days and an abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.
• 8  and from the River[fn] tothe edges of the land.
• 9 the desert dwellers bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust.
• 10 the islands bring tribute. Let the kings of Sheba and Seba present gifts,
• 11  Let all nations serve him.
• 12 the needy who is crying for help, and the afflicted who has no helper.
• 13 the helpless and needy, and the lives of the needy he will save.
• 14  he will redeem their lives,
• and their blood will be precious in his eyes.
• 15  and may prayers be offered for him continually.
• May blessings be invoked for him[fn]
• 16  even on the top of the mountains.
• May his crop[fn] sway like the trees of Lebanon,
• and may those from the city blossom like the grass of the earth.
• 17  May his name increase[fn]
• and let them be blessed in him.
• Let all nations call him blessed.
• 18  who alone does wonderful things.
• 19  and may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
• Amen and Amen.
20 

The Wicked and the Righteous Contrasted

• 73 to those pure of heart.
• 2  My steps had nearly slipped,
• 3  when I saw the well-being[fn] ofthe wicked.
• 4  and their bodies are[fn]
• 5 [fn] and they are not plagued as other people.[fn]
• 6 an outfit of violence covers them.
• 7 [fn] Imaginings overflow their heart.
• 8  they speak as though from on high.
• 9  and their tongue roams the earth.
• 10 [fn] and abundant waters are slurped up by them.
• 11  and, “Does the Most High have knowledge?”
• 12 are the wicked, and they increase wealth, ever carefree.
• 13  and washed my hands in innocence.
• 14  and rebuked[fn]
• 15  behold, I would have acted treacherously
• against your children’s generation.
• 16 how to understand this, it was troubling in my eyes
• 17  Then I understood their fate.
• 18  You cause them to fall onto ruin.[fn]
• 19  They come to a complete end by terrors.
• 20  when you wake up, O Lord,
• you will despise their fleeting form.[fn]
• 21  and I felt stabbed in my kidneys,
• 22  With you I was like the beasts.
• 23 am continually with you; you have hold of my right hand.
• 24  and afterward you will take me into honor.[fn]
• 25 except you? And with you I have no other desire on earth.
• 26  but God is the[fn] of my heart and my reward forever.
• 27 those distancing themselves from you will be ruined. You destroy each who abandons you for harlotry.
• 28 is for my good. I have set the Lord Yahweh as my refuge,
• in order to tell all your works.

A Lament in Time of National Defeat

• 74 us forever? Why does your anger smoke
• against the sheep of your pasture?
• 2 that you bought long ago, when you redeemed the tribe of your inheritance.
• Remember[fn] where you have dwelt.
• 3  to all that the enemy has ruined in the sanctuary.
• 4  they have set up their signs for signs.
• 5 [fn] known to be like those who[fn] axes in a thicket of trees.
• 6 [fn] its[fn] carved works altogether they have smashed with axe and hammer.
• 7  They have defiled to the ground,
• the dwelling place for your name.
• 8  “We will completely[fn] oppress them.”
• They burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
• 9  and there is no longer a prophet.
• No one with us knows how long.
• 10 the adversary taunt? Will the enemy treat your name with contempt forever?
• 11  Take it from your bosom;[fn] destroythem!
• 12 has been my king from long ago, working salvation in the midst of the earth.
• 13 the sea by your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
• 14  you gave him as food to the desert dwelling creatures.
• 15 [fn] You dried up ever-flowing rivers.
• 16 is the day, yours is the night also. You established light and the sun.
• 17 [fn] all the boundaries of the earth; Summer and winter—you formed them.
• 18 the enemy taunts, and foolish people treat your name with contempt.
• 19  do not ever forget the life of your afflicted ones.
• 20  because the dark places of the land are full of
• the haunts of violence.
• 21 the oppressed turn back humiliated; let the poor and needy praise your name.
• 22  remember the reproaching of you by the foolish[fn]
• 23  the roar of those rising up against you ascending continually.

Thanksgiving for God’s Future Help

• A psalm of Asaph. A song.[fn]
• 75 we give thanks, and your name is near.
• Your wonderful deeds are told.[fn]
• 2  I will judge fairly.[fn]
• 3 The earth and all its inhabitants are shaking;[fn]I steady[fn] its columns.Selah
• 4 and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn!
• 5 [fn] horn. Do not speak with[fn]
• 6 it is not from the east or the west and not from the south[fn]that lifting up comes,
• 7 is the judge; one he brings low, and another he lifts up.
• 8 there is a cup in the hand of Yahweh with[fn] wine that foams, fully mixed,
• and he pours out from this.
• Surely all the wicked of the land
• to its dregs[fn]
• 9  I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
• 10 the horns of the wicked I will cut off. The horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”

Praise to God for His Rescue of Israel

• A psalm of Asaph. A song.[fn]
• 76 is known in Judah. His name is great in Israel.
• 2 [fn] has been in Salem, his lair[fn] in Zion.
• 3 the flames of the bow, the shield and sword and battle.Selah
• 4 [fn] you are, majestic, from[fn] the mountains of prey.
• 5 The stouthearted are plundered; they sleep their sleep,
• and all the able men cannot[fn] their hands.
• 6  both rider[fn] and horse slumber.
• 7 [fn] and who can stand before you
• when you are angry?[fn]
• 8  The earth feared and was still
• 9  to save all the afflicted of the land.Selah
• 10  You will put on the remnant of anger.[fn]
• 11 let all surrounding him
• bring tribute to the one to be feared.[fn]
• 12 the spirit of leaders. He is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

Remembering God’s Help for Israel

• Of Asaph. A psalm.[fn]
• 77 with my voice to God, that he may hear me.
• 2 have trouble, I seek[fn] the Lord.At night my hand stretches out[fn]
• my soul refuses to be comforted.
• 3  I meditate and my spirit grows faint.
• 4 open my eyelids. I am troubled and cannot speak.
• 5 the days from long ago, the years of ancient times.
• 6  With my heart I meditate,
• and my spirit searches to understand.
• 7 us forever, and will he never be pleased with us again?
• 8  Is his promise[fn] ended throughout generations?
• 9 Or has he closed off his mercies in anger?Selah
• 10 [fn] the right hand of the Most High has changed.”
• 11 [fn] Surely I will remember your wonders[fn] from long ago.
• 12  and meditate on your deeds.
• 13 is distinctive.[fn]Who is a great god like our God?
• 14 are the God who works wonders;[fn]you have made known your might among the peoples.
• 15 your arm you redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph.Selah
• 16  waters saw you and they trembled.
• Surely the deeps shook.
• 17 The clouds poured out water. The skies[fn]
• Your arrows also[fn]
• 18 was in the whirlwind;[fn]lightnings lit the world;
• the earth shook and quaked.
• 19 was through the sea, and your path[fn] through many waters.
• Yet your footprints were not discerned.[fn]
• 20  by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

God’s Faithfulness in Israel’s History

• 78 Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
• 2 [fn] a parable with my mouth. I will pour out riddles from long ago,
• 3  and our ancestors[fn] have told us.
• 4 them from their children,[fn]telling the next generation the praises of Yahweh,
• and his power and his wonders that he has done.
• 5  and appointed a law[fn] in Israel,
• which he commanded our ancestors[fn]
• to teach to their children,
• 6 the next generation might know— children yet to be born—
• that they might rise up and tell their children,
• 7  and not forget the deeds of God,
• but keep his commandments,
• 8 [fn] a stubborn and rebellious generation,
• a generation that did not make ready its heart,
• whose spirit was not faithful to God.
• 9 [fn] turned back on the day of battle.
• 10  and refused to go in his law.[fn]
• 11  and his wonders that he had shown them.
• 12 [fn] he did a wonder, in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
• 13  and he caused waters to stand like a heap.
• 14  and all night with a fiery light.
• 15  and provided drink abundantly as from the depths.
• 16 the rock and caused water to flow down like rivers.
• 17  by rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
• 18  by asking food[fn]
• 19  They said, “Is God able
• to prepare a table in the wilderness?
• 20 the rock and water flowed and streams gushed out,
• but can he also give food
• or provide meat for his people?”
• 21  and he was very angry,
• and a fire was kindled against Jacob,
• and his anger also rose up against Israel,
• 22  and they did not trust his salvation.
• 23 the skies above and opened the doors of heaven,
• 24  and gave them the grain of heaven.
• 25 the bread of[fn] He sent them food enough to be satisfied.
• 26 the east wind to blow in the heavens and drove along the south wind by his strength.
• 27  even winged birds[fn] like the sand of the seas.
• 28 them to fall in the midst of his camp, all around his dwellings.
• 29  and he brought about what they craved.
• 30  while their food was still in their mouth,
• 31  and he killed some of the stoutest of them,
• even the young men of Israel he caused to bow down in death.
• 32  and did not believe his wonders.
• 33 [fn] their years with terror.[fn]
• 34 some of them, then they sought him, and repented and earnestly sought God.
• 35 was their rock, and God Most High their redeemer.
• 36  and lied to him with their tongue.
• 37  nor were they faithful to his covenant.
• 38 was compassionate; he pardoned[fn]their guilt and did not destroy them.
• And many times he turned back his anger
• and did not stir up all his wrath,
• 39 were flesh, a passing wind that does not return.
• 40  and vexed him in the wasteland!
• 41  and distressed[fn] the Holy One of Israel.
• 42 [fn][fn] he redeemed them from the enemy,
• 43 [fn] his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the region of Zoan,
• 44 [fn] to blood so they could not drink from their streams.
• 45  and frogs that destroyed them.
• 46  and their labor to the locust.[fn]
• 47  and their sycamore trees with sleet.[fn]
• 48  and their livestock to the lightning bolts.
• 49  rage and indignation and trouble,
• a band of[fn] angels.
• 50  He did not spare them[fn] from death
• but handed their life over to the plague.
• 51 the firstborn in Egypt, the first of their virility in the tents of Ham.
• 52  and guided them like a herd in the wilderness.
• 53  but the sea covered their enemies.
• 54 [fn] this mountain his right hand acquired.[fn]
• 55  and allocated them for an inheritance by boundary line,
• and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
• 56  and did not keep his statutes.
• 57 [fn] They twisted like a crooked[fn] bow.
• 58  and made him jealous with their images.
• 59  and rejected Israel utterly.
• 60  the tent he had placed among humankind.
• 61  and his splendor into the hand of the enemy.
• 62  and he was very angry with his inheritance.
• 63  and his young women[fn] were not praised.
• 64  and his widows did not weep.
• 65 one who had been asleep, awoke like a warrior who had been drunk with wine.[fn]
• 66 he gave them over to perpetual scorn.
• 67  and did not chose the tribe of Ephraim,
• 68 [fn] that he loved.
• 69 the heights, like the earth that he established forever.
• 70  and took him from the sheepfolds.
• 71  to shepherd Jacob, his people,
• and Israel, his inheritance.
• 72  and led them by the skillfulness of his hands.

A Lament for Jerusalem after Its Destruction

• 79 the nations have entered your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple;
• they have reduced Jerusalem to ruins.
• 2  as food for the birds of the heavens,
• the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
• 3  all around Jerusalem,
• and there was none to bury them.
• 4  a derision and a scorn to those around us.
• 5  Will your jealousy burn like fire?
• 6  that do not know you,
• and on the kingdoms
• that do not call on your name,
• 7 [fn] have devoured Jacob and have laid waste his habitation.
• 8  let your mercies meet us quickly
• because we are brought very low.
• 9  for the glory of your name;
• and deliver us and forgive[fn] our sins
• for the sake of your name.
• 10  “Where is their God?”
• Let it[fn] be known among the nations before our eyes,
• by the avenging of the blood of your servants
• that was poured out.
• 11  According to the greatness of your[fn]
• spare[fn] the children appointed to death.
• 12 [fn] their taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord.
• 13  we will give thanks to you forever.
• [fn]
• we will tell of your praise.

A Prayer to Restore Israel

• A testimony. Of Asaph. A psalm.[fn]
• 80 who leads Joseph like a flock.
• Shine forth, you who sits enthroned above the cherubim.
• 2  stir up your power
• and come for our salvation.
• 3  and cause your face to shine that we may be saved.
• 4 of hosts,[fn]
• against the prayer of your people?
• 5 the bread of tears; you have given them tears to drink in full measure.[fn]
• 6 an object of strife to our neighbors, and our enemies mock among themselves.
• 7 of hosts, restore us and cause your face to shine that we may be saved.
• 8  you drove out the nations and planted it.
• 9 a place before it, and[fn] and filled the land.
• 10 The mountains were covered with its shade, and the mighty cedars with its boughs.
• 11 the sea and its shoots to the river.
• 12  so that all who pass on the road pluck fruit from it?
• 13 [fn] it and creatures of the field feed on it.
• 14 of hosts. Observe from heaven and see,
• and pay attention to this vine,
• 15 the stalk that your right hand planted, and concerning the shoot[fn] you strengthened for yourself.
• 16 It is burned with fire, cut down. They perish at the rebuke of your face.
• 17  on the son of humankind whom you made strong for yourself.
• 18  Restore us to life, and we will proclaim your name.
• 19 of hosts, restore us; cause your face to shine that we may be saved.

An Appeal from God to Israel

• 81 shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.
• 2 [fn] the tambourine, the pleasant lyre, together with the harp.
• 3 the horn at new moon, at full moon, for our feast day,
• 4 is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
• 5 [fn] in Joseph when he went out against the land of Egypt,
• where I heard a language I did not know.[fn]
• 6 His hands were freed from the basket.
• 7 [fn] trouble you called, and I rescued you. Within the secret place of thunder I answered you;
• I tested you at the waters of Meribah.Selah
• 8  O Israel, if you would but listen to me.
• 9  and you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
• 10 am Yahweh your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
• Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
• 11  and Israel did not yield to me.
• 12 [fn] go in the stubbornness of their heart; they walked in their counsels.
• 13  that Israel would walk in my ways.
• 14  and turn my hand against their adversaries.
• 15  and their fate[fn] would be forever.
• 16 [fn] from the choicest wheat,[fn]and I would satisfy you with honey from a rock.”

God Commands Justice

• 82 [fn]he administers judgment in the midst of the gods.[fn]
• 2 and[fn]Selah
• 3 on behalf of the helpless and the orphan; provide justice to the afflicted and the poor.
• 4 the helpless and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
• 5 [fn] They go about in the darkness,
• so that all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
• 6 [fn] “You are gods, and sons of the Most High, all of you.
• 7 [fn] and you will fall like one of the princes.”
• 8  because you shall inherit[fn] all the nations.

A Request to Act against Israel’s Neighbors

• 83 silently. Do not keep silent or be still, O God.
• 2  and those who hate you have lifted their head.
• 3 [fn] against your people, and consult together against your protected ones.[fn]
• 4 being a nation, so that the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
• 5 [fn] They have made a covenant against you:
• 6 the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,
• 7  Philistia, with the inhabitants of Tyre.
• 8  They[fn] to the children of Lot.Selah
• 9 you did with Midian, as with Sisera, as with Jabin at the wadi of Kishon.
• 10  they became dung for the ground.
• 11  and all their chiefs like Zebah and Zalmunna,
• 12 as our possession the pastures of God.”
• 13  like the chaff before wind.
• 14  and as a flame sets afire mountains,
• 15  and terrify them with your storm.
• 16  that they may seek your name, O Yahweh.
• 17  and let them be humiliated and perish
• 18  whose name is Yahweh, you alone,
• are the Most High over the whole earth.

The Joy of Worshiping in the Temple

• Of the sons of Korah. A psalm.[fn]
• 84 are your dwelling places, O Yahweh of hosts!
• 2  for the courtyards of Yahweh.
• My heart and flesh sing for joy
• to the living God.
• 3  where she may lay her young,
• near your altars, O Yahweh of hosts,
• my king and my God.
• 4 are those who dwell in your house;[fn]they can ever praise you.Selah
• 5 is the man whose strength is in you; in their heart are the highways to Zion.
• 6 [fn] they make it a spring.
• The early rain covers it with blessings[fn] as well.
• 7 until each appears before God in Zion.[fn]
• 8 give ear, O God of Jacob.Selah
• 9  and have regard for the face of your anointed one.
• 10 is a day in your courtyards than a thousand elsewhere.
• I would rather be at the threshold of the house[fn] of my God
• than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
• 11 is a sun and a shield; Yahweh gives grace and honor.
• He does not withhold good from those who walk blamelessly.
• 12 of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts you.

Hope in God’s Future Help

• 85 You restored the fortunes[fn] of Jacob.
• 2 [fn] of your people;you covered all their sin.Selah
• 3  you turned from your burning anger.
• 4  and annul your vexation with us.
• 5  Will you prolong your anger generation after generation?
• 6  that your people might rejoice in you?
• 7  and grant us your salvation.
• 8  because he will speak peace
• to his people, even his faithful ones,[fn]
• but let them not return to folly.
• 9 is near for those who fear him, that glory may abide in our land.
• 10 [fn] will meet one another; righteousness and peace will kiss.
• 11 [fn] will sprout from the ground, and righteousness will look down from heaven.
• 12 what is good, and our land will give its produce.
• 13  and it will make his steps a pathway.

A Prayer for Help against Ruthless Men

• 86 and answer me, because I am poor and needy.
• 2 am faithful. You are my God; save your servant.
• I am the one who trusts you.
• 3  because I call to you[fn]
• 4  because[fn] O Lord.
• 5 are good and forgiving, and abundant in loyal love[fn] for all who call to you.
• 6  and attend to the voice of my supplications.
• 7  because you answer me.
• 8  and there are no works like yours.
• 9 the nations that you have made will come and bow down[fn] before you, O Lord,
• and glorify your name.
• 10 are great and doing wondrous things; you alone are God.
• 11  that I may walk in your truth.
• Unite my heart[fn] to fear your name.
• 12  and glorify your name forever,
• 13 is great toward me, and you will have delivered my life from Sheol[fn] below.
• 14  even a gang of ruthless men seek my life,
• but they do not set you before them.[fn]
• 15 are a compassionate and gracious God,[fn] and abundant in loyal love and faithfulness.
• 16  Give your strength to your servant,
• and grant victory to the son[fn] of your maidservant.
• 17 that benefits me, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame,
• because you, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.