David’s Last Song

These are the last words of David:

“ The oracle of David son of Jesse,

the oracle of the man raised on high,

the one anointed by the God of Jacob,

and the sweet psalmist of Israel:[fn]

2 

The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me;

His word was on my tongue.

3 

The God of Israel spoke;

the Rock of Israel said to me,

‘He who rules the people with justice,

who rules in the fear of God,

4 

is like the light of the morning

at sunrise of a cloudless dawn,

the glistening after the rain

on the sprouting grass of the earth.’

5 

Is not my house right with God?

For He has established with me

an everlasting covenant,

ordered and secured in every part.

Will He not bring about my full salvation

and my every desire

6 

But the worthless are all like thorns raked aside,

for they can never be gathered by hand.

7 

The man [who] touches them must be armed with iron

or with the shaft of a spear.

The fire burns them to ashes

in [the] place [where they lie].”

8