Bible (Jewish Publication Society 1917)/Psalms

 

תהלים

PSALMS

ספר ראשון
BOOK I

1Happy is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked,

Nor stood in the way of sinners,

Nor sat in the seat of the scornful.

²But his delight is in the law of the Lord;

And in His law doth he meditate day and night.

³And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water,

That bringeth forth its fruit in its season,

And whose leaf doth not wither;

And in whatsoever he doeth he shall prosper.

 

⁴Not so the wicked;

But they are like the chaff which the wind driveth away,

⁵Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment,

Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

⁶For the LORD regardeth the way of the righteous,

But the way of the wicked shall perish.

2Why are the nations in an uproar?

And why do the peoples mutter in vain?

²The kings of the earth stand up,

And the rulers take counsel together,

Against the Lord, and against His anointed:

³'Let us break their bands asunder,

And cast away their cords from us.'

 

⁴He that sitteth in heaven laugheth,

The Lord hath them in derision.

⁵Then will He speak unto them in His wrath,

And affright them in His sore displeasure:

⁶'Truly it is I that have established My king

Upon Zion, My holy mountain.'

 

⁷I will tell of the decree:

The Lord said unto me: 'Thou art My son,

This day have I begotten thee.

⁸Ask of Me, and I will give the nations for thine inheritance,

And the ends of the earth for thy possession.

⁹Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;

Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.'

 

¹⁰Now therefore, ye kings, be wise;

Be admonished, ye judges of the earth.

¹¹Serve the LORD with fear,

And rejoice with trembling.

¹²Do homage in purity, lest He be angry, and ye perish in the way,

When suddenly His wrath is kindled.

 

Happy are all they that take refuge in Him.

 

3A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

²Lord, how many are mine adversaries become!

Many are they that rise up against me.

³Many there are that say of my soul:

'There is no salvation for him in God.'Selah

 

⁴But thou, O Lord, art a shield about me;

My glory, and the lifter up of my head.

⁵With my voice I call unto the Lord,

And He answereth me out of His holy mountain.Selah

 

⁶I lay me down, and I sleep;

I awake, for the Lord sustaineth me.

⁷I am not afraid of ten thousands of people,

That have set themselves against me round about.

 

⁸Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God;

For Thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek,

Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked.

 

⁹Salvation belongeth unto the Lord;

Thy blessing be upon Thy people.Selah

4For the Leader; with string-music. A Psalm of David.

²Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness,

Thou who didst set me free when I was in distress;

Be gracious unto me, and hear my prayer.

³O ye sons of men, how long shall my glory be put to shame,

In that ye love vanity, and seek after falsehood?Selah

⁴But know that the Lord hath set apart the godly man as His own;

The Lord will hear when I call unto Him.

 

⁵Tremble, and sin not;

Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.Selah

⁶Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,

And put your trust in the Lord.

 

⁷Many there are that say: 'Oh that we could see some good!'

Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us.

⁸Thou hast put gladness in my heart,

More than when their corn and their wine increase.

⁹In peace will I both lay me down and sleep;

For Thou, Lord, makest me dwell alone in safety.

5For the Leader; upon the Nehiloth. A Psalm of David.

²Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation.

³Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God;

For unto Thee do I pray.

 

⁴O Lord, in the morning shalt Thou hear my voice;

In the morning will I order my prayer unto Thee, and will look forward.

⁵For Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness;

Evil shall not sojourn with Thee.

⁶The boasters shall not stand in Thy sight;

Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

⁷Thou destroyest them that speak falsehood;

The Lord abhorreth the man of blood and of deceit.

⁸But as for me, in the abundance of Thy lovingkindness will I come into Thy house;

I will bow down toward Thy holy temple in the fear of Thee.

 

⁹O Lord, lead me in Thy righteousness because of them that lie in wait for me;

Make Thy way straight before my face.

¹⁰For there is no sincerity in their mouth;

Their inward part is a yawning gulf,

Their throat is an open sepulchre;

They make smooth their tongue.

¹¹Hold them guilty, O God,

Let them fall by their own counsels;

Cast them down in the multitude of their transgressions;

For they have rebelled against Thee.

 

¹²So shall all those that take refuge in Thee rejoice,

They shall ever shout for joy,

And Thou shalt shelter them;

Let them also that love Thy name exult in Thee.

¹³For Thou dost bless the righteous;

O Lord, Thou dost encompass him with favour as with a shield.

6 For the Leader; with string-music; on the Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

²O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger,

Neither chasten me in Thy wrath.

³Be gracious unto me, O Lord, for I languish away;

Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are affrighted.

⁴My soul also is sore affrighted;

And Thou, O Lord, how long?

 

⁵Return, O Lord, deliver my soul;

Save me for Thy mercy's sake.

⁶For in death there is no remembrance of Thee;

In the nether-world who will give Thee thanks?

⁷I am weary with my groaning;

Every night make I my bed to swim;

I melt away my couch with my tears.

⁸Mine eye is dimmed because of vexation;

It waxeth old because of all mine adversaries.

 

⁹Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity;

For the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.

¹⁰The Lord hath heard my supplication;

The Lord receiveth my prayer.

¹¹All mine enemies shall be ashamed and sore affrighted;

They shall turn back, they shall be ashamed suddenly.

7 Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the Lord, concerning Cush a Benjamite.

²O Lord my God, in Thee have I taken refuge;

Save me from all them that pursue me, and deliver me;

³Lest he tear my soul like a lion,

Rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

 

⁴O Lord my God, if I have done this;

If there be iniquity in my hands;

⁵If I have requited him that did evil unto me,

Or spoiled mine adversary unto emptiness;

⁶Let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it,

And tread my life down to the earth;

Yea, let him lay my glory in the dust. Selah

 

⁷Arise, O Lord, in Thine anger,

Lift up Thyself in indignation against mine adversaries;

Yea, awake for me at the judgment which Thou hast commanded.

⁸And let the congregation of the peoples compass Thee about,

And over them return Thou on high.

 

⁹O Lord, who ministerest judgment to the peoples,

Judge me, O Lord,

According to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.

¹⁰Oh that a full measure of evil might come upon the wicked,

And that Thou wouldest establish the righteous;

For the righteous God trieth the heart and reins.

¹¹My shield is with God,

Who saveth the upright in heart.

¹²God is a righteous judge,

Yea, a God that hath indignation every day:

¹³If a man turn not, He will whet His sword,

He hath bent His bow, and made it ready;

¹⁴He hath also prepared for him the weapons of death,

Yea, His arrows which He made sharp.

¹⁵Behold, he travaileth with iniquity;

Yea, he conceiveth mischief, and bringeth forth falsehood.

¹⁶He hath digged a pit, and hollowed it,

And is fallen into the ditch which he made.

¹⁷His mischief shall return upon his own head,

And his violence shall come down upon his own pate.

 

¹⁸I will give thanks unto the Lord according to His righteousness;

And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

8 For the Leader; upon the Gittith. A Psalm of David.

²O Lord, our Lord,

How glorious is Thy name in all the earth!

Whose majesty is rehearsed above the heavens.

³Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou founded strength,

Because of Thine adversaries;

That Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

 

⁴When I behold Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers,

The moon and the stars, which Thou hast established;

⁵What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?

And the son of man, that Thou thinkest of him?

⁶Yet Thou hast made him but little lower than the angels,

And hast crowned him with glory and honour.

⁷Thou hast made him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands;

Thou hast put all things under His feet:

⁸Sheep and oxen, all of them,

Yea, and the beasts of the field;

⁹The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea;

Whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

 

¹⁰O Lord, our Lord,

How glorious is Thy name in all the earth!

9 For the Leader; upon Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

²I will give thanks unto the Lord with my whole heart;

I will tell of all Thy marvellous works.

³I will be glad and exult in Thee;

I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High:

 

⁴When mine enemies are turned back,

They stumble and perish at Thy presence;

⁵For Thou hast maintained my right and my cause;

Thou sattest upon the throne as the righteous Judge.

 

⁶Thou hast rebuked the nations,

Thou hast destroyed the wicked,

Thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever.

⁷O thou enemy, the waste places are come to an end for ever;

And the cities which thou didst uproot,

Their very memorial is perished.

 

⁸But the Lord is enthroned for ever;

He hath established His throne for judgment.

⁹And He will judge the world in righteousness,

He will minister judgment to the peoples with equity.

 

¹⁰The Lord also will be a high tower for the oppressed,

A high tower in times of trouble;

¹¹And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee;

For thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.

 

¹²Sing praises to the Lord, who dwelleth in Zion;

Declare among the peoples His doings.

¹³For He that avengeth blood hath remembered them;

He hath not forgotten the cry of the humble.

 

¹⁴Be gracious unto me, O Lord,

Behold mine affliction at the hands of them that hate me;

Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death;

¹⁵That I may tell of all Thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion,

That I may rejoice in Thy salvation.

 

¹⁶The nations are sunk down in the pit that they made;

In the net which they hid is their own foot taken.

¹⁷The Lord hath made Himself known, He hath executed judgment,

The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah

 

¹⁸The wicked shall return to the nether-world,

Even all the nations that forget God.

¹⁹For the needy shall not alway be forgotten,

Nor the expectation of the poor perish for ever.

²⁰Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail;

Let the nations be judged in Thy sight.

²¹Set terror over them, O Lord;

Let the nations know they are but men. Selah

10 Why standest Thou afar off, O Lord?

Why hidest Thou Thyself in times of trouble?

²Through the pride of the wicked the poor is hotly pursued,

They are taken in the devices that they have imagined.

 

³For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire,

And the covetous vaunteth himself, though he contemn the Lord.

⁴The wicked, in the pride of his countenance [, saith]: 'He will not require';

All his thoughts are: 'There is no God.'

⁵His ways prosper at all times;

Thy judgments are far above out of his sight;

As for all his adversaries, he puffeth at them.

⁶He saith in his heart: 'I shall not be moved,

I who to all generations shall not be in adversity.'

⁷His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression;

Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.

⁸He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages;

In secret places doth he slay the innocent;

His eyes are on the watch for the helpless.

⁹He lieth in wait in a secret place as a lion in his lair,

He lieth in wait to catch the poor;

He doth catch the poor, when he draweth him up in his net.

¹⁰He croucheth, he boweth down,

And the helpless fall into his mighty claws.

¹¹He hath said in his heart: 'God hath forgotten;

He hideth His face; He will never see.'

 

¹²Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up Thy hand;

Forget not the humble.

¹³Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God,

And say in his heart: 'Thou wilt not require'?

¹⁴Thou hast seen; for Thou beholdest trouble and vexation, to requite them with Thy hand;

Unto Thee the helpless committeth himself;

Thou hast been the helper of the fatherless.

 

¹⁵Break Thou the arm of the wicked;

And as for the evil man, search out his wickedness, till none be found.

¹⁶The Lord is King for ever and ever;

The nations are perished out of His land.

 

¹⁷Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble:

Thou wilt direct their heart, Thou wilt cause Thine ear to attend;

¹⁸To right the fatherless and the oppressed,

That man who is of the earth may be terrible no more.

11 For the Leader. [A Psalm] of David.

In the Lord have I taken refuge;

How say ye to my soul:

'Flee thou! to your mountain, ye birds'?

 

²For, lo, the wicked bend the bow,

They have made ready their arrow upon the string,

That they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.

³When the foundations are destroyed,

What hath the righteous wrought?

 

⁴The Lord is in His holy temple,

The Lord, His throne is in heaven;

His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the children of men.

⁵The Lord trieth the righteous;

But the wicked and him that loveth violence His soul hateth.

⁶Upon the wicked He will cause to rain coals;

Fire and brimstone and burning wind shall be the portion of their cup.

 

⁷For the Lord is righteous, He loveth righteousness;

The upright shall behold His face.

12 For the Leader; on the Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

²Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth;

For the faithful fail from among the children of men.

³They speak falsehood every one with his neighbour;

With flattering lip, and with a double heart, do they speak.

 

⁴May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

The tongue that speaketh proud things!

⁵Who have said: 'Our tongue will we make mighty;

Our lips are with us: who is lord over us?'

 

⁶'For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,

Now will I arise', saith the Lord;

'I will set him in safety at whom they puff.'

 

⁷The words of the Lord are pure words,

As silver tried in a crucible on the earth, refined seven times.

 

⁸Thou wilt keep them, O Lord;

Thou wilt preserve us from this generation for ever.

⁹The wicked walk on every side,

When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

13 For the Leader. A Psalm of David.

²How long, O Lord, wilt Thou forget me for ever?

How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?

³How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart by day?

How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

⁴Behold Thou, and answer me, O Lord my God;

Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

⁵Lest mine enemy say: 'I have prevailed against him';

Lest mine adversaries rejoice when I am moved.

 

⁶But as for me, in Thy mercy do I trust;

My heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation.

I will sing unto the Lord,

Because He hath dealt bountifully with me.

14 For the Leader. [A Psalm] of David.

The fool hath said in his heart: 'There is no God';

They have dealt corruptly, they have done abominably;

There is none that doeth good.

²The Lord looked forth from heaven upon the children of men,

To see if there were any man of understanding, that did seek after God.

³They are all corrupt, they are together become impure;

There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

 

⁴'Shall not all the workers of iniquity know it,

Who eat up My people as they eat bread,

And call not upon the Lord?'

⁵There are they in great fear;

For God is with the righteous generation.

⁶Ye would put to shame the counsel of the poor,

But the Lord is his refuge.

 

⁷Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!

When the Lord turneth the captivity of His people,

Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

15 A Psalm of David.

Lord, who shall sojourn in Thy tabernacle?

Who shall dwell upon Thy holy mountain?

²He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness,

And speaketh truth in his heart;

³That hath no slander upon his tongue,

Nor doeth evil to his fellow,

Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour;

⁴In whose eyes a vile person is despised,

But he honoureth them that fear the Lord;

He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not;

⁵He that putteth not out his money on interest,

Nor taketh a bribe against the innocent.

He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

16 Michtam of David.

Keep me, O God; for I have taken refuge in Thee.

²I have said unto the Lord: 'Thou art my Lord;

I have no good but in Thee';

³As for the holy that are in the earth,

They are the excellent in whom is all my delight.

⁴Let the idols of them be multiplied that make suit unto another;

Their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer,

Nor take their names upon my lips.

⁵O Lord, the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup,

Thou maintainest my lot.

 

⁶The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places;

Yea, I have a goodly heritage.

⁷I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel;

Yea, in the night seasons my reins instruct me.

⁸I have set the Lord always before me;

Surely He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

 

⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth;

My flesh also dwelleth in safety;

¹⁰For Thou wilt not abandon my soul to the nether-world;

Neither wilt Thou suffer Thy godly one to see the pit.

¹¹Thou makest me to know the path of life;

In Thy presence is fulness of joy,

In Thy right hand bliss for evermore.

17 A Prayer of David.

Hear the right, O Lord, attend unto my cry;

Give ear unto my prayer from lips without deceit.

²Let my judgment come forth from Thy presence;

Let Thine eyes behold equity.

³Thou hast tried my heart, Thou hast visited it in the night;

Thou hast tested me, and Thou findest not

That I had a thought which should not pass my mouth.

⁴As for the doings of men, by the word of Thy lips

I have kept me from the ways of the violent.

⁵My steps have held fast to Thy paths,

My feet have not slipped.

 

⁶As for me, I call upon Thee, for Thou wilt answer me, O God;

Incline Thine ear unto me, hear my speech.

⁷Make passing great Thy mercies, O Thou that savest by Thy right hand

From assailants them that take refuge in Thee.

⁸Keep me as the apple of the eye,

Hide me in the shadow of Thy wings,

⁹From the wicked that oppress,

My deadly enemies, that compass me about.

¹⁰Their gross heart they have shut tight,

With their mouth they speak proudly.

¹¹At our every step they have now encompassed us;

They set their eyes to cast us down to the earth.

¹²He is like a lion that is eager to tear in pieces,

And like a young lion lurking in secret places.

 

¹³Arise, O Lord, confront him, cast him down;

Deliver my soul from the wicked, by Thy sword;

¹⁴From men, by Thy hand, O Lord,

From men of the world, whose portion is in this life,

And whose belly Thou fillest with Thy treasure;

Who have children in plenty,

And leave their abundance to their babes.

¹⁵As for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness;

I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness.

18 For the Leader. [A Psalm] of David the servant of the Lord, who spoke unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul; ²And he said:

I love thee, O Lord, my strength.

³The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

My God, my rock, in Him I take refuge;

My shield, and my horn of salvation, my high tower.

⁴Praised, I cry, is the Lord,

And I am saved from mine enemies.

 

⁵The cords of Death compassed me,

And the floods of ^[1]Belial assailed me.

⁶The cords of ^[1]Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of Death confronted me.

⁷In my distress I called upon the Lord,

And cried unto my God;

Out of His temple He heard my voice,

And my cry came before Him unto His ears.

 

⁸Then the earth did shake and quake,

The foundations also of the mountains did tremble;

They were shaken, because He was wroth.

⁹Smoke arose up in His nostrils,

And fire out of His mouth did devour;

Coals flamed forth from Him.

¹⁰He bowed the heavens also, and came down;

And thick darkness was under His feet.

¹¹And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly;

Yea, He did swoop down upon the wings of the wind.

¹²He made darkness His hiding-place, His pavilion round about Him;

Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

¹³At the brightness before Him, there passed through His thick clouds

Hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴The Lord also thundered in the heavens,

And the Most High gave forth His voice;

Hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁵And He sent out His arrows, and scattered them;

And He shot forth lightnings, and discomfited them.

¹⁶And the channels of waters appeared,

And the foundations of the world were laid bare,

At Thy rebuke, O Lord,

At the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils.

 

¹⁷He sent from on high, He took me;

He drew me out of many waters.

¹⁸He delivered me from mine enemy

most strong,

And from them that hated me, for they were too mighty for me.

¹⁹They confronted me in the day of my calamity;

But the Lord was a stay unto me.

²⁰He brought me forth also into a large place;

He delivered me, because He delighted in me.

²¹The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;

According to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed me.

²²For I have kept the ways of the Lord,

And have not wickedly departed from my God.

²³For all His ordinances were before me,

And I put not away His statutes from me.

²⁴And I was single-hearted with Him,

And I kept myself from mine iniquity.

²⁵Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

²⁶With the merciful Thou dost show Thyself merciful,

With the upright man Thou dost show Thyself upright;

²⁷With the pure Thou dost show Thyself pure;

And with the crooked Thou dost show Thyself subtle.

²⁸For Thou dost save the afflicted people;

But the haughty eyes Thou dost humble.

 

²⁹For Thou dost light my lamp;

The Lord my God doth lighten my darkness.

³⁰For by Thee I run upon a troop;

And by my God do I scale a wall.

³¹As for God, His way is perfect;

The word of the Lord is tried;

He is a shield unto all them that take refuge in Him.

 

³²For who is God, save the Lord?

And who is a Rock, except our God?

³³The God that girdeth me with strength,

And maketh my way straight;

³⁴Who maketh my feet like hinds',

And setteth me upon my high places;

³⁵Who traineth my hands for war,

So that mine arms do bend a bow of brass.

³⁶Thou hast also given me Thy shield of salvation,

And Thy right hand hath holden me up;

And Thy condescension hath made me great.

³⁷Thou hast enlarged my steps under me,

And my feet have not slipped.

 

³⁸I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them;

Neither did I turn back till they were consumed.

³⁹I have smitten them through, so that they are not able to rise;

They are fallen under my feet.

⁴⁰For Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle;

Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

⁴¹Thou hast also made mine enemies turn their backs unto me,

And I did cut off them that hate me.

⁴²They cried, but there was none to save;

Even unto the Lord, but He answered them not.

⁴³Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind;

I did cast them out as the mire of the streets.

⁴⁴Thou hast delivered me from the contentions of the people;

Thou hast made me the head of the nations;

A people whom I have not known serve me.

⁴⁵As soon as they hear of me, they obey me;

The sons of the stranger dwindle away before me.

⁴⁶The sons of the stranger fade away,

And come trembling out of their close places.

 

⁴⁷The Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock;

And exalted be the God of my salvation;

⁴⁸Even the God that executeth vengeance for me,

And subdueth peoples under me.

⁴⁹He delivereth me from mine enemies;

Yea, Thou liftest me up above them that rise up against me;

Thou deliverest me from the violent man.

⁵⁰Therefore I will give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, among the nations,

And will sing praises unto Thy name.

⁵¹Great salvation giveth He to His king;

And showeth mercy to His anointed,

To David and to his seed, for evermore.

19 For the Leader. A Psalm of David.

²The heavens declare the glory of God,

And the firmament showeth His handiwork;

³Day unto day uttereth speech,

And night unto night revealeth knowledge;

⁴There is no speech, there are no words,

Neither is their voice heard.

⁵Their line is gone out through all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world.

In them hath He set a tent for the sun,

⁶Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

And rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course.

⁷His going forth is from the end of the heaven,

And his circuit unto the ends of it;

And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

 

⁸The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

⁹The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

¹⁰The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever;

The ordinances of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether;

¹¹More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold;

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

¹²Moreover by them is Thy servant warned;

In keeping of them there is great reward.

¹³Who can discern his errors?

Clear Thou me from hidden faults.

¹⁴Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins,

That they may not have dominion over me; then shall I be faultless,

And I shall be clear from great transgression.

¹⁵Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before Thee,

O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer.

20 For the Leader. A Psalm of David.

²The Lord answer thee in the day of trouble;

The name of the God of Jacob set thee up on high;

³Send forth thy help from the sanctuary,

And support thee out of Zion;

⁴Receive the memorial of all thy meal-offerings,

And accept the fat of thy burnt-sacrifice; Selah

⁵Grant thee according to thine own heart,

And fulfil all thy counsel.

⁶We will shout for joy in thy victory,

And in the name of our God we will set up our standards;

The Lord fulfil all thy petitions.

 

⁷Now know I that the Lord saveth His anointed;

He will answer him from His holy heaven

With the mighty acts of His saving right hand.

⁸Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;

But we will make mention of the name of the Lord our God.

⁹They are bowed down and fallen;

But we are risen, and stand upright.

¹⁰Save, Lord;

Let the King answer us in the day that we call.

21For the Leader. A Psalm of David.

 

²O Lord, in Thy strength the king rejoiceth;

And in Thy salvation how greatly doth he exult!

³Thou hast given him his heart's desire,

And the request of his lips Thou hast not withholden.Selah

⁴For Thou meetest him with choicest blessings;

Thou settest a crown of fine gold on his head.

⁵He asked life of Thee, Thou gavest it him;

Even length of days for ever and ever.

⁶His glory is great through Thy salvation;

Honour and majesty dost Thou lay upon him.

⁷For Thou makest him most blessed for ever;

Thou makest Mm glad with joy in Thy presence.

⁸For the king trusteth in the Lord,

Yea, in the mercy of the Most High; he shall not be moved.

 

⁹Thy hand shall be equal to all thine enemies;

Thy right hand shall overtake those that hate thee.

¹⁰Thou shalt make them as a fiery furnace in the time of thine anger;

The Lord shall swallow them up in His wrath,

And the fire shall devour them.

¹¹Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth,

And their seed from among the children of men.

¹²For they intended evil against thee,

They imagined a device, wherewith they shall not prevail.

¹³For thou shalt make them turn their back,

Thou shalt make ready with thy bowstrings against the face of them.

 

¹⁴Be Thou exalted, O Lord, in Thy strength;

So will we sing and praise Thy power.

22For the Leader; upon Aijeleth ha-Shahar. A Psalm of David.

 

²My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me,

And art far from my help at the words of my cry?

³O my God, I call by day, but Thou answerest not;

And at night, and there is no surcease for me.

⁴Yet Thou art holy,

Thou that art enthroned upon the praises of Israel.

⁵In Thee did our fathers trust;

They trusted, and Thou didst deliver them.

⁶Unto Thee they cried, and escaped;

In Thee did they trust, and were not ashamed.

⁷But I am a worm, and no man,

A reproach of men, and despised of the people.

⁸All they that see me laugh me to scorn,

They shoot out the lip, they shake the head:

⁹'Let him commit himself unto the Lord! let Him rescue him;

Let Him deliver him, seeing He delighteth in him.'

 

¹⁰For Thou art He that took me out of the womb,

Thou madest me trust when I was upon my mother's breasts.

¹¹Upon Thee I have been cast from my birth;

Thou art my God from my mother's womb.

¹²Be not far from me; for trouble is near;

For there is none to help.

¹³Many bulls have encompassed me;

Strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

¹⁴They open wide their mouth against me,

As a ravening and a roaring lion.

¹⁵I am poured out like water,

And all my bones are out of joint;

My heart is become like wax;

It is melted in mine inmost parts

¹⁶My strength is dried up like a potsherd;

And my tongue cleaveth to my throat;

And Thou layest me in the dust of death.

¹⁷For dogs have encompassed me,

A company of evil-doers have inclosed me;

Like a lion, they are at my hands and my feet.

¹⁸I may count all my bones;

They look and gloat over me.

¹⁹They part my garments among them,

And for my vesture do they cast lots.

²⁰But Thou, Lord, be not far off;

Thou my strength, hasten to help me.

²¹Deliver my soul from the sword;

Mine only one from the power of the dog.

²²Save me from the lion's mouth;

Yea, from the horns of the wild-oxen do Thou answer me.

 

²³I will declare Thy name unto my brethren;

In the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee:

²⁴'Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him;

All ye the seed of Jacob, glorify Him;

And stand in awe of Him, all ye the seed of Israel.

²⁵For He hath not despised nor abhorred the lowliness of the poor;

Neither hath He hid His face from him;

But when he cried unto Him, He heard.'

²⁶From Thee cometh my praise in the great congregation,

I will pay my vows before them that fear Him.

²⁷Let the humble eat and be satisfied;

Let them praise the Lord that seek after Him;

May your heart be quickened for ever!

²⁸All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord;

And all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee.

²⁹For the kingdom is the Lord's;

And He is the ruler over the nations.

³⁰All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship;

All they that go down to the dust shall kneel before Him,

Even he that cannot keep his soul alive.

³¹A seed shall serve him,

It shall be told of the Lord unto the next generation.

³²They shall come and shall declare His righteousness

Unto a people that shall be born, that He hath done it.

23A Psalm of David.

 

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

²He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

³He restoreth my soul;

He guideth me in straight paths for His name's sake.

⁴Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

For Thou art with me;

Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.

⁵Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;

Thou hast anointed my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

24A Psalm of David.

 

The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof;

The world, and they that dwell therein.

²For He hath founded it upon the seas,

And established it upon the floods.

³Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord?

And who shall stand in His holy place?

⁴He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;

Who hath not taken My name in vain,

And hath not sworn deceitfully

⁵He shall receive a blessing from the Lord,

And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

⁶Such is the generation of them that seek after Him,

That seek Thy face, even Jacob.

Selah

 

⁷Lift up your heads, O ye gates,

And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors;

That the King of glory may come in.

⁸'Who is the King of glory?'

'The Lord strong and mighty,

The Lord mighty in battle.'

⁹Lift up your heads, O ye gates,

Yea, lift them up, ye everlasting doors;

That the King of glory may come in.

¹⁰'Who then is the King of glory?'

'The Lord of hosts;

He is the King of glory.'Selah

25[A Psalm] of David.

 

אUnto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

ב²O my God, in Thee have I trusted, let me not be ashamed;

Let not mine enemies triumph over me.

ג³Yea, none that wait for Thee shall be ashamed;

They shall be ashamed that deal treacherously without cause.

ד⁴Show me Thy ways, O Lord;

Teach me Thy paths.

הו⁵Guide me in Thy truth, and teach me;

For Thou art the God of my salvation;

For Thee do I wait all the day.

ז⁶Remember, O Lord, Thy compassions and Thy mercies;

For they have been from of old.

ח⁷Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions;

According to Thy mercy remember Thou me,

For thy goodness' sake, O Lord.

ט⁸Good and upright is the Lord;

Therefore doth He instruct sinners in the way.

י⁹He guideth the humble in justice;

And He teacheth the humble His way.

כ¹⁰All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth

Unto such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.

ל¹¹For Thy name's sake, O Lord,

Pardon mine iniquity, for it is great,

מ¹²What man is he that feareth the Lord?

Him will He instruct in the way that he should choose.

נ¹³His soul shall abide in prosperity,

And his seed shall inherit the land.

ס¹⁴The counsel of the Lord is with them that fear Him;

And His covenant, to make them know it.

ע¹⁵Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord;

For He will bring forth my feet out of the net.

פ¹⁶Turn Thee unto me, and be gracious unto me;

For I am solitary and afflicted.

צ¹⁷The troubles of my heart are enlarged;

O bring Thou me out of my distresses.

ר¹⁸See mine affliction and my travail;

And forgive all my sins.

¹⁹Consider how many are mine enemies,

And the cruel hatred wherewith they hate me.

ש²⁰O keep my soul, and deliver me;

Let me not be ashamed, for I have taken refuge in Thee.

ת²¹Let integrity and uprightness preserve me;

Because I wait for Thee.

 

²²Redeem Israel, O God,

Out of all his troubles.

26[A Psalm] of David.

 

Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in mine integrity,

And I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.

²Examine me, O Lord, and try me,

Test my reins and my heart.

³For Thy mercy is before mine eyes;

And I have walked in Thy truth.

⁴I have not sat with men of falsehood;

Neither will I go in with dissemblers.

⁵I hate the gathering of evil-doers,

And will not sit with the wicked

⁶I will wash my hands in innocency;

So will I compass Thine altar, O Lord,

⁷That I may make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard,

And tell of all Thy wondrous works.

 

⁸Lord, I love the habitation of Thy house,

And the place where Thy glory dwelleth.

⁹Gather not my soul with sinners,

Nor my life with men of blood;

¹⁰In whose hands is craftiness,

And their right hand is full of bribes.

¹¹But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity;

Redeem me, and be gracious unto me.

¹²My foot standeth in an even place;

In the congregations will I bless the Lord.

27 [A Psalm] of David.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

²When evil-doers came upon me to eat up my flesh,

Even mine adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell.

³Though a host should encamp against me,

My heart shall not fear;

Though war should rise up against me,

Even then will I be confident.

 

⁴One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after:

That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,

To behold the graciousness of the Lord, and to visit early in His temple.

⁵For He concealeth me in His pavilion in the day of evil;

He hideth me in the covert of His tent;

He lifteth me up upon a rock.

⁶And now shall my head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me;

And I will offer in His tabernacle sacrifices with trumpet-sound;

I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord.

 

⁷Hear, O Lord, when I call with my voice,

And be gracious unto me, and answer me.

⁸In Thy behalf my heart hath said: 'Seek ye My face';

Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

⁹Hide not Thy face far from me;

Put not Thy servant away in anger;

Thou hast been my help;

Cast me not off, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

¹⁰For though my father and my mother have forsaken me,

The Lord will take me up.

 

¹¹Teach me Thy way, O Lord;

And lead me in an even path,

Because of them that lie in wait for me.

¹²Deliver me not over unto the will of mine adversaries;

For false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out violence.

¹³If I had not believed to look upon the goodness of the Lord

In the land of the living!—

¹⁴Wait on the Lord;

Be strong, and let thy heart take courage;

Yea, wait thou for the Lord.

28 [A Psalm] of David.

Unto thee, O Lord, do I call;

My Rock, be not Thou deaf unto me;

Lest, if Thou be silent unto me,

I become like them that go down into the pit.

²Hear the voice of my supplications, when I cry unto Thee,

When I lift up my hands toward Thy holy Sanctuary.

 

³Draw me not away with the wicked,

And with the workers of iniquity;

Who speak peace with their neighbours,

But evil is in their hearts.

⁴Give them according to their deeds, and according to the evil of their endeavours;

Give them after the work of their hands;

Render to them their desert.

⁵Because they give no heed to the works of the Lord,

Nor to the operation of His hands;

He will break them down and not build them up.

 

⁶Blessed be the Lord,

Because He hath heard the voice of my supplications.

⁷The Lord is my strength and my shield,

In Him hath my heart trusted, And I am helped;

Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth,

And with my song will I praise Him.

 

⁸The Lord is a strength unto them;

And He is a stronghold of salvation to His anointed.

⁹Save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance;

And tend them, and carry them for ever.

29 A Psalm of David.

Ascribe unto the Lord, O ye sons of might,

Ascribe unto the Lord glory and strength.

²Ascribe unto the Lord the glory due unto His name;

Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

 

³The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;

The God of glory thundereth,

Even the Lord upon many waters.

⁴The voice of the Lord is powerful;

The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

⁵The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars;

Yea, the Lord breaketh in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

⁶He maketh them also to skip like a calf;

Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild-ox.

⁷The voice of the Lord heweth out flames of fire.

⁸The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness;

The Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.

⁹The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve,

And strippeth the forests bare;

And in His temple all say: 'Glory.'

 

¹⁰The Lord sat enthroned at the flood;

Yea, the Lord sitteth as King for ever.

¹¹The Lord will give strength unto His people;

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

30 A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House; of David.

²I will extol thee, O Lord, for Thou hast raised me up,

And hast not suffered mine enemies to rejoice over me.

³O Lord my God,

I cried unto Thee, and Thou didst heal me;

⁴O Lord, Thou broughtest up my soul from the nether-world;

Thou didst kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

⁵Sing praise unto the Lord, O ye His godly ones,

And give thanks to His holy name.

⁶For His anger is but for a moment, ²⁹

His favour is for a life-time;

Weeping may tarry for the night,

But joy cometh in the morning.

 

⁷Now I had said in my security: '

I shall never be moved.'

⁸Thou hadst established, O Lord, in Thy favour my mountain as a stronghold—

Thou didst hide Thy face; I was affrighted.

⁹Unto Thee, O Lord, did I call,

And unto the Lord I made supplication:

¹⁰'What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit?

Shall the dust praise Thee? shall it declare Thy truth?

¹¹Hear, O Lord, and be gracious unto me;

Lord, be Thou my helper.'

 

¹²Thou didst turn for me my mourning into dancing;

Thou didst loose my sackcloth, and gird me with gladness;

¹³So that my glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent;

O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto Thee for ever.

31 For the Leader. A Psalm of David.

²In thee, O Lord, have I taken refuge; let me never be ashamed;

Deliver me in Thy righteousness.

³Incline Thine ear unto me, deliver me speedily;

Be Thou to me a rock of refuge, even a fortress of defence, to save me.

⁴For Thou art my rock and my fortress;

Therefore for Thy name's sake lead me and guide me.

⁵Bring me forth out of the net that they have hidden for me;

For Thou art my stronghold.

⁶Into Thy hand I commit my spirit;

Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, Thou God of truth.

⁷I hate them that regard lying vanities;

But I trust in the Lord.

⁸I will be glad and rejoice in Thy lovingkindness;

For Thou hast seen mine affliction,

Thou hast taken cognizance of the troubles of my soul,

⁹And Thou hast not given me over into the hand of the enemy;

Thou hast set my feet in a broad place.

 

¹⁰Be gracious unto me, O Lord, for I am in distress;

Mine eye wasteth away with vexation, yea, my soul and my body.

¹¹For my life is spent in sorrow, and my years in sighing;

My strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are wasted away.

¹²Because of all mine adversaries I am become a reproach,

Yea, unto my neighbours exceedingly, and a dread to mine acquaintance;

They that see me without flee from me.

¹³I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind;

I am like a useless vessel.

¹⁴For I have heard the whispering of many,

Terror on every side;

While they took counsel together against me,

They devised to take away my life.

 

¹⁵But as for me, I have trusted in Thee, O Lord;

I have said: 'Thou art my God.'

¹⁶My times are in Thy hand;

Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

¹⁷Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant;

Save me in Thy lovingkindness.

¹⁸O Lord, let me not be ashamed, for I have called upon Thee;

Let the wicked be ashamed, let them be put to silence in the nether-world.

¹⁹Let the lying lips be dumb,

Which speak arrogantly against the righteous,

With pride and contempt.

 

²⁰Oh how abundant is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee;

Which Thou hast wrought for them that take their refuge in Thee, in the sight of the sons of men!

²¹Thou hidest them in the covert of Thy presence from the plottings of man;

Thou concealest them in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.

²²Blessed be the Lord;

For He hath shown me His wondrous lovingkindness in an entrenched city.

²³As for me, I said in my haste: 'I am cut off from before Thine eyes';

Nevertheless Thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto Thee.

 

²⁴O love the Lord, all ye His godly ones;

The Lord preserveth the faithful,

And plentifully repayeth him that acteth haughtily.

²⁵Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

All ye that wait for the Lord.

32 [A Psalm] of David. Maschil.

Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is pardoned.

²Happy is the man unto whom the Lord counteth not iniquity,

And in whose spirit there is no guile.

 

³When I kept silence, my bones wore away Through my groaning all the day long.

⁴For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me;

My sap was turned as in the droughts of summer. Selah

⁵I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid;

I said: 'I will make confession concerning my transgressions unto the Lord'—

And Thou, Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah

 

⁶For this let every one that is godly pray unto Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found;

Surely, when the great waters overflow, they will not reach unto him.

⁷Thou art my hiding-place; Thou wilt preserve me from the adversary;

With songs of deliverance Thou wilt compass me about. Selah

⁸'I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go;

I will give counsel, Mine eye being upon thee.'

⁹Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding;

Whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle,

That they come not near unto thee.

 

¹⁰Many are the sorrows of the wicked;

But he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy compasseth him about.

¹¹Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous;

And shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

33 Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous,

Praise is comely for the upright.

²Give thanks unto the Lord with harp,

Sing praises unto Him with the psaltery of ten strings.

³Sing unto Him a new song;

Play skilfully amid shouts of joy.

 

⁴For the word of the Lord is upright;

And all His work is done in faithfulness.

⁵He loveth righteousness and justice;

The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.

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

And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

⁷He gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap;

He layeth up the deeps in store-houses.

⁸Let all the earth fear the Lord;

Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

⁹For He spoke, and it was;

He commanded, and it stood.

¹⁰The Lord bringeth the counsel of the nations to nought;

He maketh the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.

¹¹The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever,

The thoughts of His heart to all generations.

 

¹²Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord;

The people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance.

¹³The Lord looketh from heaven;

He beholdeth all the sons of men;

¹⁴From the place of His habitation He looketh intently

Upon all the inhabitants of the earth;

¹⁵He that fashioneth the hearts of them all,

That considereth all their doings.

¹⁶A king is not saved by the multitude of a host;

A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.

¹⁷A horse is a vain thing for safety;

Neither doth it afford escape by its great strength.

¹⁸Behold, the eye of the Lord is toward them that fear Him,

Toward them that wait for His mercy;

¹⁹To deliver their soul from death,

And to keep them alive in famine.

 

²⁰Our soul hath waited for the Lord;

He is our help and our shield.

²¹For in Him doth our heart rejoice,

Because we have trusted in His holy name.

²²Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us,

According as we have waited for Thee.

34 [A Psalm] of David; when he changed his demeanour before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.

א²I will bless the Lord at all times;

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

ב³My soul shall glory in the Lord;

The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

ג⁴O magnify the Lord with me,

And let us exalt His name together.

ד⁵I sought the Lord, and He answered me,

And delivered me from all my fears.

ה⁶They looked unto Him, and were radiant;

וAnd their faces shall never be abashed.

ז⁷This poor man cried, and the Lord heard,

And saved him out of all his troubles.

ח⁸The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him,

And delivereth them.

ט⁹O consider and see that the Lord is good;

Happy is the man that taketh refuge in Him.

י¹⁰O fear the Lord, ye His holy ones;

For there is no want to them that fear Him.

כ¹¹The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger;

But they that seek the Lord want not any good thing.

ל¹²Come, ye children, hearken unto me;

I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

מ¹³Who is the man that desireth life,

And loveth days, that he may see good therein?

נ¹⁴Keep thy tongue from evil,

And thy lips from speaking guile.

ס¹⁵Depart from evil, and do good;

Seek peace, and pursue it.

ע¹⁶The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,

And His ears are open unto their cry.

פ¹⁷The face of the Lord is against them that do evil,

To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

צ^{18 [2]}They cried, and the Lord heard,

And delivered them out of all their troubles.

ק¹⁹The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart,

And saveth such as are of a contrite spirit.

ר²⁰Many are the ills of the righteous,

But the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

ש²¹He keepeth all his bones;

Not one of them is broken.

ת²²Evil shall kill the wicked;

And they that hate the righteous shall be held guilty.

 

²³The Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants;

And none of them that take refuge in Him shall be desolate.

35 [A Psalm] of David.

Strive, O Lord, with them that strive with me;

Fight against them that fight against me.

²Take hold of shield and buckler,

And rise up to my help.

³Draw out also the spear, and the battle-axe, against them that pursue me;

Say unto my soul: 'I am Thy salvation.'

⁴Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion that seek after my soul;

Let them be turned back and be abashed that devise my hurt.

⁵Let them be as chaff before the wind,

The angel of the Lord thrusting them.

⁶Let their way be dark and slippery,

The angel of the Lord pursuing them.

⁷For without cause have they hid for me the pit, even their net,

Without cause have they digged for my soul.

⁸Let destruction come upon him unawares;

And let his net that he hath hid catch himself;

With destruction let him fall therein.

⁹And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord;

It shall rejoice in His salvation.

¹⁰All my bones shall say: 'Lord, who is like unto Thee,

Who deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him,

Yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?'

 

¹¹Unrighteous witnesses rise up;

They ask me of things that I know not.

¹²They repay me evil for good;

Bereavement is come to my soul.

¹³But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth,

I afflicted my soul with fasting;

And my prayer, may it return into mine own bosom.

¹⁴I went about as though it had been my friend or my brother;

I bowed down mournful, as one that mourneth for his mother.

¹⁵But when I halt they rejoice, and gather themselves together;

The abjects gather themselves together against me, and those whom I know not;

They tear me, and cease not;

¹⁶With the profanest mockeries of backbiting

They gnash at me with their teeth.

 

¹⁷Lord, how long wilt Thou look on?

Rescue my soul from their destructions,

Mine only one from the lions.

¹⁸I will give Thee thanks in the great congregation;

I will praise Thee among a numerous people.

¹⁹Let not them that are wrongfully mine enemies rejoice over me;

Neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.

²⁰For they speak not peace;

But they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.

²¹Yea, they open their mouth wide against me;

They say: 'Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.'

²²Thou hast seen, O Lord; keep not silence;

O Lord, be not far from me.

²³Rouse Thee, and awake to my judgment,

Even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.

²⁴Judge me, O Lord my God, according to Thy righteousness;

And let them not rejoice over me.

²⁵Let them not say in their heart: 'Aha, we have our desire';

Let them not say: 'We have swallowed him up.'

²⁶Let them be ashamed and abashed together that rejoice at my hurt;

Let them be clothed with shame and confusion that magnify themselves against me.

²⁷Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that delight in my righteousness;

Yea, let them say continually: 'Magnified be the Lord,

Who delighteth in the peace of His servant.'

²⁸And my tongue shall speak of Thy righteousness,

And of Thy praise all the day.

36 For the Leader. [A Psalm] of David the servant of the Lord

²Transgression speaketh to the wicked, methinks—

There is no fear of God before his eyes.

³For it flattereth him in his eyes,

Until his iniquity be found, and he be hated.

⁴The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit;

He hath left off to be wise, to do good.

⁵He deviseth iniquity upon his bed;

He setteth himself in a way that is not good;

He abhorreth not evil.

 

⁶Thy lovingkindness, O Lord, is in the heavens;

Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the skies.

⁷Thy righteousness is like the mighty mountains;

Thy judgments are like the great deep;

Man and beast Thou preservest, O Lord.

⁸How precious is Thy lovingkindness, O God!

And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Thy wings.

⁹They are abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house;

And Thou makest them drink of the river of Thy pleasures.

¹⁰For with Thee is the fountain of life;

In Thy light do we see light.

 

¹¹O continue Thy lovingkindness unto them that know Thee;

And Thy righteousness to the upright in heart.

¹²Let not the foot of pride overtake me,

And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.

¹³There are the workers of iniquity fallen;

They are thrust down, and are not able to rise.

37 [A Psalm] of David.

אFret not thyself because of evil-doers,

Neither be thou envious against them that work unrighteousness.

²For they shall soon wither like the grass,

And fade as the green herb.

 

ב³Trust in the Lord, and do good;

Dwell in the land, and cherish faithfulness.

⁴So shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord;

And He shall give thee the petitions of thy heart.

 

ג⁵Commit thy way unto the Lord;

Trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass.

⁶And He will make thy righteousness to go forth as the light,

And thy right as the noonday.

 

ד⁷Resign thyself unto the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;

Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way,

Because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

 

ה⁸Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;

Fret not thyself, it tendeth only to evil-doing.

⁹For evil-doers shall be cut off;

But those that wait for the Lord, they shall inherit the land.

 

ו¹⁰And yet a little while, and the wicked is no more;

Yea, thou shalt look well at his place, and he is not.

¹¹But the humble shall inherit the land,

And delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

 

ז¹²The wicked plotteth against the righteous,

And gnasheth at him with his teeth.

¹³The Lord doth laugh at him;

For He seeth that his day is coming.

 

ח¹⁴The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow;

To cast down the poor and needy,

To slay such as are upright in the way;

¹⁵Their sword shall enter into their own heart,

And their bows shall be broken.

 

ט¹⁶Better is a little that the righteous hath

Than the abundance of many wicked.

¹⁷For the arms of the wicked shall be broken;

But the Lord upholdeth the righteous.

 

י¹⁸The Lord knoweth the days of them that are whole-hearted;

And their inheritance shall be for ever.

¹⁹They shall not be ashamed in the time of evil;

And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

 

כ ²⁰For the wicked shall perish,

And the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs—

They shall pass away in smoke, they shall pass away.

 

ל ²¹The wicked borroweth, and payeth not;

But the righteous dealeth graciously, and giveth.

²²For such as are blessed of Him shall inherit the land;

And they that are cursed of Him shall be cut off.

 

מ²³It is of the Lord that a man's goings are established;

And He delighted in his way.

²⁴Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;

For the Lord upholdeth his hand.

 

נ²⁵I have been young, and now am old;

Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken,

Nor his seed begging bread.

²⁶All the day long he dealeth graciously, and lendeth;

And his seed is blessed.

 

ס²⁷Depart from evil, and do good;

And dwell for evermore.

²⁸For the Lord loveth justice,

And forsaketh not His saints;

They are preserved for ever;

But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

²⁹The righteous shall inherit the land,

And dwell therein for ever.

 

פ³⁰The mouth of the righteous uttereth wisdom,

And his tongue speaketh justice.

³¹The law of his God is in his heart;

None of his steps slide.

 

צ³²The wicked watcheth the righteous,

And seeketh to slay him.

³³The Lord will not leave him in his hand,

Nor suffer him to be condemned when he is judged.

 

ק³⁴Wait for the Lord, and keep His way,

And He will exalt thee to inherit the land;

When the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.

 

ר³⁵I have seen the wicked in great power,

And spreading himself like a leafy tree in its native soil.

³⁶But one passed by, and, lo, he was not;

Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

 

ש³⁷Mark the man of integrity, and behold the upright;

For there is a future for the man of peace.

³⁸But transgressors shall be destroyed together;

The future of the wicked shall be cut off.

 

ת³⁹But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord;

He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.

⁴⁰And the Lord helpeth them, and delivereth them;

He delivereth them from the wicked, and saveth them,

Because they have taken refuge in Him.

38 A Psalm of David, to make memorial.

²O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger;

Neither chasten me in Thy wrath.

³For Thine arrows are gone deep into me,

And Thy hand is come down upon me.

⁴There is no soundness in my flesh because of Thine indignation;

Neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.

⁵For mine iniquities are gone over my head;

As a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

⁶My wounds are noisome, they fester,

Because of my foolishness.

⁷I am bent and bowed down greatly;

I go mourning all the day.

⁸For my loins are filled with burning;

And there is no soundness in my flesh.

⁹I am benumbed and sore crushed;

I groan by reason of the moaning of my heart.

 

¹⁰Lord, all my desire is before Thee;

And my sighing is not hid from Thee.

¹¹My heart fluttereth, my strength faileth me;

As for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.

¹²My friends and my companions stand aloof from my plague;

And my kinsmen stand afar off.

¹³They also that seek after my life lay snares for me;

And they that seek my hurt speak crafty devices,

And utter deceits all the day.

¹⁴But I am as a deaf man, I hear not;

And I am as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.

¹⁵Yea, I am become as a man that heareth not,

And in whose mouth are no arguments.

 

¹⁶For in Thee, O Lord, do I hope;

Thou wilt answer, O Lord my God.

¹⁷For I said: 'Lest they rejoice over me;

When my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.'

¹⁸For I am ready to halt,

And my pain is continually before me.

¹⁹For I do declare mine iniquity;

I am full of care because of my sin.

²⁰But mine enemies are strong in health;

And they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. ²¹They also that repay evil for good

Are adversaries unto me, because I follow the thing that is good.

²²Forsake me not, O Lord;

O my God, be not far from me.

²³Make haste to help me,

O Lord, my salvation.

39 For the Leader, for Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

²I said: 'I will take heed to my ways,

That I sin not with my tongue;

I will keep a curb upon my mouth,

While the wicked is before me.'

³I was dumb with silence; I held my peace, had no comfort;

And my pain was held in check.

⁴My heart waxed hot within me;

While I was musing, the fire kindled;

Then spoke I with my tongue:

 

⁵'Lord, make me to know mine end,

And the measure of my days, what it is;

Let me know how short-lived I am.

⁶Behold, Thou hast made my days as hand-breadths;

And mine age is as nothing before Thee;

Surely every man at his best estate is altogether vanity. Selah

⁷Surely man walketh as a mere semblance;

Surely for vanity they are in turmoil;

He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

 

⁸And now, Lord, what wait I for?

My hope, it is in Thee.

⁹Deliver me from all my transgressions;

Make me not the reproach of the base.

¹⁰I am dumb, I open not my mouth;

Because Thou hast done it.

¹¹Remove Thy stroke from off me;

I am consumed by the blow of Thy hand.

¹²With rebukes dost Thou chasten man for iniquity,

And like a moth Thou makest his beauty to consume away;

Surely every man is vanity. Selah

 

¹³Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry;

Keep not silence at my tears;

For I am a stranger with Thee,

A sojourner, as all my fathers were.

¹⁴Look away from me, that I may take comfort,

Before I go hence, and be no more.'

40 For the Leader. A Psalm of David.

²I waited patiently for the Lord;

And He inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

³He brought me up also out of the tumultuous pit, out of the miry clay;

And He set my feet upon a rock, He established my goings.

⁴And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God; ³⁹

Many shall see, and fear,

And shall trust in the Lord.

 

⁵Happy is the man that hath made the Lord his trust,

And hath not turned unto the arrogant, nor unto such as fall away treacherously.

⁶Many things hast Thou done, O Lord my God,

Even Thy wonderful works, and Thy thoughts toward us;

There is none to be compared unto Thee!

If I would declare and speak of them,

They are more than can be told.

⁷Sacrifice and meal-offering Thou hast no delight in;

Mine ears hast Thou opened;

Burnt-offering and sin-offering hast Thou not required.

⁸Then said I: 'Lo, I am come

With the roll of a book which is prescribed for me;

⁹I delight to do Thy will, O my God;

Yea, Thy law is in my inmost parts.'

¹⁰I have preached righteousness in the great congregation,

Lo, I did not refrain my lips;

O Lord, Thou knowest.

¹¹I have not hid Thy righteousness within my heart;

I have declared Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation;

I have not concealed Thy mercy and Thy truth from the great congregation.

¹²Thou, O Lord, wilt not withhold Thy compassions from me;

Let Thy mercy and Thy truth continually preserve me.

 

¹³For innumerable evils have compassed me about,

Mine iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up;

They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart hath failed me.

¹⁴Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;

O Lord, make haste to help me.

¹⁵Let them be ashamed and abashed together

That seek after my soul to sweep it away;

Let them be turned backward and brought to confusion

That delight in my hurt.

¹⁶Let them be appalled by reason of their shame

That say unto me: 'Aha, aha.'

¹⁷Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee;

Let such as love Thy salvation say continually:

'The Lord be magnified.'

¹⁸But, as for me, that am poor and needy,

The Lord will account it unto me;

Thou art my help and my deliverer;

O my God, tarry not.

41 For the Leader. A Psalm of David.

²Happy is he that considereth the poor;

The Lord will deliver him in the day of evil.

³The Lord preserve him, and keep him alive, let him be called happy in the land;

And deliver not Thou him unto the greed of his enemies.

⁴The Lord support him upon the bed of illness;

Mayest Thou turn all his lying down in his sickness.

 

⁵As for me, I said: 'O Lord, be gracious unto me;

Heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee.'

⁶Mine enemies speak evil of me:

'When shall he die, and his name perish?'

⁷And if one come to see me, he speaketh falsehood;

His heart gathereth iniquity to itself;

When he goeth abroad, he speaketh of it.

⁸All that hate me whisper together against me,

Against me do they devise my hurt:

⁹'An evil thing cleaveth fast unto him;

And now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more.'

¹⁰Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread,

Hath lifted up his heel against me.

 

¹¹But Thou, O Lord, be gracious unto me, and raise me up,

That I may requite them.

¹²By this I know that Thou delightest in me,

That mine enemy doth not triumph over me.

¹³And as for me, Thou upholdest me because of mine integrity,

And settest me before Thy face for ever.

¹⁴Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

From everlasting and to everlasting.

Amen, and Amen.

ספר שני
BOOK II

42 For the Leader; Maschil of the sons of Korah.

²As the hart panteth after the water brooks,

So panteth my soul after Thee, O God.

³My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God:

'When shall I come and appear before God?'

⁴My tears have been my food day and night,

While they say unto me all the day: 'Where is Thy God?'

⁵These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me,

How I passed on with the throng, and led them to the house of God,

With the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping holyday.

⁶Why art thou cast down, O my soul?

And why moanest thou within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him

For the salvation of His countenance.

 

⁷O my God, my soul is cast down within me;

Therefore do I remember Thee from the land of Jordan,

And the Hermons, from the hill Mizar.

⁸Deep calleth unto deep at the voice of Thy cataracts;

All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over me.

⁹By day the Lord will command His lovingkindness,

And in the night His song shall be with me,

Even a prayer unto the God of my life.

¹⁰I will say unto God my Rock: 'Why hast Thou forgotten me?

Why go I mourning under the oppression of the enemy?'

¹¹As with a crushing in my bones, mine adversaries taunt me;

While they say unto me all the day: 'Where is Thy God?'

¹²Why art thou cast down, O my soul?

And why moanest thou within me?

Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him,

The salvation of my countenance, and my God.

43 Be Thou my judge, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation;

O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

²For Thou art the God of my strength; why hast Thou cast me off?

Why go I mourning under the oppression of the enemy?

³O send out Thy light and Thy truth; let them lead me;

Let them bring me unto Thy holy mountain, and to Thy dwelling-places;

⁴Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God, my exceeding joy;

And praise Thee upon the harp, O God, my God.

⁵Why art thou cast down, O my soul?

And why moanest thou within me?

Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise Him,

The salvation of my countenance, and my God.

44 For the Leader; [a Psalm] of the sons of Korah. Maschil.

²O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us;

A work Thou didst in their days, in the days of old.

³Thou with Thy hand didst drive out the nations, and didst plant them in;

Thou didst break the peoples, and didst spread them abroad.

⁴For not by their own sword did they get the land in possession,

Neither did their own arm save them;

But Thy right hand, and Thine arm, and the light of Thy countenance,

Because Thou wast favourable unto them.

 

⁵Thou art my King, O God;

Command the salvation of Jacob.

⁶Through Thee do we push down our adversaries;

Through Thy name do we tread them under that rise up against us.

⁷For I trust not in my bow,

Neither can my sword save me.

⁸But Thou hast saved us from our adversaries,

And hast put them to shame that hate us.

⁹In God have we gloried all the day,

And we will give thanks unto Thy name for ever. Selah

 

¹⁰Yet Thou hast cast off, and brought us to confusion;

And goest not forth with our hosts.

¹¹Thou makest us to turn back from the adversary;

And they that hate us spoil at their will.

¹²Thou hast given us like sheep to be eaten;

And hast scattered us among the nations.

¹³Thou sellest Thy people for small gain,

And hast not set their prices high.

¹⁴Thou makest us a taunt to our neighbours,

A scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.

¹⁵Thou makest us a byword among the nations,

A shaking of the head among the peoples.

¹⁶All the day is my confusion before me,

And the shame of my face hath covered me,

¹⁷For the voice of him that taunteth and blasphemeth;

By reason of the enemy and the revengeful.

 

¹⁸All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten Thee,

Neither have we been false to Thy covenant.

¹⁹Our heart is not turned back,

Neither have our steps declined from Thy path;

²⁰Though Thou hast crushed us into a place of jackals,

And covered us with the shadow of death.

²¹If we had forgotten the name of our God,

Or spread forth our hands to a strange god;

²²Would not God search this out?

For He knoweth the secrets of the heart.

²³Nay, but for Thy sake are we killed all the day;

We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

 

²⁴Awake, why sleepest Thou, O Lord?

Arouse Thyself, cast not off for ever.

²⁵Wherefore hidest Thou Thy face,

And forgettest our affliction and our oppression?

²⁶For our soul is bowed down to the dust;

Our belly cleaveth unto the earth.

²⁷Arise for our help,

And redeem us for Thy mercy's sake.

45 For the Leader; upon Shoshannim; [a Psalm] of the sons of Korah. Maschil. A Song of loves.

²My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter;

I say: 'My work is concerning a king';

My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

 

³Thou art fairer than the children of men;

Grace is poured upon thy lips;

Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.

⁴Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one,

Thy glory and thy majesty.

⁵And in thy majesty prosper, ride on,

In behalf of truth and meekness and righteousness;

And let thy right hand teach thee tremendous things.

⁶Thine arrows are sharp—

The peoples fall under thee—

[They sink] into the heart of the king's enemies.

⁷Thy throne given of God is for ever and ever;

A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

⁸Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness;

Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee

With the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

⁹Myrrh, and aloes, and cassia are all thy garments;

Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad.

¹⁰Kings' daughters are among thy favourites;

At thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir.

¹¹'Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear;

Forget also thine own people, and thy father's house;

¹²So shall the king desire thy beauty;

For he is thy lord; and do homage unto him.

¹³And, O daughter of Tyre, the richest of the people

Shall entreat thy favour with a gift.'

¹⁴All glorious is the king's daughter within the palace;

Her raiment is of chequer work inwrought with gold.

¹⁵She shall be led unto the king on richly woven stuff;

The virgins her companions in her train being brought unto thee.

¹⁶They shall be led with gladness and rejoicing;

They shall enter into the king's palace.

¹⁷Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons,

Whom thou shalt make princes in all the land.

¹⁸I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations;

Therefore shall the peoples praise thee for ever and ever.

46 For the Leader; [a Psalm] of the sons of Korah; upon Alamoth. A Song.

²God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

³Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change,

And though the mountains be moved into the heart of the seas;

⁴Though the waters thereof roar and foam,

Though the mountains shake at the swelling thereof. Selah

 

⁵There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God,

The holiest dwelling-place of the Most High.

⁶God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;

God shall help her, at the approach of morning.

⁷Nations were in tumult, kingdoms were moved;

He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

⁸The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our high tower. Selah

 

⁹Come, behold the works of the Lord,

Who hath made desolations in the earth.

¹⁰He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth;

He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder;

He burneth the chariots in the fire.

¹¹'Let be, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.'

¹²The Lord of hosts is with us;

The God of Jacob is our high tower. Selah

47 For the Leader; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.

²O clap your hands, all ye peoples;

Shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

³For the Lord is most high, awful;

A great King over all the earth.

⁴He subdueth peoples under us,

And nations under our feet.

⁵He chooseth our inheritance for us,

The pride of Jacob whom He loveth. Selah

 

⁶God is gone up amidst shouting,

The Lord amidst the sound of the horn.

⁷Sing praises to God, sing praises;

Sing praises unto our King, sing praises.

 

⁸For God is the King of all the earth;

Sing ye praises in a skilful song.

⁹God reigneth over the nations;

God sitteth upon His holy throne.

 

¹⁰The princes of the peoples are gathered together,

The people of the God of Abraham;

For unto God belong the shields of the earth;

He is greatly exalted.

48 A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.

²Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,

In the city of our God, His holy mountain,

³Fair in situation, the joy of the whole earth;

Even mount Zion, the uttermost parts of the north,

The city of the great King.

⁴God in her palaces

Hath made Himself known for a stronghold.

 

⁵For, lo, the kings assembled themselves,

They came onward together.

⁶They saw, straightway they were amazed;

They were affrighted, they hasted away.

⁷Trembling took hold of them there,

Pangs, as of a woman in travail.

⁸With the east wind

Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish.

⁹As we have heard, so have we seen

In the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God—

God establish it for ever. Selah

 

¹⁰We have thought on Thy lovingkindness, O God,

In the midst of Thy temple.

¹¹As is Thy name, O God,

So is Thy praise unto the ends of the earth;

Thy right hand is full of righteousness.

¹²Let mount Zion be glad,

Let the daughters of Judah rejoice,

Because of Thy judgments.

¹³Walk about Zion, and go round about her;

Count the towers thereof.

¹⁴Mark ye well her ramparts,

Traverse her palaces;

That ye may tell it to the generation following.

¹⁵For such is God, our God, for ever and ever;

He will guide us eternally.

49 For the Leader; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.

²Hear this, all ye peoples;

Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world,

³Both low and high,

Rich and poor together.

⁴My mouth shall speak wisdom,

And the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.

⁵I will incline mine ear to a parable;

I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

 

⁶Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil,

When the iniquity of my supplanters compasseth me about,

⁷Of them that trust in their wealth,

And boast themselves in the multitude of their riches?

⁸No man can by any means redeem his brother,

Nor give to God a ransom for him—

⁹For too costly is the redemption of their soul,

And must be let alone for ever—

¹⁰That he should still live alway,

That he should not see the pit.

¹¹For he seeth that wise men die,

The fool and the brutish together perish,

And leave their wealth to others.

¹²Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever,

And their dwelling-places to all generations;

They call their lands after their own names.

¹³But man abideth not in honour;

He is like the beasts that perish.

 

¹⁴This is the way of them that are foolish,

And of those who after them approve their sayings. Selah

¹⁵Like sheep they are appointed for the nether-world;

Death shall be their shepherd;

And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;

And their form shall be for the nether-world to wear away,

That there be no habitation for it.

¹⁶But God will redeem my soul from the power of the nether-world;

For He shall receive me. Selah

¹⁷Be not thou afraid when one waxeth rich,

When the wealth of his house is increased;

¹⁸For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away;

His wealth shall not descend after him.

¹⁹Though while he lived he blessed his soul:

'Men will praise thee, when thou shalt do well to thyself';

²⁰It shall go to the generation of his fathers;

They shall never see the light.

²¹Man that is in honour understandeth not;

He is like the beasts that perish.

50 A Psalm of Asaph.

God, God, the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth

From the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.

²Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

God hath shined forth.

³Our God cometh, and doth not keep silence;

A fire devoureth before Him,

And round about Him it stormeth mightily.

⁴He calleth to the heavens above,

And to the earth, that He may judge His people:

⁵'Gather My saints together unto Me;

Those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.'

⁶And the heavens declare His righteousness;

For God, He is judge. Selah

⁷'Hear, O My people, and I will speak;

O Israel, and I will testify against thee:

God, thy God, am I.

⁸I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices;

And thy burnt-offerings are continually before Me.

⁹I will take no bullock out of thy house,

Nor he-goats out of thy folds.

¹⁰For every beast of the forest is Mine,

And the cattle upon a thousand hills.

¹¹I know all the fowls of the mountains;

And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.

¹²If I were hungry, I would not tell thee;

For the world is Mine, and the fulness thereof.

¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls,

Or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving;

And pay thy vows unto the Most High;

¹⁵And call upon Me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver thee, and thou shalt honour Me.'

 

¹⁶But unto the wicked God saith:

'What hast thou to do to declare My statutes,

And that thou hast taken My covenant in thy mouth?

¹⁷Seeing thou hatest instruction,

And castest My words behind thee.

¹⁸When thou sawest a thief, thou hadst company with him,

And with adulterers was thy portion.

¹⁹Thou hast let loose thy mouth for evil,

And thy tongue frameth deceit. ²⁰Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother;

Thou slanderest thine own mother's son.

²¹These things hast thou done, and should I have kept silence?

Thou hadst thought that I was altogether such a one as thyself;

But I will reprove thee, and set the cause before thine eyes.

 

²²Now consider this, ye that forget God,

Lest I tear in pieces, and there be none to deliver.

²³Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving honoureth Me;

And to him that ordereth his way aright

Will I show the salvation of God.'

51 For the Leader. A Psalm of David; ²when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba.

³Be gracious unto me, O God, according to Thy mercy;

According to the multitude of Thy compassions blot out my transgressions.

⁴Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

⁵For I know my transgressions;

And my sin is ever before me.

⁶Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned,

And done that which is evil in Thy sight;

That Thou mayest be justified when Thou speakest,

And be in the right when Thou judgest.

 

⁷Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

And in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁸Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts;

Make me, therefore, to know wisdom in mine inmost heart.

⁹Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

¹⁰Make me to hear joy and gladness;

That the bones which Thou hast crushed may rejoice.

¹¹Hide Thy face from my sins,

Aand blot out all mine iniquities.

¹²Create me a clean heart, O God;

And renew a stedfast spirit within me.

¹³Cast me not away from Thy presence;

And take not Thy holy spirit from me.

¹⁴Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation;

And let a willing spirit uphold me.

¹⁵Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways;

And sinners shall return unto Thee.

¹⁶Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation;

So shall my tongue sing aloud of Thy righteousness.

¹⁷O Lord, open Thou my lips;

And my mouth shall declare Thy praise.

¹⁸For Thou delightest not in sacrifice, else would I give it;

Thou hast no pleasure in burnt-offering.

¹⁹The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.

 

²⁰Do good in Thy favour unto Zion;

Build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.

²¹Then wilt Thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt-offering and whole offering;

Then will they offer bullocks upon Thine altar.

52 For the Leader. Maschil of David; ²when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him: 'David is come to the house of Ahimelech.'

³Why boastest thou thyself of evil, O mighty man?

The mercy of God endureth continually.

⁴Thy tongue deviseth destruction;

Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

 

⁵Thou lovest evil more than good;

Falsehood rather than speaking righteousness. Selah

⁶Thou lovest all devouring words,

The deceitful tongue.

⁷God will likewise break thee for ever,

He will take thee up, and pluck thee out of thy tent,

And root thee out of the land of the living. Selah

 

⁸The righteous also shall see, and fear,

And shall laugh at him:

⁹'Lo, this is the man that made not God his stronghold;

But trusted in the abundance of his riches,

And strengthened himself in his wickedness.'

¹⁰But as for me, I am like a leafy olive-tree in the house of God;

I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.

¹¹I will give Thee thanks for ever, because Thou hast done it;

And I will wait for Thy name, for it is good, in the presence of Thy saints.

53 For the Leader; upon Mahalath. Maschil of David.

²The fool hath said in his heart: 'There is no God';

They have dealt corruptly, and have done abominable iniquity; :There is none that doeth good.

³God looked forth from heaven upon the children of men,

To see if there were any man of understanding, that did seek after God.

⁴Every one of them is unclean, they are together become impure;

There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

 

⁵'Shall not the workers of iniquity know it,

Who eat up My people as they eat bread,

And call not upon God?'

⁶There are they in great fear, where no fear was;

For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee;

Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath rejected them.

 

⁷Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!

When God turneth the captivity of His people,

Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

54 For the Leader; with string-music. Maschil of David: ²when the Ziphites came and said to Saul: 'Doth not David hide himself with us?'

³O God, save me by Thy name,

And right me by Thy might.

⁴O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

⁵For strangers are risen up against me,

And violent men have sought after my soul;

They have not set God before them. Selah

⁶Behold, God is my helper;

The Lord is for me as the upholder of my soul.

⁷He will requite the evil unto them that lie in wait for me;

Destroy Thou them in Thy truth.

⁸With a freewill-offering will I sacrifice unto Thee;

I will give thanks unto Thy name, O Lord, for it is good.

⁹For He hath delivered me out of all trouble;

And mine eye hath gazed upon mine enemies.

55 For the Leader; with string-music. Maschil of David

²Give ear, O God, to my prayer;

And hide not Thyself from my supplication.

³Attend unto me, and answer me;

I am distraught in my complaint, and will moan;

⁴Because of the voice of the enemy,

Because of the oppression of the wicked;

For they cast mischief upon me,

And in anger they persecute me.

⁵My heart doth writhe within me;

And the terrors of death are fallen upon me.

⁶Fear and trembling come upon me,

And horror hath overwhelmed me.

⁷And I said: 'Oh that I had wings like a dove!

Then would I fly away, and be at rest.

⁸Lo, then would I wander far off,

I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah

⁹I would haste me to a shelter

From the stormy wind and tempest.'

¹⁰Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongue;

For I have seen violence and strife in the city.

¹¹Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof;

Iniquity also and mischief are in the midst of it.

¹²Wickedness is in the midst thereof;

Oppression and guile depart not from her broad place.

¹³For it was not an enemy that taunted me,

Then I could have borne it;

Neither was it mine adversary that did magnify himself against me,

Then I would have hid myself from him.

¹⁴But it was thou, a man mine equal,

My companion, and my familiar friend;

¹⁵We took sweet counsel together,

In the house of God we walked with the throng.

¹⁶May He incite death against them,

Let them go down alive into the nether-world;

For evil is in their dwelling, and within them.

 

¹⁷As for me, I will call upon God;

And the Lord shall save me.

¹⁸Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I complain, and moan;

And He hath heard my voice.

¹⁹He hath redeemed my soul in peace so that none came nigh me;

For they were many that strove with me.

²⁰God shall hear, and humble them,

Even He that is enthroned of old, Selah

Such as have no changes,

And fear not God.

²¹He hath put forth his hands against them that were at peace with him;

He hath profaned his covenant.

²²Smoother than cream were the speeches of his mouth,

But his heart was war;

His words were softer than oil,

Yet were they keen-edged swords.

 

²³Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain thee;

He will never suffer the righteous to be moved.

²⁴But Thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the nethermost pit;

Men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days;

But as for me, I will trust in Thee.

56 For the Leader; upon Jonathelem-rehokim. [A Psalm] of David; Michtam; when the Philistines took him in Gath.

²Be gracious unto me, O God, for man would swallow me up;

All the day he fighting oppresseth me.

³They that lie in wait for me would swallow me up all the day;

For they are many that fight against me, O Most High,

⁴In the day that I am afraid,

I will put my trust in Thee.

⁵In God—I will praise His word—

In God do I trust, I will not be afraid;

What can flesh do unto me?

 

⁶All the day they trouble mine affairs;

All their thoughts are against me for evil.

⁷They gather themselves together, they hide themselves,

They mark my steps;

According as they have waited for my soul.

⁸Because of iniquity cast them out;

In anger bring down the peoples, O God.

⁹Thou has counted my wanderings;

Put Thou my tears into Thy bottle;

Are they not in Thy book?

¹⁰Then shall mine enemies turn back in the day that I call;

This I know, that God is for me.

¹¹In God—I will praise His word—

In the Lord—I will praise His word—

¹²In God do I trust, I will not be afraid;

What can man do unto me?

 

¹³Thy vows are upon me, O God;

I will render thank-offerings unto Thee.

¹⁴For thou hast delivered my soul from death;

Hast Thou not delivered my feet from stumbling?

That I may walk before God in the light of the living?

57 For the Leader; Al-tashheth. [A Psalm] of David; Michtam; when he fled from Saul, in the cave.

²Be gracious unto me, O God, be gracious unto me,

For in Thee hath my soul taken refuge;

Yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I take refuge,

Until calamities be overpast.

³I will cry unto God Most high;

Unto God that accomplisheth it for me.

⁴He will send from heaven, and save me,

When he that would swallow me up taunteth, Selah

God shall send forth His mercy and His truth.

⁵My soul is among lions, I do lie down among them that are aflame;

Even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows,

And their tongue a sharp sword.

⁶Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; Thy glory be above all the earth.

⁷They have prepared a net for my steps,

My soul is bowed down;

They have digged a pit before me,

They are fallen into the midst thereof themselves. Selah

⁸My heart is stedfast, O God, my heart is stedfast;

I will sing, yea, I will sing praises.

⁹Awake, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp;

I will awake the dawn.

¹⁰I will give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises unto Thee among the nations.

¹¹For Thy mercy is great unto the heavens,

And Thy truth unto the skies.

¹²Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens;

Thy glory be above all the earth.

58 For the Leader; Al-tashheth. [A Psalm] of David; Michtam.

²Do ye indeed speak as a righteous company?

Do ye judge with equity the sons of men?

³Yea, in heart ye work wickedness;

Ye weigh out in the earth the violence of your hands.

⁴The wicked are estranged from the womb;

The speakers of lies go astray as soon as they are born.

⁵Their venom is like the venom of a serpent;

They are like the deaf asp that stoppeth her ear;

⁶Which hearkeneth not to the voice of charmers,

Or of the most cunning binder of spells.

 

⁷Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth;

Break out the cheek-teeth of the young lions, O Lord.

⁸Let them melt away as water that runneth apace;

When he aimeth his arrows, let them be as though they were cut off.

⁹Let them be as a snail which melteth and passeth away;

Like the untimely births of a woman, that have not seen the sun.

¹⁰Before your pots can feel the thorns,

He will sweep it away with a whirlwind, the raw and the burning alike.

 

¹¹The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance;

He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

¹²And men shall say: 'Verily there is a reward for the righteous;

Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.'

59 For the Leader; Al-tashheth. [A Psalm] of David; Michtam; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.

²Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God;

Set me on high from them that rise up against me.

³Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,

And save me from the men of blood.

⁴For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul;

The impudent gather themselves together against me;

Not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord.

⁵Without my fault, they run and prepare themselves;

Awake Thou to help me, and behold.

⁶Thou therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,

Arouse Thyself to punish all the nations;

Show no mercy to any iniquitous traitors. Selah

 

⁷They return at evening, they howl like a dog,

And go round about the city.

⁸Behold, they belch out with their mouth;

Swords are in their lips:

'For who doth hear?'

⁹But Thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them;

Thou shalt have all the nations in derision.

¹⁰Because of his strength, I will wait for Thee;

For God is my high tower.

 

¹¹The God of my mercy will come to meet me;

God will let me gaze upon mine adversaries.

¹²Slay them not, lest my people forget,

Make them wander to and fro by Thy power, and bring them down,

O Lord our shield.

¹³For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips,

Let them even be taken in their pride,

And for cursing and lying which they speak.

¹⁴Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they be no more;

And let them know that God ruleth in Jacob,

Unto the ends of the earth. Selah

 

¹⁵And they return at evening, they howl like a dog,

And go round about the city;

¹⁶They wander up and down to devour,

And tarry all night if they have not their fill.

¹⁷But as for me, I will sing of Thy strength;

Yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning;

For Thou hast been my high tower,

And a refuge in the day of my distress.

¹⁸O my strength, unto Thee will I sing praises;

For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.

60 For the Leader; upon Shushan Eduth; Michtam of David, to teach; ²when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the Valley of Salt twelve thousand.

³O God, Thou hast cast us off, Thou hast broken us down;

Thou hast been angry; O restore us.

⁴Thou hast made the land to shake, Thou hast cleft it;

Heal the breaches thereof; for it tottereth.

⁵Thou hast made Thy people to see hard things;

Thou hast made us to drink the wine of staggering.

⁶Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee,

That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah

⁷That Thy beloved may be delivered,

Save with Thy right hand, and answer me.

 

⁸God spoke in His holiness, that I would exult;

That I would divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

⁹Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;

Ephraim also is the defence of my head;

Judah is my sceptre.

¹⁰Moab is my washpot;

Upon Edom do I cast my shoe;

Philistia, cry aloud because of me!

 

¹¹Who will bring me into the fortified city?

Who will lead me unto Edom?

¹²Hast not Thou, O God, cast us off?

And Thou goest not forth, O God, with our hosts.

¹³Give us help against the adversary;

For vain is the help of man.

¹⁴Through God we shall do valiantly;

For He it is that will tread down our adversaries.

61 For the Leader; with string-music. [A Psalm] of David.

²Hear my cry, O God;

Attend unto my prayer.

³From the end of the earth will I call unto Thee, when my heart fainteth;

Lead me to a rock that is too high for me.

⁴For Thou hast been a refuge for me,

A tower of strength in the face of the enemy.

 

⁵I will dwell in Thy Tent for ever;

I will take refuge in the covert of Thy wings. Selah

⁶For Thou, O God, hast heard my vows;

Thou hast granted the heritage of those that fear Thy name.

⁷Mayest Thou add days unto the king's days!

May his years be as many generations!

⁸May he be enthroned before God for ever!

Appoint mercy and truth, that they may preserve him.

 

⁹So will I sing praise unto Thy name for ever,

That I may daily perform my vows.

62 For the Leader; for Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.

²Only for God doth my soul wait in stillness;

From Him cometh my salvation.

³He only is my rock and my salvation,

My high tower, I shall not be greatly moved.

⁴How long will ye set upon a man,

That ye may slay him, all of you,

As a leaning wall, a tottering fence?

⁵They only devise to thrust him down from his height, delighting in lies;

They bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah

 

⁶Only for God wait thou in stillness, my soul;

For from Him cometh my hope.

⁷He only is my rock and my salvation,

My high tower, I shall not be moved.

⁸Upon God resteth my salvation and my glory;

The rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.

⁹Trust in Him at all times, ye people;

Pour out your heart before Him;

God is a refuge for us. Selah

 

¹⁰Men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie;

If they be laid in the balances, they are together lighter than vanity.

¹¹Trust not in oppression,

And put not vain hope in robbery;

If riches increase, set not your heart thereon.

¹²God hath spoken once,

Twice have I heard this:

That strength belongeth unto God;

¹³Also unto Thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy;

For Thou renderest to every man according to his work.

63 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.

²O God, Thou art my God, earnestly will I seek Thee;

My soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee,

In a dry and weary land, where no water is.

³So have I looked for Thee in the sanctuary,

To see Thy power and Thy glory.

 

⁴For Thy lovingkindness is better than life;

My lips shall praise Thee.

⁵So will I bless Thee as long as I live;

In Thy name will I lift up my hands.

 

⁶My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness;

And my mouth doth praise Thee with joyful lips;

⁷When I remember Thee upon my couch,

And meditate on Thee in the nightwatches.

 

⁸For Thou hast been my help,

And in the shadow of Thy wings do I rejoice.

⁹My soul cleaveth unto Thee;

Thy right hand holdeth me fast.

 

¹⁰But those that seek my soul, to destroy it,

Shall go into the nethermost parts of the earth.

¹¹They shall be hurled to the power of the sword;

They shall be a portion for foxes.

¹²But the king shall rejoice in God;

Every one that sweareth by Him shall glory;

For the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.

64 For the Leader. A Psalm of David.

²Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;

Preserve my life from the terror of the enemy.

³Hide me from the council of evil-doers;

From the tumult of the workers of iniquity;

⁴Who have whet their tongue like a sword,

And have aimed their arrow, a poisoned word;

⁵That they may shoot in secret places at the blameless;

Suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.

⁶They encourage one another in an evil matter;

They converse of laying snares secretly;

They ask, who would see them.

⁷They search out iniquities, they have accomplished a diligent search;

Even in the inward thought of every one, and the deep heart.

 

⁸But God doth shoot at them with an arrow suddenly;

Thence are their wounds.

⁹So they make their own tongue a stumbling unto themselves;

All that see them shake the head.

¹⁰And all men fear;

And they declare the work of God,

And understand His doing.

¹¹The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall take refuge in Him;

And all the upright in heart shall glory.

65 For the Leader. A Psalm. A Song of David.

²Praise waiteth for Thee, O God, in Zion;

And unto Thee the vow is performed.

³O Thou that hearest prayer,

Unto Thee doth all flesh come.

⁴The tale of iniquities is too heavy for me;

As for our transgressions, Thou wilt pardon them.

⁵Happy is the man whom Thou choosest, and bringest near,

That he may dwell in Thy courts;

May we be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house,

The holy place of Thy temple!

 

⁶With wondrous works dost Thou answer us in righteousness,

O God of our salvation;

Thou the confidence of all the ends of the earth,

And of the far distant seas;

⁷Who by Thy strength settest fast the mountains,

Who art girded about with might;

⁸Who stillest the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves,

And the tumult of the peoples;

⁹So that they that dwell in the uttermost parts stand in awe of Thy signs;

Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.

 

¹⁰Thou hast remembered the earth, and watered her, greatly enriching her,

With the river of God that is full of water;

Thou preparest them corn, for so preparest Thou her.

¹¹Watering her ridges abundantly,

Settling down the furrows thereof,

Thou makest her soft with showers;

Thou blessest the growth thereof.

¹²Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness;

And Thy paths drop fatness.

¹³The pastures of the wilderness do drop;

And the hills are girded with joy.

¹⁴The meadows are clothed with flocks;

The valleys also are covered over with corn;

They shout for joy, yea, they sing.

66 For the Leader. A Song, a Psalm.

Shout unto God, all the earth;

²Sing praises unto the glory of His name;

Make His praise glorious.

³Say unto God: 'How tremendous is Thy work!

Through the greatness of Thy power shall Thine enemies dwindle away before Thee.

⁴All the earth shall worship Thee,

And shall sing praises unto Thee;

They shall sing praises to Thy name.' Selah

 

⁵Come, and see the works of God;

He is terrible in His doing toward the children of men.

⁶He turned the sea into dry land;

They went through the river on foot;

There let us rejoice in Him!

⁷Who ruleth by His might for ever;

His eyes keep watch upon the nations;

Let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah

 

⁸Bless our God, ye peoples,

And make the voice of His praise to be heard;

⁹Who hath set our soul in life,

And suffered not our foot to be moved,

¹⁰For Thou, O God, hast tried us;

Thou hast refined us, as silver is refined.

¹¹Thou didst bring us into the hold;

Thou didst lay constraint upon our loins.

¹²Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads;

We went through fire and through water;

But Thou didst bring us out unto abundance.

 

¹³I will come into Thy house with burnt-offerings,

I will perform unto Thee my vows,

¹⁴Which my lips have uttered,

And my mouth hath spoken, when I was in distress.

¹⁵I will offer unto Thee burnt-offerings of fatlings,

With the sweet smoke of rams;

I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah

 

¹⁶Come, and hearken, all ye that fear God,

And I will declare what He hath done for my soul.

¹⁷I cried unto Him with my mouth,

And He was extolled with my tongue.

¹⁸If I had regarded iniquity in my heart,

The Lord would not hear;

¹⁹But verily God hath heard;

He hath attended to the voice of my prayer.

²⁰Blessed be God,

Who hath not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me.

67 For the Leader; with string-music. A Psalm, a Song.

²God be gracious unto us, and bless us;

May He cause His face to shine toward us; Selah

³That Thy way may be known upon earth,

Thy salvation among all nations.

 

⁴Let the peoples give thanks unto Thee, O God;

Let the peoples give thanks unto Thee, all of them.

⁵O let the nations be glad and sing for joy;

For Thou wilt judge the peoples with equity,

And lead the nations upon earth. Selah

 

⁶Let the peoples give thanks unto Thee, O God;

Let the peoples give thanks unto Thee, all of them.

⁷The earth hath yielded her increase;

May God, our own God, bless us.

⁸May God bless us;

And let all the ends of the earth fear Him.

68 For the Leader. A Psalm of David, a Song.

²Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered;

And let them that hate Him flee before Him.

³As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;

As wax melteth before the fire,

So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

⁴But let the righteous be glad, let them exult before God;

Yea, let them rejoice with gladness.

 

⁵Sing unto God, sing praises to His name;

Extol Him that rideth upon the skies, whose name is the Lord;

And exult ye before Him.

⁶A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows,

Is God in His holy habitation.

⁷God maketh the solitary to dwell in a house;

He bringeth out the prisoners into prosperity;

The rebellious dwell but in a parched land.

⁸O God, when Thou wentest forth before Thy people,

When Thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah

⁹The earth trembled, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God;

Even yon Sinai trembled at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

¹⁰A bounteous rain didst Thou pour down, O God;

When Thine inheritance was weary, Thou didst confirm it.

¹¹Thy flock settled therein;

Thou didst prepare in Thy goodness for the poor, O God.

 

¹²The Lord giveth the word;

The women that proclaim the tidings are a great host.

¹³Kings of armies flee, they flee;

And she that tarrieth at home divideth the spoil.

¹⁴When ye lie among the sheepfolds,

The wings of the dove are covered with silver,

And her pinions with the shimmer of gold. ¹⁵When the Almighty scattereth kings therein,

It snoweth in Zalmon.

 

¹⁶A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan;

A mountain of peaks is the mountain of Bashan.

¹⁷Why look ye askance, ye mountains of peaks,

At the mountain which God hath desired for His abode?

Yea, the Lord will dwell therein for ever.

¹⁸The chariots of God are myriads, even thousands upon thousands;

The Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in holiness.

¹⁹Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive;

Thou hast received gifts among men,

Yea, among the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell there.

²⁰Blessed be the Lord, day by day He beareth our burden,

Even the God who is our salvation. Selah

²¹God is unto us a God of deliverances;

And unto God the Lord belong the issues of death.

²²Surely God will smite through the head of His enemies,

The hairy scalp of him that goeth about in his guiltiness.

²³The Lord said: 'I will bring back from Bashan,

I will bring them back from the depths of the sea;

²⁴That thy foot may wade through blood,

That the tongue of thy dogs may have its portion from thine enemies.'

 

²⁵They see Thy goings, O God,

Even the goings of my God, my King, in holiness.

²⁶The singers go before, the minstrels follow after,

In the midst of damsels playing upon timbrels.

²⁷'Bless ye God in full assemblies,

Even the Lord, ye that are from the fountain of Israel.'

²⁸There is Benjamin, the youngest, ruling them,

The princes of Judah their council,

The princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

²⁹Thy God hath commanded thy strength;

Be strong, O God, Thou that hast wrought for us

³⁰Out of Thy temple at Jerusalem,

Whither kings shall bring presents unto Thee.

³¹Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds,

The multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the peoples,

Every one submitting himself with pieces of silver;

He hath scattered the peoples that delight in war!

³²Nobles shall come out of Egypt;

Ethiopia shall hasten to stretch out her hands unto God.

 

³³Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth;

O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah

³⁴To Him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which are of old;

Lo, He uttereth His voice, a mighty voice.

³⁵Ascribe ye strength unto God;

His majesty is over Israel,

And His strength is in the skies.

³⁶Awful is God out of thy holy places;

The God of Israel, He giveth strength and power unto the people;

Blessed be God.

69 For the Leader; upon Shoshannim. [A Psalm] of David.

²Save me, O God;

For the waters are come in even unto the soul.

³I am sunk in deep mire, where there is no standing;

I am come into deep waters, and the flood overwhelmeth me.

⁴I am weary of my crying; my throat is dried;

Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.

⁵They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head;

They that would cut me off, being mine enemies wrongfully, are many;

Should I restore that which I took not away?

⁶O God, Thou knowest my folly;

And my trespasses are not hid from Thee.

⁷Let not them that wait for Thee be ashamed through me, O Lord God of hosts;

Let not those that seek Thee be brought to confusion through me, O God of Israel.

 

⁸Because for Thy sake I have borne reproach;

Confusion hath covered my face.

⁹I am become a stranger unto my brethren,

And an alien unto my mother's children.

¹⁰Because zeal for Thy house hath eaten me up,

And the reproaches of them that reproach Thee are fallen upon me.

¹¹And I wept with my soul with fasting,

And that became unto me a reproach.

¹²I made sackcloth also my garment,

And I became a byword unto them.

¹³They that sit in the gate talk of me;

And I am the song of the drunkards.

 

¹⁴But as for me, let my prayer be unto Thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time;

O God, in the abundance of Thy mercy,

Answer me with the truth of Thy salvation.

¹⁵Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink;

Let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

¹⁶Let not the waterflood overwhelm me,

Neither let the deep swallow me up;

And let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

¹⁷Answer me, O Lord, for Thy mercy is good;

According to the multitude of Thy compassions turn Thou unto me.

¹⁸And hide not Thy face from Thy servant;

For I am in distress; answer me speedily.

¹⁹Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it;

Ransom me because of mine enemies.

 

²⁰Thou knowest my reproach, and my shame, and my confusion;

Mine adversaries are all before Thee.

²¹Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am sore sick;

And I looked for some to show compassion, but there was none;

And for comforters, but I found none.

²²Yea, they put poison into my food;

And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

 

²³Let their table before them become a snare;

And when they are in peace, let it become a trap.

²⁴Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not;

And make their loins continually to totter.

²⁵Pour out Thine indignation upon them,

And let the fierceness of Thine anger overtake them.

²⁶Let their encampment be desolate;

Let none dwell in their tents.

²⁷For they persecute him whom Thou hast smitten;

And they tell of the pain of those whom Thou hast wounded.

²⁸Add iniquity unto their iniquity;

And let them not come into Thy righteousness.

²⁹Let them be blotted out of the book of the living,

And not be written with the righteous.

³⁰But I am afflicted and in pain;

Let Thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.

³¹I will praise the name of God with a song,

And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.

³²And it shall please the Lord better than a bullock

That hath horns and hoofs.

³³The humble shall see it, and be glad;

Ye that seek after God, let your heart revive.

³⁴For the Lord hearkeneth unto the needy,

And despiseth not His prisoners.

³⁵Let heaven and earth praise Him,

The seas, and every thing that moveth therein.

³⁶For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah;

And they shall abide there, and have it in possession.

³⁷The seed also of His servants shall inherit it;

And they that love His name shall dwell therein.

70 For the Leader. [A Psalm] of David; to make memorial.

²O God, to deliver me,

O Lord, to help me, make haste.

³Let them be ashamed and abashed

That seek after my soul;

Let them be turned backward and brought to confusion

That delight in my hurt.

⁴Let them be turned back by reason of their shame

That say: 'Aha, aha.'

⁵Let all those that seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee;

And let such as love Thy salvation say continually:

'Let God be magnified.'

⁶But I am poor and needy,

O God, make haste unto me;

Thou art my help and my deliverer;

O Lord, tarry not.

71 In Thee, O Lord, have I taken refuge;

Let me never be ashamed.

²Deliver me in Thy righteousness, and rescue me;

Incline Thine ear unto me, and save me.

³Be Thou to me a sheltering rock, whereunto I may continually resort,

Which Thou hast appointed to save me;

For Thou art my rock and my fortress.

 

⁴O my God, rescue me out of the hand of the wicked,

Out of the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man.

⁵For Thou art my hope;

O Lord God, my trust from my youth.

⁶Upon Thee have I stayed myself from birth;

Thou art he that took me out of my mother's womb;

My praise is continually of Thee.

⁷I am as a wonder unto many;

But Thou art my strong refuge.

⁸My mouth shall be filled with Thy praise,

And with Thy glory all the day.

⁹Cast me not off in the time of old age;

When my strength faileth, forsake me not.

¹⁰For mine enemies speak concerning me,

And they that watch for my soul take counsel together,

¹¹Saying: 'God hath forsaken him;

Pursue and take him; for there is none to deliver.'

¹²O God, be not far from me;

O my God, make haste to help me.

¹³Let them be ashamed and consumed that are adversaries to my soul;

Let them be covered with reproach and confusion that seek my hurt.

 

¹⁴But as for me, I will hope continually,

And will praise Thee yet more and more.

¹⁵My mouth shall tell of Thy righteousness,

And of Thy salvation all the day;

For I know not the numbers thereof.

¹⁶I will come with Thy mighty acts, O Lord God;

I will make mention of Thy righteousness, even of Thine only.

¹⁷O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth;

And until now do I declare Thy wondrous works.

¹⁸And even unto old age and hoary hairs, O God, forsake me not;

Until I have declared Thy strength unto the next generation,

Thy might to every one that is to come.

¹⁹Thy righteousness also, O God, which reacheth unto high heaven;

Thou who hast done great things,

O God, who is like unto Thee?

²⁰Thou, who hast made me to see many and sore troubles,

Wilt quicken me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

²¹Thou wilt increase my greatness,

And turn and comfort me.

²²I also will give thanks unto Thee with the psaltery,

Even unto Thy truth, O my God;

I will sing praises unto Thee with the harp,

O Thou Holy One of Israel.

²³My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing praises unto Thee;

And my soul, which Thou hast redeemed.

²⁴My tongue also shall tell of Thy righteousness all the day;

For they are ashamed, for they are abashed, that seek my hurt.

72 [A Psalm] of Solomon.

Give the king Thy judgments, O God,

And Thy righteousness unto the king's son;

²That he may judge Thy people with righteousness,

And Thy poor with justice.

³Let the mountains bear peace to the people,

And the hills, through righteousness.

⁴May he judge the poor of the people,

And save the children of the needy,

And crush the oppressor.

⁵They shall fear Thee while the sun endureth,

And so long as the moon, throughout all generations.

⁶May he come down like rain upon the mown grass,

As showers that water the earth.

⁷In his days let the righteous flourish,

And abundance of peace, till the moon be no more.

 

⁸May he have dominion also from sea to sea,

And from the River unto the ends of the earth.

⁹Let them that dwell in the wilderness bow before him;

And his enemies lick the dust.

¹⁰The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render tribute;

The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

¹¹Yea, all kings shall prostrate themselves before him;

All nations shall serve him.

¹²For he will deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.

¹³He will have pity on the poor and needy,

And the souls of the needy he will save.

¹⁴He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence,

And precious will their blood be in his sight.

¹⁵That they may live, and that he may give them of the gold of Sheba,

That they may pray for him continually,

Yea, bless him all the day.

¹⁶May he be as a rich cornfield in the land upon the top of the mountains;

May his fruit rustle like Lebanon;

And may they blossom out of the city like grass of the earth.

¹⁷May his name endure for ever;

May his name be continued as long as the sun;

May men also bless themselves by him;

May all nations call him happy.

 

¹⁸Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,

Who only doeth wondrous things;

¹⁹And blessed be His glorious name for ever;

And let the whole earth be filled with His glory.

Amen, and Amen.

 

²⁰The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

ספר שלישי
BOOK III

73 A Psalm of Asaph.

Surely God is good to Israel,

Even to such as are pure in heart.

²But as for me, my feet were almost gone;

My steps had well nigh slipped.

³For I was envious at the arrogant,

When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

⁴For there are no pangs at their death,

And their body is sound.

⁵In the trouble of man they are not;

Neither are they plagued like men.

⁶Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck;

Violence covereth them as a garment.

⁷Their eyes stand forth from fatness;

They are gone beyond the imaginations of their heart.

⁸They scoff, and in wickedness utter oppression;

They speak as if there were none on high.

⁹They have set their mouth against the heavens,

And their tongue walketh through the earth.

¹⁰Therefore His people return hither;

And waters of fullness are drained out by them.

¹¹And they say: 'How doth God know?

And is there knowledge in the Most High?'

¹²Behold, such are the wicked;

And they that are always at ease increase riches.

¹³Surely in vain have I cleansed my heart,

And washed my hands in innocency;

¹⁴For all the day have I been plagued,

And my chastisement came every morning.

 

¹⁵If I had said: 'I will speak thus',

Behold, I had been faithless to the generation of Thy children.

¹⁶And when I pondered how I might know this,

It was wearisome in mine eyes;

¹⁷Until I entered into the sanctuary of God,

And considered their end.

¹⁸Surely Thou settest them in slippery places;

Thou hurlest them down to utter ruin.

¹⁹How are they become a desolation in a moment!

They are wholly consumed by terrors.

²⁰As a dream when one awaketh,

So, O Lord, when Thou arousest Thyself, Thou wilt despise their semblance.

²¹For my heart was in a ferment,

And I was pricked in my reins.

²²But I was brutish, and ignorant;

I was as a beast before Thee.

 

²³Nevertheless I am continually with Thee;

Thou holdest my right hand.

²⁴Thou wilt guide me with Thy counsel,

And afterward receive me with glory.

²⁵Whom have I in heaven but Thee?

And beside Thee I desire none upon earth.

²⁶My flesh and my heart faileth;

But God is the rock of my heart and my portion for ever.

²⁷For, lo, they that go far from Thee shall perish;

Thou dost destroy all them that go astray from Thee.

²⁸But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;

I have made the Lord God my refuge,

That I may tell of all Thy works.

74 Maschil of Asaph.

Why, O God, hast Thou cast us off for ever?

Why doth Thine anger smoke against the flock of Thy pasture?

²Remember Thy congregation, which Thou hast gotten of old,

Which Thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of Thine inheritance;

And mount Zion, wherein Thou hast dwelt.

³Lift up Thy steps because of the perpetual ruins,

Even all the evil that the enemy hath done in the sanctuary.

⁴Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of Thy meeting-place;

They have set up their own signs for signs.

⁵It seemed as when men wield upwards

Axes in a thicket of trees.

⁶And now all the carved work thereof together

They strike down with hatchet and hammers.

⁷They have set Thy sanctuary on fire;

They have profaned the dwelling-place of Thy name even to the ground.

⁸They said in their heart: 'Let us make havoc of them altogether';

They have burned up all the meeting-places of God in the land.

⁹We see not our signs;

There is no more any prophet;

Neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.

¹⁰How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach?

Shall the enemy blaspheme Thy name for ever?

¹¹Why withdrawest Thou Thy hand, even Thy right hand?

Draw it out of Thy bosom and consume them.

 

¹²Yet God is my King of old, Working salvation in the midst of the earth.

¹³Thou didst break the sea in pieces by Thy strength;

Thou didst shatter the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters.

¹⁴Thou didst crush the heads of leviathan,

Thou gavest him to be food to the folk inhabiting the wilderness.

¹⁵Thou didst cleave fountain and brook;

Thou driedst up ever-flowing rivers.

¹⁶Thine is the day, Thine also the night;

Thou hast established luminary and sun.

¹⁷Thou hast set all the borders of the earth;

Thou hast made summer and winter.

 

¹⁸Remember this, how the enemy hath reproached the Lord,

And how a base people have blasphemed Thy name.

¹⁹O deliver not the soul of Thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast;

Forget not the life of Thy poor for ever.

²⁰Look upon the covenant;

For the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.

²¹O let not the oppressed turn back in confusion;

Let the poor and needy praise Thy name.

²²Arise, O God, plead Thine own cause;

Remember Thy reproach all the day at the hand of the base man.

²³Forget not the voice of Thine adversaries,

The tumult of those that rise up against Thee which ascendeth continually.

75 For the Leader; Al-tashheth. A Psalm of Asaph, a Song.

²We give thanks unto Thee, O God,

We give thanks, and Thy name is near;

Men tell of Thy wondrous works.

 

³'When I take the appointed time,

I Myself will judge with equity.

⁴When the earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved,

I Myself establish the pillars of it.' Selah

 

⁵I say unto the arrogant 'Deal not arrogantly';

And to the wicked 'Lift not up the horn.'

⁶Lift not up your horn on high;

Speak not insolence with a haughty neck.

⁷For neither from the east, nor from the west,

Nor yet from the wilderness, cometh lifting up.

⁸For God is judge;

He putteth down one, and lifteth up another.

⁹For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, with foaming wine, full of mixture,

And He poureth out of the same;

Surely the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall drain them, and drink them.

 

¹⁰But as for me, I will declare for ever,

I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

¹¹All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off;

But the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

76 For the Leader; with string-music. A Psalm of Asaph, a Song.

²In Judah is God known;

His name is great in Israel.

³In Salem also is set His tabernacle,

And His dwelling-place in Zion.

⁴There He broke the fiery shafts of the bow;

The shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah

 

⁵Glorious art Thou and excellent, coming down from the mountains of prey.

⁶The stout-hearted are bereft of sense, they sleep their sleep;

And none of the men of might have found their hands.

⁷At Thy rebuke, O God of Jacob,

They are cast into a dead sleep, the riders also and the horses.

 

⁸Thou, even Thou, art terrible;

And who may stand in Thy sight when once Thou art angry?

⁹Thou didst cause sentence to be heard from heaven;

The earth feared, and was still,

¹⁰When God arose to judgment,

To save all the humble of the earth. Selah

 

¹¹Surely the wrath of man shall praise Thee;

The residue of wrath shalt Thou gird upon Thee.

¹²Vow, and pay unto the Lord your God;

Let all that are round about Him bring presents unto Him that is to be feared;

¹³He minisheth the spirit of princes;

He is terrible to the kings of the earth.

77 For the Leader; for Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.

²I will lift up my voice unto God, an cry;

I will lift up my voice unto God, that He may give ear unto me.

³In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;

With my hand uplifted, [mine eye] streameth in the night without ceasing;

My soul refuseth to be comforted.

⁴When I think thereon, O God, I must moan;

When I muse thereon, my spirit fainteth. Selah

⁵Thou holdest fast the lids of mine eyes;

I am troubled, and cannot speak.

⁶I have pondered the days of old, the years of ancient times.

⁷In the night I will call to remembrance my song;

I will commune with mine own heart;

And my spirit maketh diligent search

⁸'Will the Lord cast off for ever?

And will He be favourable no more?

⁹Is His mercy clean gone for ever?

Is His promise come to an end for evermore?

¹⁰Hath God forgotten to be gracious?

Hath He in anger shut up his compassions?' Selah

¹¹And I say 'This is my weakness,

That the right hand of the Most High could change.

¹²I will make mention of the deeds of the Lord;

Yea, I will remember Thy wonders of old.

¹³I will meditate also upon all Thy work,

And muse on Thy doings.'

¹⁴O God, Thy way is in holiness;

Who is a great god like unto God?

¹⁵Thou art the God that doest wonders;

Thou hast made known Thy strength among the peoples.

¹⁶Thou hast with Thine arm redeemed Thy people,

The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

¹⁷The waters saw Thee, O God;

The waters saw Thee, they were in pain;

The depths also trembled.

¹⁸The clouds flooded forth waters;

The skies sent out a sound;

Thine arrows also went abroad.

¹⁹The voice of Thy thunder was in the whirlwind;

The lightnings lighted up the world;

The earth trembled and shook.

²⁰Thy way was in the sea,

And Thy path in the great waters,

And Thy footsteps were not known.

²¹Thou didst lead Thy people like a flock,

By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

78 Maschil of Asaph.

Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;

Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

²I will open my mouth with a parable;

I will utter dark sayings concerning days of old;

³That which we have heard and known,

And our fathers have told us,

⁴We will not hide from their children,

Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,

And His strength, and His wondrous works that He hath done.

 

⁵For He established a testimony in Jacob,

And appointed a law in Israel,

Which He commanded our fathers,

That they should make them known to their children;

⁶That the generation to come might know them, even the children that should be born;

Who should arise and tell them to their children,

⁷That they might put their confidence in God,

And not forget the works of God,

But keep His commandments;

⁸And might not be as their fathers,

A stubborn and rebellious generation;

A generation that set not their heart aright,

And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

 

⁹The children of Ephraim were as archers handling the bow,

That turned back in the day of battle.

¹⁰They kept not the covenant of God,

And refused to walk in His law;

¹¹And they forgot His doings,

And His wondrous works that He had shown them.

¹²Marvellous things did He in the sight of their fathers,

In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.

¹³He cleaved the sea, and caused them to pass through;

And He made the waters to stand as a heap.

¹⁴By day also He led them with a cloud,

And all the night with a light of fire.

¹⁵He cleaved rocks in the wilderness,

And gave them drink abundantly as out of the great deep.

¹⁶He brought streams also out of the rock,

And caused waters to run down like rivers.

 

¹⁷Yet went they on still to sin against Him,

To rebel against the Most High in the desert.

¹⁸And they tried God in their heart

By asking food for their craving.

¹⁹Yea, they spoke against God;

They said 'Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?

²⁰Behold, He smote the rock, that waters gushed out,

And streams overflowed;

Can He give bread also?

Or will He provide flesh for His people?'

²¹Therefore the Lord heard, and was wroth;

And a fire was kindled against Jacob,

And anger also went up against Israel;

²²Because they believed not in God,

And trusted not in His salvation.

²³And He commanded the skies above,

And opened the doors of heaven;

²⁴And He caused manna to rain upon them for food,

And gave them of the corn of heaven.

²⁵Man did eat the bread of the mighty;

He sent them provisions to the full.

²⁶He caused the east wind to set forth in heaven;

And by His power He brought on the south wind.

²⁷He caused flesh also to rain upon them as the dust,

And winged fowl as the sand of the seas;

²⁸And He let it fall in the midst of their camp,

Round about their dwellings.

²⁹So they did eat, and were well filled;

And He gave them that which they craved.

³⁰They were not estranged from their craving,

Their food was yet in their mouths,

³¹When the anger of God went up against them,

And slew of the lustieth among them,

And smote down the young men of Israel.

 

³²For all this they sinned still,

And believed not in His wondrous works.

³³Therefore He ended their days as a breath,

And their years in terror.

³⁴When He slew them, then they would inquire after Him,

And turn back and seek God earnestly.

³⁵And they remembered that God was their Rock,

And the Most High God their redeemer.

³⁶But they beguiled Him with their mouth,

And lied unto Him with their tongue.

³⁷For their heart was not stedfast with Him,

Neither were they faithful in His covenant.

³⁸But He, being full of compassion, forgiveth iniquity, and destroyeth not;

Yea, many a time doth He turn His anger away,

And doth not stir up all His wrath.

³⁹So He remembered that they were but flesh,

A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.

 

⁴⁰How oft did they rebel against Him in the wilderness,

And grieve Him in the desert!

⁴¹And still again they tried God,

And set bounds to the Holy One of Israel.

⁴²They remembered not His hand,

Nor the day when He redeemed them from the adversary.

⁴³How He set His signs in Egypt,

And His wonders in the field of Zoan;

⁴⁴And turned their rivers into blood,

So that they could not drink their streams.

⁴⁵He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them;

And frogs, which destroyed them.

⁴⁶He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar,

And their labour unto the locust.

⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail,

And their sycamore-trees with frost.

⁴⁸He gave over their cattle also to the hail,

And their flocks to fiery bolts.

⁴⁹He sent forth upon them the fierceness of His anger,

Wrath, and indignation, and trouble,

A sending of messengers of evil.

⁵⁰He levelled a path for His anger;

He spared not their soul from death,

But gave their life over to the pestilence;

⁵¹And smote all the first-born in Egypt,

The first-fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham;

⁵²But He made His own people to go forth like sheep,

And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

⁵³And He led them safely, and they feared not;

But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

⁵⁴And He brought them to His holy border,

To the mountain, which His right hand had gotten.

⁵⁵He drove out the nations also before them,

And allotted them for an inheritance by line,

And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

 

⁵⁶Yet they tried and provoked God, the Most High,

And kept not His testimonies;

⁵⁷But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers;

They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.

⁵⁸For they provoked Him with their high places,

And moved Him to jealousy with their graven images.

⁵⁹God heard, and was wroth,

And He greatly abhorred Israel;

⁶⁰And He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,

The tent which He had made to dwell among men;

⁶¹And delivered His strength into captivity,

And His glory into the adversary's hand.

⁶²He gave His people over also unto the sword;

And was wroth with His inheritance.

⁶³Fire devoured their young men;

And their virgins had no marriage-song.

⁶⁴Their priests fell by the sword;

And their widows made no lamentation.

 

⁶⁵Then the Lord awaked as one asleep,

Like a mighty man recovering from wine.

⁶⁶And He smote His adversaries backward;

He put upon them a perpetual reproach.

⁶⁷Moreover He abhorred the tent of Joseph,

And chose not the tribe of Ephraim;

⁶⁸But chose the tribe of Judah,

The mount Zion which He loved.

⁶⁹And He built His sanctuary like the heights,

Like the earth which He hath founded for ever.

⁷⁰He chose David also His servant,

And took him from the sheepfolds;

⁷¹From following the ewes that give suck He brought him,

To be shepherd over Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance.

⁷²So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart;

And lead them by the skilfulness of his hands.

79 A Psalm of Asaph.

O God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance;

They have defiled Thy holy temple;

They have made Jerusalem into heaps.

²They have given the dead bodies of Thy servants to be food unto the fowls of the heaven,

The flesh of Thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.

³They have shed their blood like water

Round about Jerusalem, with none to bury them.

⁴We are become a taunt to our neighbours,

A scorn and derision to them that are round about us.

 

⁵How long, O Lord, wilt Thou be angry for ever?

How long will Thy jealousy burn like fire?

⁶Pour out Thy wrath upon the nations that know Thee not,

And upon the kingdoms that call not upon Thy name.

⁷For they have devoured Jacob,

And laid waste his habitation.

⁸Remember not against us the iniquities of our forefathers;

Let Thy compassions speedily come to meet us;

For we are brought very low.

 

⁹Help us, O God of our salvation, for the sake of the glory of Thy name;

And deliver us, and forgive our sins, for Thy name's sake.

¹⁰Wherefore should the nations say: 'Where is their God?'

Let the avenging of Thy servants' blood that is shed

Be made known among the nations in our sight. ¹¹Let the groaning of the prisoner come before Thee;

According to the greatness of Thy power set free those that are appointed to death;

¹²And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom

Their reproach, wherewith they have reproached Thee, O Lord.

¹³So we that are Thy people and the flock of Thy pasture

Will give Thee thanks for ever;

We will tell of Thy praise to all generations.

80 For the Leader; upon Shoshannim. A testimony. A Psalm of Asaph.

²Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,

Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock;

Thou that art enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.

³Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Thy might,

And come to save us.

⁴O God, restore us;

And cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

 

⁵O Lord God of hosts,

How long wilt Thou be angry against the prayer of Thy people?

⁶Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears,

And given them tears to drink in large measure.

⁷Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours;

And our enemies mock as they please.

⁸O God of hosts, restore us;

And cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

 

⁹Thou didst pluck up a vine out of Egypt;

Thou didst drive out the nations, and didst plant it.

¹⁰Thou didst clear a place before it,

And it took deep root, and filled the land.

¹¹The mountains were covered with the shadow of it,

And the mighty cedars with the boughs thereof.

¹²She sent out her branches unto the sea,

And her shoots unto the River.

¹³Why hast Thou broken down her fences,

So that all they that pass by the way do pluck her?

¹⁴The boar out of the wood doth ravage it,

That which moveth in the field feedeth on it.

¹⁵O God of hosts, return, we beseech Thee;

Look from heaven, and behold, and be mindful of this vine,

¹⁶And of the stock which Thy right hand hath planted,

And the branch that Thou madest strong for Thyself.

¹⁷It is burned with fire, it is cut down;

They perish at the rebuke of Thy countenance.

¹⁸Let Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand,

Upon the son of man whom Thou madest strong for Thyself.

¹⁹So shall we not turn back from Thee;

Quicken Thou us, and we will call upon Thy name.

²⁰O Lord God of hosts, restore us;

Cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

81 For the Leader; upon the Gittith. [A Psalm] of Asaph.

²Sing aloud unto God our strength;

Shout unto the God of Jacob.

³Take up the melody, and sound the timbrel,

The sweet harp with the psaltery.

⁴Blow the horn at the new moon,

At the full moon for our feast-day.

⁵For it is a statute for Israel,

An ordinance of the God of Jacob.

⁶He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony,

When He went forth against the land of Egypt.

The speech of one that I knew not did I hear:

 

⁷'I removed his shoulder from the burden;

His hands were freed from the basket.

⁸Thou didst call in trouble, and I rescued thee;

I answered thee in the secret place of thunder;

I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah

⁹Hear, O My people, and I will admonish thee:

O Israel, if thou wouldest hearken unto Me!

¹⁰There shall no strange god be in thee;

Neither shalt thou worship any foreign god.

¹¹I am the Lord thy God,

Who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt;

Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

 

¹²But My people hearkened not to My voice;

And Israel would none of Me.

¹³So I let them go after the stubbornness of their heart,

That they might walk in their own counsels.

¹⁴Oh that My people would hearken unto Me,

That Israel would walk in My ways!

¹⁵I would soon subdue their enemies,

And turn My hand against their adversaries.

¹⁶The haters of the Lord should dwindle away before Him;

And their punishment should endure for ever.

¹⁷They should also be fed with the fat of wheat;

And with honey out of the rock would I satisfy thee.'

82 A Psalm of Asaph.

God standeth in the congregation of God;

In the midst of the judges He judgeth:

²'How long will ye judge unjustly,

And respect the persons of the wicked? Selah

³Judge the poor and fatherless;

Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.

⁴Rescue the poor and needy;

Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.

⁵They know not, neither do they understand;

They go about in darkness;

All the foundations of the earth are moved.

⁶I said: Ye are godlike beings,

And all of you sons of the Most High.

⁷Nevertheless ye shall die like men,

And fall like one of the princes.'

 

⁸Arise, O God, judge the earth;

For Thou shalt possess all the nations.

83 A Song, a Psalm of Asaph.

²O God, keep not Thou silence;

Hold not Thy peace, and be not still, O God.

³For, lo, Thine enemies are in an uproar;

And they that hate Thee have lifted up the head.

⁴They hold crafty converse against Thy people,

And take counsel against Thy treasured ones.

⁵They have said: 'Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation;

That the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.'

⁶For they have consulted together with one consent;

Against Thee do they make a covenant;

⁷The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;

Moab, and the Hagrites;

⁸Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek;

Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

⁹Assyria also is joined with them;

They have been an arm to the children of Lot. Selah

 

¹⁰Do Thou unto them as unto Midian;

As to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook Kishon;

¹¹Who were destroyed at En-dor;

They became as dung for the earth.

¹²Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,

And like Zebah and Zalmunna all their princes;

¹³Who said: 'Let us take to ourselves in possession

The habitations of God.'

¹⁴O my God, make them like the whirling dust;

As stubble before the wind.

¹⁵As the fire that burneth the forest,

And as the flame that setteth the mountains ablaze;

¹⁶So pursue them with Thy tempest,

And affright them with Thy storm.

¹⁷Fill their faces with shame;

That they may seek Thy name, O LORD.

¹⁸Let them be ashamed and affrighted for ever;

Yea, let them be abashed and perish;

¹⁹That they may know that it is Thou alone whose name is the LORD,

The Most High over all the earth.

84 For the Leader; upon the Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

²How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!

³My soul yearneth, yea, even pineth for the courts of the LORD;

My heart and my flesh sing for joy unto the living God.

⁴Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself,

Where she may lay her young;

Thine altars, O Lord of hosts,

My King, and my God—

⁵Happy are they that dwell in Thy house,

They are ever praising Thee. Selah

 

⁶Happy is the man whose strength is in Thee;

In whose heart are the highways.

⁷Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs;

Yea, the early rain clotheth it with blessings.

⁸They go from strength to strength,

Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion.

 

⁹O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;

Give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah

¹⁰Behold, O God our shield,

And look upon the face of Thine anointed.

¹¹For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand;

I had rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God,

Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

¹²For the Lord God is a sun and a shield;

The Lord giveth grace and glory;

No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.

¹³O Lord of hosts,

Happy is the man that trusteth in Thee.

85 For the Leader. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

²Lord, Thou hast been favourable unto Thy land,

Thou hast turned the captivity of Jacob.

³Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of Thy people,

Thou hast pardoned all their sin. Selah

⁴Thou hast withdrawn all Thy wrath;

Thou hast turned from the fierceness of Thine anger.

⁵Restore us, O God of our salvation,

And cause Thine indignation toward us to cease.

⁶Wilt Thou be angry with us for ever?

Wilt Thou draw out Thine anger to all generations?

⁷Wilt Thou not quicken us again,

That Thy people may rejoice in Thee?

⁸Show us Thy mercy, O Lord,

And grant us Thy salvation.

 

⁹I will hear what God the Lord will speak;

For He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints;

But let them not turn back to folly.

¹⁰Surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him;

That glory may dwell in our land.

¹¹Mercy and truth are met together;

Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

¹²Truth springeth out of the earth;

And righteousness hath looked down from heaven.

¹³Yea, the Lord will give that which is good;

And our land shall yield her produce.

¹⁴Righteousness shall go before Him,

And shall make His footsteps a way.

86A Prayer of David.

Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and answer me;

For I am poor and needy.

²Keep my soul, for I am godly;

O Thou my God, save Thy servant that trusteth in Thee.

³Be gracious unto me, O Lord;

For unto Thee do I cry all the day.

⁴Rejoice the soul of Thy servant;

For unto Thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

⁵For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to pardon,

And plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee.

 

⁶Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer;

And attend unto the voice of my supplications.

⁷In the day of my trouble I call upon Thee;

For Thou wilt answer me.

⁸There is none like unto Thee among the gods, O Lord,

And there are no works like Thine.

⁹All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and prostrate themselves before Thee, O Lord;

And they shall glorify Thy name.

¹⁰For Thou art great, and doest wondrous things;

Thou art God alone.

 

¹¹Teach me, O Lord, Thy way, that I may walk in Thy truth;

Make one my heart to fear Thy name.

¹²I will thank Thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart;

And I will glorify Thy name for evermore.

¹³For great is Thy mercy toward me;

And Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest nether-world.

 

¹⁴O God, the proud are risen up against me,

And the company of violent men have sought after my soul,

And have not set Thee before them.

¹⁵But Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion and gracious,

Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

¹⁶O turn unto me, and be gracious unto me;

Give Thy strength unto Thy servant,

And save the son of Thy handmaid.

¹⁷Work in my behalf a sign for good;

That they that hate me may see it, and be put to shame,

Because Thou, Lord, hast helped me, and comforted me.

87 A Psalm of the sons of Korah; a Song.

His foundation is in the holy mountains.

²The Lord loveth the gates of Zion

More than all the dwellings of Jacob.

³Glorious things are spoken of Thee,

O city of God. Selah

⁴'I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon as among them that know Me;

Behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia;

This one was born there.'

⁵But of Zion it shall be said: 'This man and that was born in her;

And the Most High Himself doth establish her.'

⁶The Lord shall count in the register of the peoples:

'This one was born there.' Selah

⁷And whether they sing or dance,

All my thoughts are in Thee.

88 A Song, a Psalm of the sons of Korah; for the Leader; upon Mahalath Leannoth. Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.

²O Lord, God of my salvation,

What time I cry in the night before Thee,

³Let my prayer come before Thee,

Incline Thine ear unto my cry.

 

⁴For my soul is sated with troubles,

And my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

⁵I am counted with them that go down into the pit;

I am become as a man that hath no help;

⁶Set apart among the dead,

Like the slain that lie in the grave,

Whom Thou rememberest no more;

And they are cut off from Thy hand.

 

⁷Thou hast laid me in the nethermost pit,

In dark places, in the deeps.

⁸Thy wrath lieth hard upon me,

And all Thy waves Thou pressest down. Selah

⁹Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me;

Thou hast made me an abomination unto them;

I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

 

¹⁰Mine eye languisheth by reason of affliction;

I have called upon Thee, O Lord, every day,

I have spread forth my hands unto Thee.

¹¹Wilt Thou work wonders for the dead?

Or shall the shades arise and give Thee thanks? Selah

¹²Shall Thy mercy be declared in the grave?

Or Thy faithfulness in destruction?

¹³Shall Thy wonders be known in the dark?

And Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

 

¹⁴But as for me, unto Thee, O Lord, do I cry,

And in the morning doth my prayer come to meet Thee.

¹⁵Lord, why castest Thou off my soul?

Why hidest Thou Thy face from me?

¹⁶I am afflicted and at the point of death from my youth up;

I have borne Thy terrors, I am distracted.

¹⁷Thy fierce wrath is gone over me;

Thy terrors have cut me off.

¹⁸They came round about me like water all the day;

They compassed me about together.

¹⁹Friend and companion hast Thou put far from me,

And mine acquaintance into darkness.

89 Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite.

²I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever;

To all generations will I make known Thy faithfulness with my mouth.

³For I have said: 'For ever is mercy built;

In the very heavens Thou dost establish Thy faithfulness.

⁴I have made a covenant with My chosen,

I have sworn unto David My servant:

⁵For ever will I establish thy seed,

And build up thy throne to all generations.' Selah

 

⁶So shall the heavens praise Thy wonders, O Lord,

Thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.

⁷For who in the skies can be compared unto the Lord,

Who among the sons of might can be likened unto the Lord,

⁸A God dreaded in the great council of the holy ones,

And feared of all them that are about Him?

⁹O Lord God of hosts,

Who is a mighty one, like unto Thee, O Lord?

And Thy faithfulness is round about Thee.

¹⁰Thou rulest the proud swelling of the sea;

When the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them.

¹¹Thou didst crush Rahab, as one that is slain;

Thou didst scattered Thine enemies with the arm of Thy strength.

¹²Thine are the heavens, Thine also the earth;

The world and the fulness thereof, Thou hast founded them.

¹³The north and the south, Thou hast created them;

Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Thy name.

¹⁴Thine is an arm with might;

Strong is Thy hand, and exalted is Thy right hand.

¹⁵Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Thy throne;

Mercy and truth go before Thee.

¹⁶Happy is the people that know the joyful shout;

They walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.

¹⁷In Thy name do they rejoice all the day;

And through Thy righteousness are they exalted.

¹⁸For Thou art the glory of their strength;

And in Thy favour our horn is exalted.

¹⁹For of the Lord is our shield;

And the Holy One of Israel is our king.

 

²⁰Then Thou spokest in vision to Thy godly ones,

And saidst: 'I have laid help upon one that is mighty;

I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

²¹I have found David My servant;

With My holy oil have I anointed him;

²²With whom My hand shall be established;

Mine arm also shall strengthen him.

²³The enemy shall not exact from him;

Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

²⁴And I will beat to pieces his adversaries before him,

And smite them that hate him.

²⁵But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him;

And through My name shall his horn be exalted.

²⁶I will set his hand also on the sea,

And his right hand on the rivers.

²⁷He shall call unto Me: Thou art my Father,

My God, and the rock of my salvation.

²⁸I also will appoint him first-born,

The highest of the kings of the earth.

²⁹For ever will I keep for him My mercy,

And My covenant shall stand fast with him.

³⁰His seed also will I make to endure for ever,

And his throne as the days of heaven.

³¹If his children forsake My law,

And walk not in Mine ordinances;

³²If they profane My statutes,

And keep not My commandments;

³³Then will I visit their transgression with the rod,

And their iniquity with strokes.

³⁴But My mercy will I not break off from him,

Nor will I be false to My faithfulness.

³⁵My covenant will I not profane,

Nor alter that which is gone out of My lips.

³⁶Once have I sworn by My holiness:

Surely I will not be false unto David;

³⁷His seed shall endure for ever,

And his throne as the sun before Me.

³⁸It shall be established for ever as the moon;

And be stedfast as the witness in sky.' Selah

 

³⁹But Thou hast cast off and rejected,

Thou hast been wroth with Thine anointed.

⁴⁰Thou hast abhorred the covenant of Thy servant;

Thou hast profaned his crown even to the ground.

⁴¹Thou hast broken down all his fences;

Thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin.

⁴²All that pass by the way spoil him;

He is become a taunt to his neighbours.

⁴³Thou hast exalted the right hand of his adversaries;

Thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

⁴⁴Yea, Thou turnest back the edge of his sword,

And hast not made him to stand in the battle.

⁴⁵Thou hast made his brightness to cease,

And cast his throne down to the ground.

⁴⁶The days of his youth hast Thou shortened;

Thou hast covered him with shame. Selah

⁴⁷How long, O Lord, wilt Thou hide Thyself for ever?

How long shall Thy wrath burn like fire?

⁴⁸O remember how short my time is;

For what vanity hast Thou created all the children of men!

⁴⁹What man is he that liveth and shall not see death,

That shall deliver his soul from the power of the grave? Selah

⁵⁰Where are Thy former mercies, O Lord,

Which Thou didst swear unto David in Thy faithfulness?

⁵¹Remember, Lord, the taunt of Thy servants;

How I do bear in my bosom [the taunt of] so many peoples;

⁵²Wherewith Thine enemies have taunted, O Lord,

Wherewith they have taunted the footsteps of Thine anointed.

 

⁵³Blessed be the Lord for evermore.

Amen, and Amen.

ספר רביעי
BOOK IV

90 A Prayer of Moses the man of God.

Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.

²Before the mountains were brought forth,

Or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.

³Thou turnest man to contrition;

And sayest: 'Return, ye children of men.'

⁴For a thousand years in Thy sight

Are but as yesterday when it is past,

And as a watch in the night.

⁵Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep;

In the morning they are like grass which groweth up.

⁶In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up;

In the evening it is cut down, and withereth.

 

⁷For we are consumed in Thine anger,

And by Thy wrath are we hurried away.

⁸Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee,

Our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance.

⁹For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath;

We bring our years to an end as a tale that is told.

¹⁰The days of our years are threescore years and ten,

Or even by reason of strength fourscore years;

Yet is their pride but travail and vanity;

For it is speedily gone, and we fly away.

¹¹Who knoweth the power of Thine anger,

And Thy wrath according to the fear that is due unto Thee?

¹²So teach us to number our days,

That we may get us a heart of wisdom.

 

¹³Return, O Lord; how long? And let it repent Thee concerning Thy servants.

¹⁴O satisfy us in the morning with Thy mercy;

That we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

¹⁵Make us glad according to the days wherein Thou hast afflicted us,

According to the years wherein we have seen evil.

¹⁶Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants,

And Thy glory upon their children.

¹⁷And let the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us;

Establish Thou also upon us the work of our hands;

Yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.

91O thou that dwellest in the covert of the Most High,

And abidest in the shadow of the Almighty;

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

My God, in whom I trust,

³That He will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,

And from the noisome pestilence.

⁴He will cover thee with His pinions,

And under His wings shalt thou take refuge;

His truth is a shield and a buckler.

 

⁵Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flieth by day;

⁶Of the pestilence that walketh in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

 

⁷A thousand may fall at Thy side,

And ten thousand at Thy right hand;

It shall not come nigh thee.

⁸Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold,

And see the recompense of the wicked.

 

⁹For thou hast made the Lord who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, thy habitation.

¹⁰There shall no evil befall thee,

Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent.

 

¹¹For He will give His angels charge over thee,

To keep thee in all thy ways.

¹²They shall bear thee upon their hands,

Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

¹³Thou shalt tread upon the lion and asp;

The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under feet.

 

¹⁴'Because he hath set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he hath known My name.

¹⁵He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble;

I will rescue him, and bring him to honour.

¹⁶With long life will I satisfy him,

And make Him to behold My salvation.'

92 A Psalm, a Song. For the sabbath day.

²It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord,

And to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High;

³To declare Thy lovingkindness in the morning,

And Thy faithfulness in the night seasons,

⁴With an instrument of ten strings, and with the psaltery;

With a solemn sound upon the harp.

 

⁵For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work;

I will exult in the works of Thy hands.

⁶How great are Thy works, O Lord!

Thy thoughts are very deep.

⁷A brutish man knoweth not,

Neither doth a fool understand this.

⁸When the wicked spring up as the grass,

And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish;

It is that they may be destroyed for ever.

 

⁹But Thou, O Lord, art on high for evermore.

¹⁰For, lo, Thine enemies, O Lord,

For, lo, Thine enemies shall perish:

All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

¹¹But my horn hast Thou exalted like the horn of the wild-ox;

I am anointed with rich oil.

¹²Mine eye also hath gazed on them that lie in wait for me,

Mine ears have heard my desire of the evil-doers that rise up against me.

 

¹³The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree;

He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

¹⁴Planted in the house of the Lord,

They shall flourish in the courts of our God.

¹⁵They shall still bring forth fruit in old age;

They shall be full of sap and richness;

¹⁶To declare that the Lord is upright,

My Rock, in whom there is no unrighteousness.

93The Lord reigneth; He is clothed in majesty;

The Lord is clothed, He hath girded Himself with strength;

Yea, the world is established, that it cannot be moved.

²Thy throne is established of old;

Thou art from everlasting.

 

³The floods have lifted up, O Lord,

The floods have lifted up their voice;

The floods lift up their roaring.

⁴Above the voices of many waters,

The mighty breakers of the sea,

The Lord on high is mighty.

 

⁵Thy testimonies are very sure,

Holiness becometh Thy house,

O Lord, for evermore.

94O Lord, Thou God to whom vengeance belongeth,

Thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, shine forth.

²Lift up Thyself, Thou Judge of the earth;

Render to the proud their recompense.

 

³Lord, how long shall the wicked,

How long shall the wicked exult?

⁴They gush out, they speak arrogancy;

All the workers of iniquity bear themselves loftily.

⁵They crush Thy people, O Lord,

And afflict Thy heritage.

⁶They slay the widow and the stranger,

And murder the fatherless.

⁷And they say: 'The Lord will not see,

Neither will the God of Jacob give heed.'

 

⁸Consider, ye brutish among the people;

And ye fools, when will ye understand?

⁹He that planted the ear, shall He not hear?

He that formed the eye, shall He not see?

¹⁰He that instructeth nations, shall not He correct?

Even He that teacheth man knowledge?

¹¹The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man,

That they are vanity.

 

¹²Happy is the man whom Thou instructest, O Lord,

And teachest out of Thy law;

¹³That Thou mayest give him rest from the days of evil,

Until the pit be digged for the wicked.

¹⁴For the Lord will not cast off His people,

Neither will He forsake His inheritance.

¹⁵For right shall return unto justice,

And all the upright in heart shall follow it.

 

¹⁶Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers?

Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

¹⁷Unless the Lord had been my help,

My soul had soon dwelt in silence.

¹⁸If I say: 'My foot slippeth',

Thy mercy, O Lord, holdeth me up.

¹⁹When my cares are many within me, Thy comforts delight my soul.

 

²⁰Shall the seat of wickedness have fellowship with Thee,

Which frameth mischief by statute?

²¹They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous,

And condemn innocent blood.

²²But the Lord hath been my high tower,

And my God the rock of my refuge.

²³And He hath brought upon them their own iniquity,

And will cut them off in their own evil;

The Lord our God will cut them off.

95O come, let us sing unto the Lord;

Let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

²Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,

Let us shout for joy unto Him with psalms.

³For the Lord is a great God,

And a great King above all gods;

⁴In whose hand are the depths of the earth;

The heights of the mountains are His also.

⁵The sea is His, and He made it;

And His hands formed the dry land.

⁶O come, let us bow down and bend the knee;

Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;

⁷For He is our God,

And we are the people of His pasture, and the flock of His hand.

To-day, if ye would but hearken to His voice!

⁸'Harden not your heart, as at Meribah,

As in the day of Massah in the wilderness;

⁹When your fathers tried Me,

Proved Me, even though they saw My work.

¹⁰For forty years was I wearied with that generation,

And said: It is a people that do err in their heart,

And they have not known My ways;

¹¹Wherefore I swore in My wrath,

That they should not enter into My ^[3]rest.'

96O sing unto the Lord a new song;

Sing unto the Lord, all the earth.

²Sing unto the Lord, bless His name;

Proclaim His salvation from day to day.

³Declare His glory among the nations,

His marvellous works among all the peoples.

 

⁴For great is the Lord, and highly to be praised;

He is to be feared above all gods.

⁵For all the gods of the peoples are things of nought;

But the Lord made the heavens.

⁶Honour and majesty are before Him;

Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

 

⁷Ascribe unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the peoples,

Ascribe unto the Lord glory and strength.

⁸Ascribe unto the Lord the glory due unto His name;

Bring an offering, and come into His courts.

⁹O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;

Tremble before Him, all the earth.

 

¹⁰Say among the nations: 'The Lord reigneth.'

The world also is established that it cannot be moved;

He will judge the peoples with equity.

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

Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof;

¹²Let the field exult; and all that is therein;

Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy;

¹³Before the Lord, for He is come;

For He is come to judge the earth;

He will judge the world with righteousness,

And the peoples in His faithfulness.

97 The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice;

Let the multitude of isles be glad.

²Clouds and darkness are round about Him;

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

³A fire goeth before Him,

And burneth up His adversaries round about.

 

⁴His lightnings lighted up the world;

The earth saw, and trembled.

⁵The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord,

At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

⁶The heavens declared His righteousness,

And all the peoples saw His glory.

 

⁷Ashamed be all they that serve graven images,

That boast themselves of things of nought;

Bow down to Him, all ye gods.

⁸Zion heard and was glad,

And the daughters of Judah rejoiced;

Because of Thy judgments, O Lord.

⁹For Thou, Lord, art most high above all the earth;

Thou art exalted far above all gods.

 

¹⁰O ye that love the Lord, hate evil;

He preserveth the souls of His saints; He delivered them out of the hand of the wicked.

¹¹Light is sown for the righteous,

And gladness for the upright in heart.

¹²Be glad in the Lord, ye righteous;

And give thanks to His holy name.

98 A Psalm.

O sing unto the Lord a new song;

For He hath done marvellous things;

His right hand, and His holy arm, hath wrought salvation for Him.

²The Lord hath made known His salvation;

His righteousness hath He revealed in the sight of the nations.

³He hath remembered His mercy and His faithfulness toward the house of Israel;

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

 

⁴Shout unto the Lord, all the earth;

Break forth and sing for joy, yea, sing praises.

⁵Sing praises unto the Lord with the harp;

With the harp and the voice of melody.

⁶With trumpets and sound of the horn

Shout ye before the King, the Lord.

 

⁷Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof;

The world, and they that dwell therein;

⁸Let the floods clap their hands;

Let the mountains sing for joy together;

⁹Before the Lord, for He is come to judge the earth;

He will judge the world with righteousness,

And the peoples with equity.

99The Lord reigneth; let the peoples tremble;

He is enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake.

²The Lord is great in Zion;

And He is high above all the peoples.

³Let them praise Thy name as great and awful;

Holy is He.

 

⁴The strength also of the king who loveth justice—

Thou hast established equity,

Thou hast executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

⁵Exalt ye the Lord our God,

And prostrate yourselves at His footstool;

Holy is He.

 

⁶Moses and Aaron among His priests,

And Samuel among them that call upon His name,

Did call upon the Lord, and He answered them.

⁷He spoke unto them in the pillar of cloud;

They kept His testimonies, and the statute that He gave them.

⁸O Lord our God, Thou didst answer them;

A forgiving God wast Thou unto them,

Though Thou tookest vengeance of their misdeeds.

⁹Exalt ye the Lord our God,

And worship at His holy hill;

For the Lord our God is holy.

100 A Psalm of thanksgiving.

Shout unto the Lord, all the earth.

²Serve the Lord with gladness;

Come before His presence with singing.

³Know ye that the Lord He is God;

It is He that hath made us, and we are His,

His people, and the flock of His pasture.

⁴Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

And into His courts with praise;

Give thanks unto Him, and bless His name.

⁵For the Lord is good; His mercy endureth for ever;

And His faithfulness unto all generations.

101 A Psalm of David.

I will sing of mercy and justice;

Unto Thee, O Lord, will I sing praises.

²I will give heed unto the way of integrity;

Oh when wilt Thou come unto me?

I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.

 

³I will set no base thing before mine eyes;

I hate the doing of things crooked; it shall not cleave unto me.

⁴A perverse heart shall depart from me;

I will know no evil thing.

 

⁵Whoso slandereth his neighbour in secret, him will I destroy;

Whoso is haughty of eye and proud of heart, him will I not suffer.

⁶Mine eyes are upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me;

He that walketh in a way of integrity, he shall minister unto me.

 

⁷He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house;

He that speaketh falsehood shall not be established before mine eyes.

⁸Morning by morning will I destroy all the wicked of the land;

To cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord.

102 A Prayer of the afflicted, when he fainteth, and poureth out his complaint before the Lord.

²O Lord, hear my prayer,

And let my cry come unto Thee.

³Hide not Thy face from me in the day of my distress;

Incline Thine ear unto me;

In the day when I call answer me speedily.

 

⁴For my days are consumed like smoke,

And my bones are burned as a hearth.

⁵My heart is smitten like grass, and withered;

For I forget to eat my bread.

⁶By reason of the voice of my sighing

My bones cleave to my flesh.

⁷I am like a pelican of the wilderness;

I am become as an owl of the waste places.

⁸I watch, and am become

Like a sparrow that is alone upon the housetop.

⁹Mine enemies taunt me all the day;

They that are mad against me do curse by me.

¹⁰For I have eaten ashes like bread,

And mingled my drink with weeping,

¹¹Because of Thine indignation and Thy wrath;

For Thou hast taken me up, and cast me away.

¹²My days are like a lengthening shadow;

And I am withered like grass.

 

¹³But Thou, O Lord, sittest enthroned for ever;

And Thy name is unto all generations.

¹⁴Thou wilt arise, and have compassion upon Zion;

For it is time to be gracious unto her, for the appointed time is come.

¹⁵For Thy servants take pleasure in her stones,

And love her dust.

¹⁶So the nations will fear the name of the Lord,

And all the kings of the earth Thy glory;

¹⁷When the Lord hath built up Zion,

When He hath appeared in His glory;

¹⁸When He hath regarded the prayer of the destitute,

And hath not despised their prayer.

 

¹⁹This shall be written for the generation to come;

And a people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.

²⁰For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary;

From heaven did the Lord behold the earth;

²¹To hear the groaning of the prisoner;

To loose those that are appointed to death;

²²That men may tell of the name of the Lord in Zion,

And His praise in Jerusalem;

²³When the peoples are gathered together,

And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.

 

²⁴He weakened my strength in the way;

He shortened my days.

²⁵I say: 'O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days,

Thou whose years endure throughout all generations.

²⁶Of old Thou didst lay the foundation of the earth;

And the heavens are the work of Thy hands.

²⁷They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure;

Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment;

As a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall pass away;

²⁸But Thou art the selfsame,

And Thy years shall have no end.

²⁹The children of Thy servants shall dwell securely,

And their seed shall be established before Thee.'

103 [A Psalm] of David.

Bless the Lord, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name.

²Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits;

³Who forgiveth all thine iniquity;

Who healeth all Thy diseases;

⁴Who redeemeth Thy life from the pit;

Who encompasseth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

⁵Who satisfieth thine old age with good things;

So that Thy youth is renewed like the eagle.

 

⁶The Lord executeth righteousness,

And acts of justice for all that are oppressed.

⁷He made known His ways unto Moses,

His doings unto the children of Israel.

⁸The Lord is full of compassion and gracious,

Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

⁹He will not always contend;

Neither will He keep His anger for ever.

¹⁰He hath not dealt with us after our sins,

Nor requited us according to our iniquities.

¹¹For as the heaven is high above the earth,

So great is His mercy toward them that fear Him.

¹²As far as the east is from the west,

So far hath He removed our transgressions from us.

¹³Like as a father hath compassion upon his children,

So hath the Lord compassion upon them that fear Him. ¹⁴For He knoweth our frame;

He remembereth that we are dust.

¹⁵As for man, his days are as grass;

As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

¹⁶For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone;

And the place thereof knoweth it no more.

¹⁷But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him,

And His righteousness unto children's children;

¹⁸To such as keep His covenant,

And to those that remember His precepts to do them.

 

¹⁹The Lord hath established His throne in the heavens;

And His kingdom ruleth over all.

²⁰Bless the Lord, ye angels of His,

Ye mighty in strength, that fulfil His word,

Hearkening unto the voice of His word.

²¹Bless the Lord, all ye His hosts;

Ye ministers of His, that do His pleasure.

²²Bless the Lord, all ye His works,

In all places of His dominion;

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

104Bless the Lord, O my soul.

O Lord my God, Thou art very great;

Thou art clothed with glory and majesty.

²Who coverest Thyself with light as with a garment,

Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain;

³Who layest the beams of Thine upper chambers in the waters,

Who makest the clouds Thy chariot,

Who walkest upon the wings of the wind;

⁴Who makest winds Thy messengers,

The flaming fire Thy ministers.

 

⁵Who didst establish the earth upon its foundations,

That it should not be moved for ever and ever;

⁶Thou didst cover it with the deep as with a vesture;

The waters stood above the mountains.

⁷At Thy rebuke they fled,

At the voice of Thy thunder they hasted away—

⁸The mountains rose, the valleys sank down—

Unto the place which Thou hadst founded for them;

⁹Thou didst set a bound which they should not pass over,

That they might not return to cover the earth.

 

¹⁰Who sendest forth springs into the valleys;

They run between the mountains;

¹¹They give drink to every beast of the field,

The wild asses quench their thirst.

¹²Beside them dwell the fowl of the heaven,

From among the branches they sing.

¹³Who waterest the mountains from Thine upper chambers;

The earth is full of the fruit of Thy works.

 

¹⁴Who causeth the grass to spring up for the cattle,

And herb for the service of man;

To bring forth bread out of the earth,

¹⁵And wine that maketh glad the heart of man,

Making the face brighter than oil,

And bread that stayeth man's heart.

¹⁶The trees of the Lord have their fill,

The cedars of Lebanon, which He hath planted;

¹⁷Wherein the birds make their nests;

As for the stork, the fir-trees are her house.

¹⁸The high mountains are for the wild goats;

The rocks are a refuge for the conies.

 

¹⁹Who appointedst the moon for seasons;

The sun knoweth his going down.

²⁰Thou makest darkness, and it is night,

Wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth.

²¹The young lions roar after their prey,

And seek their food from God.

²²The sun ariseth, they slink away,

And couch in their dens.

²³Man goeth forth unto his work

And to his labour until the evening.

 

²⁴How manifold are Thy works, O Lord!

In wisdom hast Thou made them all;

The earth is full of Thy creatures.

²⁵Yonder sea, great and wide,

Therein are creeping things innumerable,

Living creatures, both small and great.

²⁶There go the ships;

There is leviathan, whom Thou hast formed to sport therein.

²⁷All of them wait for Thee,

That Thou mayest give them their food in due season.

²⁸Thou givest it unto them, they gather it;

Thou openest Thy hand, they are satisfied with good.

²⁹Thou hidest Thy face, they vanish;

Thou withdrawest their breath, they perish,

And return to their dust.

³⁰Thou sendest forth Thy spirit, they are created;

And Thou renewest the face of the earth.

 

³¹May the glory of the Lord endure for ever;

Let the Lord rejoice in His works!

³²Who looketh on the earth, and it trembleth;

He toucheth the mountains, and they smoke.

³³I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live;

I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.

³⁴Let my musing be sweet unto Him;

As for me, I will rejoice in the Lord.

³⁵Let sinners cease out of the earth,

And let the wicked be no more.

Bless the Lord, O my soul.

^[4]Hallelujah.

105O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name;

Make known His doings among the peoples.

²Sing unto Him, sing praises unto Him;

Speak ye of all His marvellous works.

³Glory ye in His holy name;

Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.

⁴Seek ye the Lord and His strength;

Seek His face continually.

⁵Remember His marvellous works that He hath done,

His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth;

⁶O ye seed of Abraham His servant,

Ye children of Jacob, His chosen ones.

 

⁷He is the Lord our God;

His judgments are in all the earth.

⁸He hath remembered His covenant for ever,

The word which He commanded to a thousand generations;

⁹[The covenant] which He made with Abraham,

And His oath unto Isaac;

¹⁰And He established it unto Jacob for a statute,

To Israel for an everlasting covenant;

¹¹Saying: 'Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,

The lot of your inheritance.'

 

¹²When they were but a few men in number.

Yea, very few, and sojourners in it,

¹³And when they went about from nation to nation,

From one kingdom to another people,

¹⁴He suffered no man to do them wrong,

Yea, for their sake He reproved kings:

¹⁵'Touch not Mine anointed ones,

And do My prophets no harm.'

 

¹⁶And He called a famine upon the land;

He broke the whole staff of bread.

¹⁷He sent a man before them;

Joseph was sold for a servant;

¹⁸His feet they hurt with fetters,

His person was laid in iron;

¹⁹Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lord tested him.

²⁰The king sent and loosed him;

Even the ruler of the peoples, and set him free.

²¹He made him lord of his house,

And ruler of all his possessions;

²²To bind his princes at his pleasure,

And teach his elders wisdom.

 

²³Israel also came into Egypt;

And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

²⁴And He increased His people greatly,

And made them too mighty for their adversaries.

²⁵He turned their heart to hate His people,

To deal craftily with His servants.

²⁶He sent Moses His servant,

And Aaron whom He had chosen.

²⁷They wrought among them His manifold signs,

And wonders in the land of Ham.

²⁸He sent darkness, and it was dark;

And they rebelled not against His word.

²⁹He turned their waters into blood,

And slew their fish.

³⁰Their land swarmed with frogs,

In the chambers of their kings.

³¹He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,

And gnats in all their borders.

³²He gave them hail for rain,

And flaming fire in their land.

³³He smote their vines also and their fig-trees;

And broke the trees of their borders.

³⁴He spoke, and the locust came,

And the canker-worm without number,

³⁵And did eat up every herb in their land,

And did eat up the fruit of their ground.

³⁶He smote also all the first-born in their land,

The first-fruits of all their strength.

³⁷And He brought them forth with silver and gold;

And there was none that stumbled among His tribes.

³⁸Egypt was glad when they departed;

For the fear of them had fallen upon them.

 

³⁹He spread a cloud for a screen;

And fire to give light in the night.

⁴⁰They asked, and He brought quails,

And gave them in plenty the bread of heaven.

⁴¹He opened the rock, and waters gushed out;

They ran, a river in the dry places.

⁴²For He remembered His holy word

Unto Abraham His servant;

⁴³And He brought forth His people with joy,

His chosen ones with singing.

⁴⁴And He gave them the lands of the nations,

And they took the labour of the peoples in possession;

⁴⁵That they might keep His statutes,

And observe His laws.

Hallelujah.

106 Hallelujah.

O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good;

For His mercy endureth for ever.

²Who can express the mighty acts of the Lord,

Or make all His praise to be heard?

³Happy are they that keep justice,

That do righteousness at all times.

⁴Remember me, O Lord, when Thou favourest Thy people;

O think of me at Thy salvation;

⁵That I may behold the prosperity of Thy chosen,

That I may rejoice in the gladness of Thy nation,

That I may glory with Thine inheritance.

 

⁶We have sinned with our fathers,

We have done iniquitously, we have dealt wickedly.

⁷Our fathers in Egypt gave no heed unto Thy wonders;

They remembered not the multitude of Thy mercies;

But were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.

⁸Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake,

That He might make His mighty power to be known.

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

And He led them through the depths, as through a wilderness.

¹⁰And He saved them from the hand of him that hated them,

And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

¹¹And the waters covered their adversaries;

There was not one of them left.

¹²Then believed they His words;

They sang His praise.

 

¹³They soon forgot His works;

They waited not for His counsel;

¹⁴But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,

And tried God in the desert.

¹⁵And He gave them their request;

But sent leanness into their soul.

 

¹⁶They were jealous also of Moses in the camp,

And of Aaron the holy one of the Lord.

¹⁷The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,

And covered the company of Abiram.

¹⁸And a fire was kindled in their company;

The flame burned up the wicked.

 

¹⁹They made a calf in Horeb,

And worshipped a molten image.

²⁰Thus they exchanged their glory

For the likeness of an ox that eateth grass.

²¹They forgot God their saviour,

Who had done great things in Egypt;

²²Wondrous works in the land of Ham, Terrible things by the Red Sea.

²³Therefore He said that He would destroy them,

Had not Moses His chosen stood before Him in the breach,

To turn back His wrath, lest He should destroy them.

 

²⁴Moreover, they scorned the desirable land,

They believed not His word;

²⁵And they murmured in their tents,

They hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord.

²⁶Therefore He swore concerning them,

That He would overthrow them in the wilderness;

²⁷And that He would cast out their seed among the nations,

And scatter them in the lands.

 

²⁸They joined themselves also unto Baal of Peor,

And ate the sacrifices of the dead.

²⁹Thus they provoked Him with their doings,

And the plague broke in upon them.

³⁰Then stood up Phinehas, and wrought judgment,

And so the plague was stayed.

³¹And that was counted unto him for righteousness,

Unto all generations for ever.

 

³²They angered Him also at the waters of Meribah,

And it went ill with Moses because of them;

³³For they embittered his spirit,

And he spoke rashly with his lips.

 

³⁴They did not destroy the peoples,

As the Lord commanded them;

³⁵But mingled themselves with the nations,

And learned their works;

³⁶And they served their idols,

Which became a snare unto them;

³⁷Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons,

³⁸And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters,

Whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan;

And the land was polluted with blood.

³⁹Thus were they defiled with their works,

And went astray in their doings.

⁴⁰Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against His people,

And He abhorred His inheritance.

⁴¹And He gave them into the hand of the nations;

And they that hated them ruled over them.

⁴²Their enemies also oppressed them,

And they were subdued under their hand.

⁴³Many times did He deliver them;

But they were rebellious in their counsel,

And sank low through their iniquity.

⁴⁴Nevertheless He looked upon their distress,

When He heard their cry;

⁴⁵And He remembered for them His covenant,

And repented according to the multitude of His mercies.

⁴⁶He made them also to be pitied

Of all those that carried them captive.

 

⁴⁷Save us, O Lord our God,

And gather us from among the nations,

That we may give thanks unto Thy holy name,

That we may triumph in Thy praise.

 

⁴⁸Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

From everlasting even to everlasting,

And let all the people say: 'Amen.'

Hallelujah.

ספר חמישי
BOOK V

107 'O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good,

For His mercy endureth for ever.'

²So let the redeemed of the Lord say,

Whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the adversary;

³And gathered them out of the lands,

From the east and from the west,

From the north and from the sea.

 

⁴They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way;

They found no city of habitation.

⁵Hungry and thirsty,

Their soul fainted in them.

⁶Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble,

And He delivered them out of their distresses.

⁷And He led them by a straight way,

That they might go to a city of habitation.

⁸Let them give thanks unto the Lord for His mercy,

And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

⁹For He hath satisfied the longing soul,

And the hungry soul He hath filled with good.

 

¹⁰Such as sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,

Being bound in affliction and iron—

¹¹Because they rebelled against the words of God,

And contemned the counsel of the Most High.

¹²Therefore He humbled their heart with travail,

They stumbled, and there was none to help—

¹³They cried unto the Lord in their trouble,

And He saved them out of their distresses.

¹⁴He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,

And broke their bands in sunder. ¹⁵Let them give thanks unto the Lord for His mercy,

And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

¹⁶For He hath broken the gates of brass,

And cut the bars of iron in sunder.

 

¹⁷Crazed because of the way of their transgression,

And afflicted because of their iniquities—

¹⁸Their soul abhorred all manner of food,

And they drew near unto the gates of death—

¹⁹They cried unto the Lord in their trouble,

And He saved them out of their distresses;

²⁰He sent His word, and healed them,

And delivered them from their graves.

²¹Let them give thanks unto the Lord for His mercy,

And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

²²And let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving,

And declare His works with singing.

 

²³They that go down to the sea in ships,

That do business in great waters—

²⁴These saw the works of the Lord,

And His wonders in the deep;

²⁵For He commanded, and raised the stormy wind,

Which lifted up the waves thereof;

²⁶They mounted up to the heaven, they went down to the deeps;

Their soul melted away because of trouble;

²⁷They reeled to and fro, and staggered like a drunken man,

And all their wisdom was swallowed up—

²⁸They cried unto the Lord in their trouble,

And He brought them out of their distresses.

²⁹He made the storm a calm,

So that the waves thereof were still.

³⁰Then were they glad because they were quiet,

And He led them unto their desired haven.

³¹Let them give thanks unto the Lord for His mercy,

And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

³²Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,

And praise Him in the seat of the elders.

³³He turneth rivers into a wilderness,

And watersprings into a thirsty ground;

³⁴A fruitful land into a salt waste,

For the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

 

³⁵He turneth a wilderness into a pool of water,

And a dry land into watersprings.

³⁶And there He maketh the hungry to dwell,

And they establish a city of habitation;

³⁷And sow fields, and plant vineyards,

Which yield fruits of increase.

³⁸He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly,

And suffereth not their cattle to decrease.

 

³⁹Again, they are minished and dwindle away

Through oppression of evil and sorrow.

⁴⁰He poureth contempt upon princes,

And causeth them to wander in the waste, where there is no way.

⁴¹Yet setteth He the needy on high from affliction,

And maketh his families like a flock.

⁴²The upright see it, and are glad;

And all iniquity stoppeth her mouth.

 

⁴³Whoso is wise, let him observe these things,

And let them consider the mercies of the Lord.

108 A Song, a Psalm of David.

²My heart is steadfast, O God;

I will sing, yea, I will sing praises, even with my glory.

³Awake, psaltery and harp;

I will awake the dawn.

⁴I will give thanks unto Thee, O Lord, among the peoples;

And I will sing praises unto Thee among the nations.

⁵For Thy mercy is great above the heavens,

And Thy truth reacheth unto the skies.

⁶Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens;

And Thy glory be above all the earth.

⁷That Thy beloved may be delivered,

Save with Thy right hand, and answer me.

 

⁸God spoke in His holiness, that I would exult;

That I would divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

⁹Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine;

Ephraim also is the defence of my head;

Judah is my sceptre.

¹⁰Moab is my washpot;

Upon Edom do I cast my shoe;

Over Philistia do I cry aloud.

¹¹Who will bring me into the fortified city?

Who will lead me unto Edom?

¹²Hast not Thou cast us off, O God?

And Thou goest not forth, O God, with our hosts?

¹³Give us help against the adversary;

For vain is the help of man.

¹⁴Through God we shall do valiantly;

For He it is that will tread down our adversaries.

109 For the Leader. A Psalm of David.

O God of my praise, keep not silence;

²For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit have they opened against me;

They have spoken unto me with a lying tongue.

³They compassed me about also with words of hatred,

And fought against me without a cause.

⁴In return for my love they are my adversaries;

But I am all prayer.

⁵And they have laid upon me evil for good,

And hatred for my love:

 

⁶'Set Thou a wicked man over him;

And let an adversary stand at his right hand.

⁷When he is judged, let him go forth condemned;

And let his prayer be turned into sin.

⁸Let his days be few;

Let another take his charge.

⁹Let his children be fatherless,

And his wife a widow.

¹⁰Let his children be vagabonds, and beg;

And let them seek their bread out of their desolate places.

¹¹Let the creditor distrain all that he hath;

And let strangers make spoil of his labour.

¹²Let there be none to extend kindness unto him;

Neither let there be any to be gracious unto his fatherless children.

¹³Let his posterity be cut off;

In the generation following let their name be blotted out.

¹⁴Let the iniquity of his fathers be brought to remembrance unto the Lord;

And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

¹⁵Let them be before the Lord continually,

That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth.

¹⁶Because that he remembered not to do kindness,

But persecuted the poor and needy man,

And the broken in heart he was ready to slay.

¹⁷Yea, he loved cursing, and it came unto him;

And he delighted not in blessing, and it is far from him.

¹⁸He clothed himself also with cursing as with his raiment,

And it is come into his inward parts like water,

And like oil into his bones.

¹⁹Let it be unto him as the garment which he putteth on,

And for the girdle wherewith he is girded continually.'

 

²⁰This would mine adversaries effect from the Lord,

And they that speak evil against my soul.

²¹But Thou, O God the Lord, deal with me for Thy name's sake;

Because Thy mercy is good, deliver Thou me.

²²For I am poor and needy,

And my heart is wounded within me.

²³I am gone like the shadow when it lengtheneth;

I am shaken off as the locust.

²⁴My knees totter through fasting;

And my flesh is lean, and hath no fatness.

²⁵I am become also a taunt unto them;

When they see me, they shake their head.

 

²⁶Help me, O Lord my God;

O save me according to Thy mercy;

²⁷That they may know that this is Thy hand;

That Thou, Lord, hast done it.

²⁸Let them curse, but bless Thou;

When they arise, they shall be put to shame, but Thy servant shall rejoice.

²⁹Mine adversaries shall be clothed with confusion,

And shall put on their own shame as a robe.

³⁰I will give great thanks unto the Lord with my mouth;

Yea, I will praise Him among the multitude;

³¹Because He standeth at the right hand of the needy,

To save him from them that judge his soul.

110 A Psalm of David.

The Lord saith unto my lord: 'Sit thou at My right hand,

Until I make thine enemies thy footstool.'

²The rod of Thy strength the Lord will send out of Zion:

'Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.'

³Thy people offer themselves willingly in the day of thy warfare;

In adornments of holiness, from the womb of the dawn,

Thine is the dew of thy youth.

 

⁴The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent:

'Thou art a priest for ever

After the manner of Melchizedek.'

⁵The Lord at thy right hand

Doth crush kings in the day of His wrath.

⁶He will judge among the nations;

He filleth it with the dead bodies,

He crusheth the head over a wide land.

⁷He will drink of the brook in the way;

Therefore will he lift up the head.

111 Hallelujah.

אI will give thanks unto the Lord with my whole heart,

בIn the council of the upright, and in the congregation.

ג²The works of the Lord are great,

דSought out of all them that have delight therein.

ה³His work is glory and majesty;

וAnd His righteousness endureth for ever.

ז⁴He hath made a memorial for His wonderful works;

חThe Lord is gracious and full of compassion.

ט⁵He hath given food unto them that fear Him;

יHe will ever be mindful of His covenant.

כ⁶He hath declared to His people the power of His works,

לIn giving them the heritage of the nations.

מ⁷The works of His hands are truth and justice;

נAll His precepts are sure.

ס⁸They are established for ever and ever,

עThey are done in truth and uprightness.

פ⁹He hath sent redemption unto His people;

צHe hath commanded His covenant for ever;

קHoly and awful is His name.

ר¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

שA good understanding have all they that do thereafter;

תHis praise endureth for ever.

112 Hallelujah.

אHappy is the man that feareth the Lord,

בThat delighteth greatly in His commandments.

ג²His seed shall be mighty upon earth;

דThe generation of the upright shall be blessed.

ה³Wealth and riches are in his house;

וAnd his merit endureth for ever.

ז⁴Unto the upright He shineth as a light in the darkness,

חGracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.

ט⁵Well is it with the man that dealeth graciously and lendeth,

יThat ordereth his affairs rightfully.

כ⁶For he shall never be moved;

לThe righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance.

מ⁷He shall not be afraid of evil tidings;

נHis heart is stedfast, trusting in the Lord.

ס⁸His heart is established, he shall not be afraid,

עUntil he gaze upon his adversaries.

פ⁹He hath scattered abroad, he hath given to the needy;

צHis righteousness endureth for ever;

קHis horn shall be exalted in honour.

ר¹⁰The wicked shall see it, and be vexed;

שHe shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away;

תThe desire of the wicked shall perish.

113Hallelujah.

Praise, O ye servants of the Lord,

Praise the name of the Lord.

²Blessed be the name of the Lord

From this time forth and for ever.

³From the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof

The Lord's name is to be praised.

 

⁴The Lord is high above all nations,

His glory is above the heavens.

⁵Who is like unto the Lord our God,

That is enthroned on high,

⁶That looketh down low

Upon heaven and upon the earth?

 

⁷Who raiseth up the poor out of the dust,

And lifteth up the needy out of the dunghill;

⁸That He may set him with princes,

Even with the princes of His people.

⁹Who maketh the barren woman to dwell in her house

As a joyful mother of children.

Hallelujah.

114When Israel came forth out of Egypt,

The house of Jacob from a people of strange language;

²Judah became His sanctuary,

Israel His dominion.

 

³The sea saw it, and fled;

The Jordan turned backward.

⁴The mountains skipped like rams,

The hills like young sheep.

 

⁵What aileth thee, O thou sea, that thou fleest?

Thou Jordan, that thou turnest backward?

⁶Ye mountains, that ye skip like rams;

Ye hills, like young sheep?

 

⁷Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord,

At the presence of the God of Jacob;

⁸Who turned the rock into a pool of water,

The flint into a fountain of waters.

115Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,

But unto Thy name give glory,

For Thy mercy, and for Thy truth's sake.

²Wherefore should the nations say:

'Where is now their God?'

 

³But our God is in the heavens;

Whatsoever pleased Him He hath done.

⁴Their idols are silver and gold,

The work of men's hands.

⁵They have mouths, but they speak not;

Eyes have they, but they see not;

⁶They have ears, but they hear not;

Noses have they, but they smell not;

⁷They have hands, but they handle not;

Feet have they, but they walk not;

Neither speak they with their throat.

⁸They that make them shall be like unto them;

Yea, every one that trusteth in them.

 

⁹O Israel, trust thou in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield!

¹⁰O house of Aaron, trust ye in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield!

¹¹Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield.

 

¹²The Lord hath been mindful of us, He will bless—

He will bless the house of Israel;

He will bless the house of Aaron.

¹³He will bless them that fear the Lord,

Both small and great.

¹⁴The Lord increase you more and more,

You and your children.

¹⁵Blessed be ye of the Lord

Who made heaven and earth.

 

¹⁶The heavens are the heavens of the Lord;

But the earth hath He given to the children of men.

¹⁷The dead praise not the Lord,

Neither any that go down into silence;

¹⁸But we will bless the Lord

From this time forth and for ever.

Hallelujah.

116I love that the Lord should hear

My voice and my supplications.

²Because He hath inclined His ear unto me,

Therefore will I call upon Him all my days.

 

³The cords of death compassed me,

And the straits of the nether-world got hold upon me;

I found trouble and sorrow.

⁴But I called upon the name of the Lord:

'I beseech thee, O Lord, deliver my soul.'

⁵Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;

Yea, our God is compassionate.

⁶The Lord preserveth the simple;

I was brought low, and He saved me.

 

⁷Return, O my soul, unto Thy rest;

For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.

⁸For thou hast delivered my soul from death,

Mine eyes from tears,

And my feet from stumbling.

⁹I shall walk before the Lord

In the lands of the living.

¹⁰I trusted even when I spoke:

'I am greatly afflicted.'

¹¹I said in my haste:

'All men are liars.'

 

¹²How can I repay unto the Lord

All His bountiful dealings toward me?

¹³I will lift up the cup of salvation,

And call upon the name of the Lord.

¹⁴My vows will I pay unto the Lord,

Yea, in the presence of all His people.

 

¹⁵Precious in the sight of the Lord

Is the death of His saints.

¹⁶I beseech Thee, O Lord, for I am Thy servant;

I am Thy servant, the son of Thy handmaid;

Thou hast loosed my bands.

¹⁷I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving,

And will call upon the name of the Lord.

¹⁸I will pay my vows unto the Lord,

Yea, in the presence of all His people;

¹⁹In the courts of the Lord's house,

In the midst of thee, O Jerusalem.

Hallelujah.

117 O praise the Lord, all ye nations;

Laud Him, all ye peoples.

²For His mercy is great toward us;

And the truth of the Lord endureth for ever.

Hallelujah.

118 'O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

²So let Israel now say,

For His mercy endureth for ever,

³So let the house of Aaron now say,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

⁴So let them now that fear the Lord say,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

 

⁵Out of my straits I called upon the Lord;

He answered me with great enlargement.

⁶The Lord is for me; I will not fear;

What can man do unto me?

⁷The Lord is for me as my helper;

And I shall gaze upon them that hate me.

⁸It is better to take refuge in the Lord

Than to trust in man.

⁹It is better to take refuge in the Lord

Than to trust in princes.

¹⁰All nations compass me about;

Verily, in the name of the Lord I will cut them off.

¹¹They compass me about, yea, they compass me about;

Verily, in the name of the Lord I will cut them off.

¹²They compass me about like bees;

They are quenched as the fire of thorns;

Verily, in the name of the Lord I will cut them off.

¹³Thou didst thrust sore at me that I might fall;

But the Lord helped me.

¹⁴The Lord is my strength and song;

And He is become my salvation.

¹⁵The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous;

The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.

¹⁶The right hand of the Lord is exalted;

The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly.

¹⁷I shall not die, but live,

And declare the works of the Lord.

¹⁸The Lord hath chastened me sore;

But He hath not given me over unto death.

¹⁹Open to me the gates of righteousness;

I will enter into them, I will give thanks unto the Lord.

²⁰This is the gate of the Lord;

The righteous shall enter into it.

²¹I will give thanks unto Thee, for Thou hast answered me,

And art become my salvation.

 

²²The stone which the builders rejected

Is become the chief corner-stone.

 

²³This is the Lord's doing;

It is marvellous in our eyes.

 

²⁴This is the day which the Lord hath made;

We will rejoice and be glad in it.

 

²⁵We beseech Thee, O Lord, save now!

We beseech Thee, O Lord, make us now to prosper!

 

²⁶Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord;

We bless you out of the house of the Lord.

 

²⁷The Lord is God, and hath given us light;

Order the festival procession with boughs, even unto the horns of the altar.

 

²⁸Thou art my God, and I will give thanks unto Thee;

Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee.

 

²⁹O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

119

א ALEPH.

Happy are they that are upright in the way,

Who walk in the law of the Lord.

²Happy are they that keep His testimonies,

That seek Him with the whole heart.

³Yea, they do no unrighteousness;

They walk in His ways.

⁴Thou hast ordained Thy precepts,

That we should observe them diligently.

⁵Oh that my ways were directed

To observe Thy statutes!

⁶Then should I not be ashamed,

When I have regard unto all Thy commandments.

⁷I will give thanks unto Thee with uprightness of heart,

When I learn Thy righteous ordinances.

⁸I will observe Thy statutes;

O forsake me not utterly.

ב BETH.

⁹Wherewithal shall a young man keep his way pure?

By taking heed thereto according to Thy word.

¹⁰With my whole heart have I sought Thee;

O let me not err from Thy commandments.

¹¹Thy word have I laid up in my heart,

That I might not sin against Thee.

¹²Blessed art Thou, O Lord;

Teach me Thy statutes.

¹³With my lips have I told

All the ordinances of Thy mouth.

¹⁴I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies,

As much as in all riches.

¹⁵I will meditate in Thy precepts,

And have respect unto Thy ways.

¹⁶I will delight myself in Thy statutes;

I will not forget Thy word.

ג GIMEL.

¹⁷Deal bountifully with Thy servant that I may live,

And I will observe Thy word.

¹⁸Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold

Wondrous things out of Thy law.

¹⁹I am a sojourner in the earth;

Hide not Thy commandments from me.

²⁰My soul breaketh for the longing

That it hath unto Thine ordinances at all times.

²¹Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed,

That do err from Thy commandments.

²²Take away from me reproach and contempt;

For I have kept Thy testimonies.

²³Even though princes sit and talk against me,

Thy servant doth meditate in Thy statutes.

²⁴Yea, Thy testimonies are my delight,

They are my counsellors.

ד DALETH.

²⁵My soul cleaveth unto the dust;

Quicken Thou me according to Thy word.

²⁶I told of my ways, and Thou didst answer me;

Teach me Thy statutes.

²⁷Make me to understand the way of Thy precepts,

That I may talk of Thy wondrous works.

²⁸My soul melteth away for heaviness;

Sustain me according unto Thy word.

²⁹Remove from me the way of falsehood;

And grant me Thy law graciously.

³⁰I have chosen the way of faithfulness;

Thine ordinances have I set [before me].

³¹I cleave unto Thy testimonies;

O Lord, put me not to shame.

³²I will run the way of Thy commandments,

For Thou dost enlarge my heart.

ה HE.

³³Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy statutes;

And I will keep it at every step.

³⁴Give me understanding, that I keep Thy law

And observe it with my whole heart.

³⁵Make me to tread in the path of Thy commandments;

For therein do I delight.

³⁶Incline my heart unto Thy testimonies,

And not to covetousness.

³⁷Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity,

And quicken me in Thy ways.

³⁸Confirm Thy word unto Thy servant,

Which pertaineth unto the fear of Thee.

³⁹Turn away my reproach which I dread;

For Thine ordinances are good.

⁴⁰Behold, I have longed after Thy precepts;

Quicken me in Thy righteousness.

ו VAU.

⁴¹Let Thy mercies also come unto me, O Lord,

Even Thy salvation, according to Thy word;

⁴²That I may have an answer for him that taunteth me;

For I trust in Thy word.

⁴³And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth;

For I hope in Thine ordinances;

⁴⁴So shall I observe Thy law continually

For ever and ever;

⁴⁵And I will walk at ease,

For I have sought Thy precepts;

⁴⁶I will also speak of Thy testimonies before kings,

And will not be ashamed.

⁴⁷And I will delight myself in Thy commandments,

Which I have loved.

⁴⁸I will lift up my hands also unto Thy commandments, which I have loved;

And I will meditate in Thy statutes.

ז ZAIN.

⁴⁹Remember the word unto Thy servant,

Because Thou hast made me to hope.

⁵⁰This is my comfort in my affliction,

That Thy word hath quickened me.

⁵¹The proud have had me greatly in derision;

Yet have I not turned aside from Thy law.

⁵²I have remembered Thine ordinances which are of old, O Lord,

And have comforted myself.

⁵³Burning indignation hath taken hold upon me, because of the wicked

That forsake Thy law.

⁵⁴Thy statutes have been my songs

In the house of my pilgrimage.

⁵⁵I have remembered Thy name, O Lord, in the night,

And have observed Thy law.

⁵⁶This I have had,

That I have kept Thy precepts.

ח HETH.

⁵⁷My portion is the Lord,

I have said that I would observe Thy words.

⁵⁸I have entreated Thy favour with my whole heart;

Be gracious unto me according to Thy word.

⁵⁹I considered my ways,

And turned my feet unto Thy testimonies.

⁶⁰I made haste, and delayed not,

To observe Thy commandments.

⁶¹The bands of the wicked have enclosed me;

But I have not forgotten Thy law.

⁶²At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto Thee

Because of Thy righteous ordinances.

⁶³I am a companion of all them that fear Thee,

And of them that observe Thy precepts.

⁶⁴The earth, O Lord, is full of Thy mercy;

Teach me Thy statutes.

ט TETH.

⁶⁵Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant,

O Lord, according unto Thy word.

⁶⁶Teach me good discernment and knowledge;

For I have believed in Thy commandments.

⁶⁷Before I was afflicted, I did err;

But now I observe Thy word.

⁶⁸Thou art good, and doest good;

Teach me Thy statutes.

⁶⁹The proud have forged a lie against me;

But I with my whole heart will keep Thy precepts.

⁷⁰Their heart is gross like fat;

But I delight in Thy law.

⁷¹It is good for me that I have been afflicted,

In order that I might learn Thy statutes.

⁷²The law of Thy mouth is better unto me

Than thousands of gold and silver.

י IOD.

⁷³Thy hands have made me and fashioned me;

Give me understanding, that I may learn Thy commandments.

⁷⁴They that fear Thee shall see me and be glad,

Because I have hope in Thy word.

⁷⁵I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are righteous,

And that in faithfulness Thou hast afflicted me.

⁷⁶Let, I pray Thee, Thy lovingkindness be ready to comfort me,

According to Thy promise unto Thy servant.

⁷⁷Let Thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live;

For Thy law is my delight.

⁷⁸Let the proud be put to shame, for they have distorted my cause with falsehood;

But I will meditate in Thy precepts.

⁷⁹Let those that fear Thee return unto me,

And they that know Thy testimonies.

⁸⁰Let my heart be undivided in Thy statutes,

In order that I may not be put to shame.

כ CAPH.

⁸¹My soul pineth for Thy salvation;

In Thy word do I hope.

⁸²Mine eyes fail for Thy word,

Saying: 'When wilt Thou comfort me?'

⁸³For I am become like a wine-skin in the smoke;

Yet do I not forget Thy statutes.

⁸⁴How many are the days of Thy servant?

When wilt Thou execute judgment on them that persecute me?

⁸⁵The proud have digged pits for me,

Which is not according to Thy law.

⁸⁶All Thy commandments are faithful;

They persecute me for nought; help Thou me.

⁸⁷They had almost consumed me upon earth;

But as for me, I forsook not Thy precepts.

⁸⁸Quicken me after Thy lovingkindness,

And I will observe the testimony of Thy mouth.

ל LAMED.

⁸⁹For ever, O Lord,

Thy word standeth fast in heaven.

⁹⁰Thy faithfulness is unto all generations;

Thou hast established the earth, and it standeth.

⁹¹They stand this day according to Thine ordinances;

For all things are Thy servants.

⁹²Unless Thy law had been my delight,

I should then have perished in mine affliction.

⁹³I will never forget Thy precepts;

For with them Thou hast quickened me.

⁹⁴I am Thine, save me;

For I have sought Thy precepts.

⁹⁵The wicked have waited for me to destroy me;

But I will consider Thy testimonies.

⁹⁶I have seen an end to every purpose;

But Thy commandment is exceeding broad.

מ MEM.

⁹⁷O how love I Thy law!

It is my meditation all the day.

⁹⁸Thy commandments make me wiser than mine enemies:

For they are ever with me.

⁹⁹I have more understanding than all my teachers;

For Thy testimonies are my meditation.

¹⁰⁰I understand more than mine elders,

Because I have keep Thy precepts.

¹⁰¹I have refrained my feet from every evil way,

In order that I might observe Thy word.

¹⁰²I have not turned aside from Thine ordinances;

For Thou hast instructed me.

¹⁰³How sweet are Thy words unto my palate!

Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

¹⁰⁴From Thy precepts I get understanding;

Therefore I hate every false way.

נ NUN.

¹⁰⁵Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,

And a light unto my path.

¹⁰⁶I have sworn, and have confirmed it,

To observe Thy righteous ordinances.

¹⁰⁷I am afflicted very much;

Quicken me, O Lord, according unto Thy word.

¹⁰⁸Accept, I beseech Thee, the freewill-offerings of my mouth, O Lord,

And teach me Thine ordinances.

¹⁰⁹My soul is continually in my hand;

Yet have I not forgotten Thy law.

¹¹⁰The wicked have laid a snare for me;

Yet went I not astray from Thy precepts.

¹¹¹Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage for ever;

For they are the rejoicing of my heart.

¹¹²I have inclined my heart to perform Thy statutes,

For ever, at every step.

ס SAMECH.

¹¹³I hate them that are of a double mind;

But Thy law do I love.

¹¹⁴Thou art my covert and my shield;

In Thy word do I hope.

¹¹⁵Depart from me, ye evil-doers;

That I may keep the commandments of my God.

¹¹⁶Uphold me according unto Thy word, that I may live;

And put me not to shame in my hope.

¹¹⁷Support Thou me, and I shall be saved;

And I will occupy myself with Thy statutes continually.

¹¹⁸Thou hast made light of all them that err from Thy statutes;

For their deceit is vain.

¹¹⁹Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross;

Therefore I love Thy testimonies.

¹²⁰My flesh shuddereth for fear of Thee;

And I am afraid of Thy judgments.

ע AIN.

¹²¹I have done justice and righteousness;

Leave me not to mine oppressors.

¹²²Be surety for Thy servant for good;

Let not the proud oppress me.

¹²³Mine eyes fail for Thy salvation,

And for Thy righteous word.

¹²⁴Deal with Thy servant according unto Thy mercy,

And teach me Thy statutes.

¹²⁵I am Thy servant, give me understanding,

That I may know Thy testimonies.

¹²⁶It is time for the Lord to work;

They have made void Thy law.

¹²⁷Therefore I love Thy commandments

Above gold, yea, above fine gold.

¹²⁸Therefore I esteem all [Thy] precepts concerning all things to be right;

Every false way I hate.

פ PE.

¹²⁹Thy testimonies are wonderful;

Therefore doth my soul keep them.

¹³⁰The opening of Thy words giveth light;

It giveth understanding unto the simple.

¹³¹I opened wide my mouth, and panted;

For I longed for Thy commandments.

¹³²Turn Thee towards me, and be gracious unto me,

As is Thy wont to do unto those that love Thy name.

¹³³Order my footsteps by Thy word;

And let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

¹³⁴Redeem me from the oppression of man,

And I will observe Thy precepts.

¹³⁵Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant;

And teach me Thy statutes.

¹³⁶Mine eyes run down with rivers of water,

Because they observe not Thy law.

צ TZADE.

¹³⁷Righteous art Thou, O Lord,

And upright are Thy judgments.

¹³⁸Thou hast commanded Thy testimonies in righteousness

And exceeding faithfulness.

¹³⁹My zeal hath undone me,

Because mine adversaries have forgotten Thy words.

¹⁴⁰Thy word is tried to the uttermost,

And Thy servant loveth it.

¹⁴¹I am small and despised;

Yet have I not forgotten Thy precepts.

¹⁴²Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,

And Thy law is truth.

¹⁴³Trouble and anguish have overtaken me;

Yet Thy commandments are my delight.

¹⁴⁴Thy testimonies are righteous for ever;

Give me understanding, and I shall live.

ק KOPH.

¹⁴⁵I have called with my whole heart; answer me, O Lord;

I will keep Thy statutes.

¹⁴⁶I have called Thee, save me,

And I will observe Thy testimonies.

¹⁴⁷I rose early at dawn, and cried;

I hoped in Thy word.

¹⁴⁸Mine eyes forestalled the nightwatches,

That I might meditate in Thy word.

¹⁴⁹Hear my voice according unto Thy lovingkindness;

Quicken me, O Lord, as Thou art wont.

¹⁵⁰They draw nigh that follow after wickedness;

They are far from Thy law.

¹⁵¹Thou art nigh, O Lord;

And all Thy commandments are truth.

¹⁵²Of old have I known from Thy testimonies

That Thou hast founded them for ever.

ר RESH.

¹⁵³O see mine affliction, and rescue me;

For I do not forget Thy law.

¹⁵⁴Plead Thou my cause, and redeem me;

Quicken me according to Thy word.

¹⁵⁵Salvation is far from the wicked;

For they seek not Thy statutes.

¹⁵⁶Great are Thy compassions, O Lord;

Quicken me as Thou art wont.

¹⁵⁷Many are my persecutors and mine adversaries;

Yet have I not turned aside from Thy testimonies.

¹⁵⁸I beheld them that were faithless, and strove with them;

Because they observed not Thy word.

¹⁵⁹O see how I love Thy precepts;

Quicken me, O Lord, according to Thy lovingkindness.

¹⁶⁰The beginning of Thy word is truth;

And all Thy righteous ordinance endureth for ever.

ש SHIN.

¹⁶¹Princes have persecuted me without a cause;

But my heart standeth in awe of Thy words.

¹⁶²I rejoice at Thy word,

As one that findeth great spoil.

¹⁶³I hate and abhor falsehood;

Thy law do I love.

¹⁶⁴Seven times a day do I praise Thee,

Because of Thy righteous ordinances.

¹⁶⁵Great peace have they that love Thy law;

And there is no stumbling for them.

¹⁶⁶I have hoped for Thy salvation, O Lord,

And have done Thy commandments.

¹⁶⁷My soul hath observed Thy testimonies;

And I love them exceedingly.

¹⁶⁸I have observed Thy precepts and Thy testimonies;

For all my ways are before Thee.

ת TAU.

¹⁶⁹Let my cry come near before Thee, O Lord;

Give me understanding according to Thy word.

¹⁷⁰Let my supplication come before Thee;

Deliver me according to Thy word.

¹⁷¹Let my lips utter praise:

Because Thou teachest me Thy statutes.

¹⁷²Let my tongue sing of Thy word;

For all Thy commandments are righteousness.

¹⁷³Let Thy hand be ready to help me;

For I have chosen Thy precepts.

¹⁷⁴I have longed for Thy salvation, O Lord;

And Thy law is my delight.

¹⁷⁵Let my soul live, and it shall praise Thee;

And let Thine ordinances help me.

¹⁷⁶I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Thy servant;

For I have not forgotten Thy commandments.

120 A Song of Ascents.

In my distress I called unto the Lord,

And He answered me.

²O Lord, deliver my soul from lying lips,

From a deceitful tongue.

³What shall be given unto thee, and what shall be done more unto thee,

Thou deceitful tongue?

⁴Sharp arrows of the mighty,

With coals of broom.

 

⁵Woe is me, that I sojourn with Meshech,

That I dwell beside the tents of Kedar!

⁶My soul hath full long had her dwelling

With him that hateth peace.

⁷I am all peace;

But when I speak, they are for war.

121 A Song of Ascents.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains:

From whence shall my help come?

²My help cometh from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

 

³He will not suffer thy foot to be moved;

He that keepeth thee will not slumber.

⁴Behold, He that keepeth Israel

Doth neither slumber nor sleep.

 

⁵The Lord is thy keeper;

The Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.

⁶The sun shall not smite thee by day,

Nor the moon by night.

 

⁷The Lord shall keep thee from all evil;

He shall keep thy soul.

⁸The Lord shall guard thy going out and thy coming in,

From this time forth and for ever.

122 A Song of Ascents; of David.

I rejoiced when they said unto me:

'Let us go unto the house of the Lord.'

²Our feet are standing

Within thy gates, O Jerusalem;

³Jerusalem, that art builded

As a city that is compact together;

⁴Whither the tribes went up, even the tribes of the Lord,

As a testimony unto Israel,

To give thanks unto the name of the Lord.

⁵For there were set thrones for judgment,

The thrones of the house of David.

 

⁶Pray for the peace of Jerusalem;

May they prosper that love thee.

⁷Peace be within thy walls,

And prosperity within thy palaces.

⁸For my brethren and companions' sakes,

I will now say: 'Peace be within thee.'

⁹For the sake of the house of the Lord our God

I will seek thy good.

123 A Song of Ascents.

Unto Thee I lift up mine eyes,

O Thou that art enthroned in the heavens.

²Behold, as the eyes of servants unto the hand of their master,

As the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress;

So our eyes look unto the Lord our God,

Until He be gracious unto us.

 

³Be gracious unto us, O Lord, be gracious unto us;

For we are full sated with contempt.

⁴Our soul is full sated

With the scorning of those that are at ease,

And with the contempt of the proud oppressors.

124 A Song of Ascents; of David.

'If it had not been the Lord who was for us',

Let Israel now say;

²'If it had not been the Lord who was for us,

When men rose up against us,

³Then they had swallowed us up alive,

When their wrath was kindled against us;

⁴Then the waters had overwhelmed us,

The stream had gone over our soul;

⁵Then the proud waters

Had gone over our soul.'

 

⁶Blessed be the Lord,

Wo hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.

⁷Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers;

The snare is broken, and we are escaped.

⁸Our help is in the name of the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

125 A Song of Ascents.

They that trust in the Lord

Are as mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abideth for ever.

²As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,

So the Lord is round about His people,

From this time forth and for ever.

 

³For the rod of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous;

That the righteous put not forth their hands unto iniquity.

 

⁴Do good, O Lord, unto the good,

And to them that are upright in their hearts.

⁵But as for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways,

The Lord will lead them away with the workers of iniquity.

Peace be upon Israel.

126 A Song of Ascents.

When the Lord brought back those that returned to Zion,

We were like unto them that dream.

²Then was our mouth filled with laughter,

And our tongue with singing;

Then said they among the nations:

'The Lord hath done great things with these.'

³The Lord hath done great things with us;

We are rejoiced.

 

⁴Turn our captivity, O Lord,

As the streams in the dry land.

⁵They that sow in tears

Shall reap in joy.

⁶Though he goeth on his way weeping that beareth the measure of seed,

He shall come home with joy, bearing his sheaves.

127 A Song of Ascents; of Solomon.

Except the Lord build the house,

They labour in vain that build it;

Except the Lord keep the city,

The watchman waketh but in vain.

²It is vain for you that ye rise early, and sit up late,

Ye that eat the bread of toil;

So He giveth unto His beloved in sleep.

 

³Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord;

The fruit of the womb is a reward.

⁴As arrows in the hand of a mighty man,

So are the children of one's youth.

⁵Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them;

They shall not be put to shame,

When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

128 A Song of Ascents.

Happy is every one that feareth the Lord,

That walketh in His ways.

²When thou eatest the labour of thy hands,

Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

³Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine, in the innermost parts of thy house;

Thy children like olive plants, round about thy table.

⁴Behold, surely thus shall the man be blessed

That feareth the Lord.

 

⁵The Lord bless thee out of Zion;

And see thou the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life;

⁶And see thy children's children.

Peace be upon Israel!

129 A Song of Ascents.

'Much have they afflicted me from my youth up',

Let Israel now say;

²'Much have they afflicted me from my youth up;

But they have not prevailed against me.

³The plowers plowed upon my back;

They made long their furrows.

⁴The Lord is righteous;

He hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.'

 

⁵Let them be ashamed and turned backward,

All they that hate Zion.

⁶Let them be as the grass upon the housetops,

Which withereth afore it springeth up;

⁷Wherewith the reaper filleth not his hand,

Nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom.

⁸Neither do they that go by say:

'The blessing of the Lord be upon you;

We bless you in the name of the Lord.'

130 A Song of Ascents.

Out of the depths have I called Thee, O Lord.

²Lord, hearken unto my voice;

Let Thine ears be attentive

To the voice of my supplications.

 

³If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

⁴For with Thee there is forgiveness,

That Thou mayest be feared.

 

⁵I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait,

And in His word do I hope.

⁶My soul waiteth for the Lord,

More than watchmen for the morning;

Yea, more than watchmen for the morning.

 

⁷O Israel, hope in the Lord;

For with the Lord there is mercy,

And with Him is plenteous redemption.

⁸And He will redeem Israel

From all his iniquities.

131 A Song of Ascents; of David.

Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty;

Neither do I exercise myself in things too great, or in things too wonderful for me.

²Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul;

Like a weaned child with his mother;

My soul is with me like a weaned child.

 

³O Israel, hope in the Lord

From this time forth and for ever.

132 A Song of Ascents.

Lord, remember unto David

All his affliction;

²How he swore unto the Lord,

And vowed unto the Mighty One of Jacob:

³'Surely I will not come into the tent of my house,

Nor go up into the bed that is spread for me;

⁴I will not give sleep to mine eyes,

Nor slumber to mine eyelids;

⁵Until I find out a place for the Lord,

A dwelling-place for the Mighty One of Jacob.'

 

⁶Lo, we heard of it as being in Ephrath;

We found it in the field of ^[5]the wood.

⁷Let us go into His dwelling-place;

Let us worship at His footstool.

⁸Arise, O Lord, unto Thy resting-place;

Thou, and the ark of Thy strength.

⁹Let Thy priests be clothed with righteousness;

And let Thy saints shout for joy.

¹⁰For Thy servant David's sake

Turn not away the face of Thine anointed.

 

¹¹The Lord swore unto David in truth;

He will not turn back from it:

'Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.

¹²If thy children keep My covenant

And My testimony that I shall teach them,

Their children also for ever shall sit upon thy throne.'

¹³For the Lord hath chosen Zion;

He hath desired it for His habitation:

¹⁴'This is My resting-place for ever;

Here will I dwell; for I have desired it.

¹⁵I will abundantly bless her provision;

I will give her needy bread in plenty.

¹⁶Her priests also will I clothe with salvation;

And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

¹⁷There will I make a horn to shoot up unto David,

There have I ordered a lamp for Mine anointed.

¹⁸His enemies will I clothe with shame;

But upon himself shall his crown shine.'

133 A Song of Ascents; of David.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is

For brethren to dwell together in unity!

²It is like the precious oil upon the head,

Coming down upon the beard;

Even Aaron's beard,

That cometh down upon the collar of his garments;

³Like the dew of Hermon,

That cometh down upon the mountains of Zion;

For there the Lord commanded the blessing,

Even life for ever.

134 A Song of Ascents.

Behold, bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord,

That stand in the house of the Lord in the night seasons.

²Lift up your hands to the sanctuary,

And bless ye the Lord.

 

³The Lord bless thee out of Zion;

Even He that made heaven and earth.

135 Hallelujah.

Praise ye the name of the Lord;

Give praise, O ye servants of the Lord,

²Ye that stand in the house of the Lord,

In the courts of the house of our God.

³Praise ye the Lord, for the Lord is good;

Sing praises unto His name, for it is pleasant.

⁴For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto Himself,

And Israel for His own treasure.

 

⁵For I know that the Lord is great,

And that our Lord is above all gods.

⁶Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that hath He done,

In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps;

⁷Who causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth;

He maketh lightnings for the rain;

He bringeth forth the wind out of His treasuries.

 

⁸Who smote the first-born of Egypt,

Both of man and beast.

⁹He sent signs and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt,

Upon Pharaoh, and upon all his servants.

 

¹⁰Who smote many nations,

And slew mighty kings:

¹¹Sihon king of the Amorites,

And Og king of Bashan,

And all the kingdoms of Canaan;

¹²And gave their land for a heritage,

A heritage unto Israel His people.

 

¹³O Lord, Thy name endureth for ever;

Thy memorial, O Lord, throughout all generations.

¹⁴For the Lord will judge His people,

And repent Himself for His servants.

¹⁵The idols of the nations are silver and gold,

The work of men's hands.

¹⁶They have mouths, but they speak not;

Eyes have they, but they see not;

¹⁷They have ears, but they hear not;

Neither is there any breath in their mouths.

¹⁸They that make them shall be like unto them;

Yea, every one that trusteth in them.

 

¹⁹O house of Israel, bless ye the Lord;

O house of Aaron, bless ye the Lord;

²⁰O house of Levi, bless ye the Lord;

Ye that fear the Lord, bless ye the Lord.

²¹Blessed be the Lord out of Zion,

Who dwelleth at Jerusalem.

Hallelujah.

136 O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

²O give thanks unto the God of gods,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

³O give thanks unto the Lord of lords,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

 

⁴To Him who alone doeth great wonders,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

⁵To Him that by understanding made the heavens,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

⁶To Him that spread forth the earth above the waters,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

⁷To Him that made great lights,

For His mercy endureth for ever;

⁸The sun to rule by day,

For His mercy endureth for ever;

⁹The moon and stars to rule by night,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

 

¹⁰To Him that smote Egypt in their first-born,

For His mercy endureth for ever;

¹¹And brought out Israel from among them,

For His mercy endureth for ever;

¹²With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

¹³To Him who divided the Red Sea in sunder,

For His mercy endureth for ever;

¹⁴And made Israel to pass through the midst of it,

For His mercy endureth for ever;

¹⁵But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

¹⁶To Him that led His people through the wilderness,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

 

¹⁷To Him that smote great kings;

For His mercy endureth for ever;

¹⁸And slew mighty kings,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

¹⁹Sihon king of the Amorites,

For His mercy endureth for ever;

²⁰And Og king of Bashan,

For His mercy endureth for ever;

²¹And gave their land for a heritage,

For His mercy endureth for ever;

²²Even a heritage unto Israel His servant,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

 

²³Who remembered us in our low estate,

For His mercy endureth for ever;

²⁴And hath delivered us from our adversaries,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

²⁵Who giveth food to all flesh,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

²⁶O give thanks unto the God of heaven,

For His mercy endureth for ever.

137 By the rivers of Babylon,

There we sat down, yea, we wept,

When we remembered Zion.

²Upon the willows in the midst thereof

We hanged up our harps.

³For there they that led us captive asked of us words of song,

And our tormentors asked of us mirth:

'Sing us one of the songs of Zion.'

⁴How shall we sing the Lord's song

In a foreign land?

⁵If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,

Let my right hand forget her cunning.

⁶Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,

If I remember thee not;

If I set not Jerusalem

Above my chiefest joy.

 

⁷Remember, O Lord, against the children of Edom

The day of Jerusalem;

Who said: 'Rase it, rase it,

Even to the foundation thereof.'

⁸O daughter of Babylon, that art to be destroyed;

Happy shall he be, that repayeth thee

As thou hast served us.

⁹Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones

Against the rock.

138 [A Psalm] of David.

I will give Thee thanks with my whole heart,

In the presence of the mighty will I sing praises unto Thee.

²I will bow down toward Thy holy temple,

And give thanks unto Thy name for Thy mercy and for Thy truth;

For Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name.

³In the day that I called, Thou didst answer me;

Thou didst encourage me in my soul with strength.

 

⁴All the kings of the earth shall give Thee thanks, O Lord,

For they have heard the words of Thy mouth.

⁵Yea, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord;

For great is the glory of the Lord.

⁶For though the Lord be high, yet regardeth He the lowly,

And the haughty He knoweth from afar.

⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou quickenest me;

Thou stretchest forth Thy hand against the wrath of mine enemies,

And Thy right hand doth save me.

⁸The Lord will accomplish that which concerneth me;

Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever;

Forsake not the work of Thine own hands.

139 For the Leader. A Psalm of David.

O Lord, Thou hast searched me, and known me.

²Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising,

Thou understandest my thought afar off.

³Thou measurest my going about and my lying down,

And art acquainted with all my ways.

⁴For there is not a word in my tongue,

But, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether.

⁵Thou hast hemmed me in behind and before,

And laid Thy hand upon me.

⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

Too high, I cannot attain unto it.

 

⁷Whither shall I go from Thy spirit?

Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?

⁸If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there;

If I make my bed in the nether-world, behold, Thou art there.

⁹If I take the wings of the morning,

And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

¹⁰Even there would Thy hand lead me,

And Thy right hand would hold me.

¹¹And if I say: 'Surely the darkness shall envelop me,

And the light about me shall be night';

¹²Even the darkness is not too dark for Thee,

But the night shineth as the day;

The darkness is even as the light.

 

¹³For Thou hast made my reins;

Thou hast knit me together in my mother's womb.

¹⁴I will give thanks unto Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Wonderful are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

¹⁵My frame was not hidden from Thee,

When I was made in secret,

And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

¹⁶Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance,

And in Thy book they were all written—

Even the days that were fashioned,

When as yet there was none of them.

¹⁷How weighty also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!

¹⁸If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand;

Were I to come to the end of them, I would still be with Thee.

 

¹⁹If Thou but wouldest slay the wicked, O God—

Depart from me therefore, ye men of blood;

²⁰Who utter Thy name with wicked thought,

They take it for falsehood, even Thine enemies—

²¹Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate Thee?

And do not I strive with those that rise up against Thee?

²²I hate them with utmost hatred;

I count them mine enemies.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart,

Try me, and know my thoughts;

²⁴And see if there be any way in me that is grievous,

And lead me in the way everlasting.

140 For the Leader. A Psalm of David.

²Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man;

Preserve me from the violent man;

³Who devise evil things in their heart;

Every day do they stir up wars.

⁴They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent;

Vipers' venom is under their lips. Selah

 

⁵Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;

Preserve me from the violent man;

Who have purposed to make my steps slip.

⁶The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords;

They have spread a net by the wayside;

They have set gins for me. Selah

 

⁷I have said unto the Lord: 'Thou art my God';

Give ear, O Lord, unto the voice of my supplications.

⁸O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation,

Who hast screened my head in the day of battle,

⁹Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;

Further not his evil device, so that they exalt themselves. Selah

 

¹⁰As for the head of those that compass me about,

Let the mischief of their own lips cover them.

¹¹Let burning coals fall upon them;

Let them be cast into the fire,

Into deep pits, that they rise not up again.

¹²A slanderer shall not be established in the earth;

The violent and evil man shall be hunted with thrust upon thrust.

 

¹³I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the poor,

And the right of the needy.

¹⁴Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto Thy name;

The upright shall dwell in Thy presence.

141 A Psalm of David.

Lord, I have called Thee; make haste unto me;

Give ear unto my voice, when I call unto Thee.

²Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee,

The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

³Set a guard, O Lord, to my mouth;

Keep watch at the door of my lips.

⁴Incline not my heart to any evil thing,

To be occupied in deeds of wickedness

With men that work iniquity;

And let me not eat of their dainties.

 

⁵Let the righteous smite me in kindness, and correct me;

Oil so choice let not my head refuse;

For still is my prayer because of their wickedness.

⁶Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock;

And they shall hear my words, that they are sweet.

⁷As when one cleaveth and breaketh up the earth,

Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth.

 

⁸For mine eyes are unto Thee, O God the Lord;

In Thee have I taken refuge, O pour not out my soul.

⁹Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me,

And from the gins of the workers of iniquity.

¹⁰Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

Whilst I withal escape.

142 Maschil of David, when he was in the cave; a Prayer.

²With my voice I cry unto the Lord;

With my voice I make supplication unto the Lord.

³I pour out my complaint before Him,

I declare before Him my trouble;

⁴When my spirit fainteth within me—

Thou knowest my path—

In the way wherein I walk

Have they hidden a snare for me.

⁵Look on my right hand, and see,

For there is no man that knoweth me;

I have no way to flee;

No man careth for my soul.

 

⁶I have cried unto Thee, O Lord;

I have said: 'Thou art my refuge,

My portion in the land of the living.'

⁷Attend unto my cry;

For I am brought very low;

Deliver me from my persecutors;

For they are too strong for me.

⁸Bring my soul out of prison,

That I may give thanks unto Thy name;

The righteous shall crown themselves because of me;

For Thou wilt deal bountifully with me.

143 A Psalm of David.

O Lord, hear my prayer, give ear to my supplications;

In Thy faithfulness answer me, and in Thy righteousness.

²And enter not into judgment with Thy servant;

For in Thy sight shall no man living be justified.

 

³For the enemy hath persecuted my soul;

He hath crushed my life down to the ground;

He hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.

⁴And my spirit fainteth within me;

My heart within me is appalled.

 

⁵I remember the days of old;

I meditate on all Thy doing;

I muse on the work of Thy hands.

⁶I spread forth my hands unto Thee;

My soul [thirsteth] after Thee, as a weary land. Selah

 

⁷Answer me speedily, O Lord,

My spirit faileth;

Hide not Thy face from me;

Lest I become like them that go down into the pit.

⁸Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning,

For in Thee do I trust;

Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk,

For unto Thee have I lifted up my soul.

 

⁹Deliver me from mine enemies, O Lord;

With Thee have I hidden myself.

¹⁰Teach me to do Thy will,

For Thou art my God;

Let Thy good spirit

Lead me in an even land.

¹¹For Thy name's sake, O Lord, quicken me;

In Thy righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.

¹²And in Thy mercy cut off mine enemies,

And destroy all them that harass my soul;

For I am Thy servant.

144 [A Psalm] of David.

Blessed be the Lord my Rock,

Who traineth my hands for war,

And my fingers for battle;

²My lovingkindness, and my fortress,

My high tower, and my deliverer;

My shield, and He in whom I take refuge;

Who subdueth my people under me.

 

³Lord, what is man, that Thou takest knowledge of him?

Or the son of man, that Thou makest account of him?

⁴Man is like unto a breath;

His days are as a shadow that passeth away.

⁵O Lord, bow Thy heavens, and come down;

Touch the mountains, that they may smoke.

⁶Cast forth lightning, and scatter them;

Send out Thine arrows, and discomfit them.

⁷Stretch forth Thy hands from on high;

Rescue me, and deliver me out of many waters,

Out of the hand of strangers;

⁸Whose mouth speaketh falsehood,

And their right hand is a right hand of lying.

 

⁹O God, I will sing a new song unto Thee,

Upon a psaltery of ten strings will I sing praises unto Thee;

¹⁰Who givest salvation unto kings,

Who rescuest David Thy servant from the hurtful sword.

¹¹Rescue me, and deliver me out of the hand of strangers,

Whose mouth speaketh falsehood,

And their right hand is a right hand of lying.

 

¹²We whose sons are as plants grown up in their youth;

Whose daughters are as corner-pillars carved after the fashion of a palace;

¹³Whose garners are full, affording all manner of store;

Whose sheep increase by thousands and ten thousands in our fields;

¹⁴Whose oxen are well laden;

With no breach, and no going forth,

And no outcry in our broad places;

¹⁵Happy is the people that is in such a case.

Yea, happy is the people whose God is the Lord.

145 [A Psalm of] praise; of David.

א I will extol Thee, my God, O King;

And I will bless Thy for name ever and ever.

ב ²Every day will I bless Thee;

And I will praise Thy name for ever and ever.

ג ³Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised;

And His greatness is unsearchable.

ד ⁴One generation shall laud Thy works to another,

And shall declare Thy mighty acts.

ה ⁵The glorious splendour of Thy majesty,

And Thy wondrous works, will I rehearse.

ו ⁶And men shall speak of the might of Thy tremendous acts;

And I will tell of Thy greatness.

ז ⁷They shall utter the fame of Thy great goodness,

And shall sing of Thy righteousness.

ח ⁸The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion;

Slow to anger, and of great mercy.

ט ⁹The Lord is good to all;

And His tender mercies are over all His works.

י ¹⁰All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord;

And Thy saints shall bless Thee.

כ ¹¹They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom,

And talk of Thy might;

ל¹²To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,

And the glory of the majesty of His kingdom.

מ¹³Thy kingdom is a kingdom for all ages,

And Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

ס¹⁴The Lord upholdeth all that fall,

And raiseth up all those that are bowed down.

ע¹⁵The eyes of all wait for Thee,

And Thou givest them their food in due season.

פ¹⁶Thou openest Thy hand,

And satisfiest every living thing with favour.

צ¹⁷The Lord is righteous in all His ways,

And gracious in all His works.

ק¹⁸The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him,

To all that call upon Him in truth.

ר¹⁹He will fulfil the desire of them that fear Him;

He also will hear their cry, and will save them.

ש²⁰The Lord preserveth all them that love Him;

But all the wicked will He destroy.

ת²¹My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord;

And let all flesh bless His holy name for ever and ever.

146 Hallelujah.

Praise the Lord, O my soul.

²I will praise the Lord while I live;

I will sing praises unto my God while I have my being.

 

³Put not your trust in princes,

Nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.

⁴His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his dust;

In that very day his thoughts perish.

⁵Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

Whose hope is in the Lord his God,

⁶Who made heaven and earth,

The sea, and all that in them is;

Who keepeth truth for ever;

⁷Who executeth justice for the oppressed;

Who giveth bread to the hungry.

 

The Lord looseth the prisoners;

⁸The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind;

The Lord raiseth up them that are bowed down;

The Lord loveth the righteous;

⁹The Lord preserveth the strangers;

He upholdeth the fatherless and the widow;

But the way of the wicked He maketh crooked.

¹⁰The Lord will reign for ever,

Thy God, O Zion, unto all generations.

Hallelujah.

147 Hallelujah;

For it is good to sing praises unto our God;

For it is pleasant, and praise is comely.

²The Lord doth build up Jerusalem,

He gathereth together the dispersed of Israel;

³Who healeth the broken in heart,

And bindeth up their wounds.

⁴He counteth the number of the stars;

He giveth them all their names.

⁵Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;

His understanding is infinite.

⁶The Lord upholdeth the humble;

He bringeth the wicked down to the ground.

⁷Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving,

Sing praises upon the harp unto our God;

⁸Who covereth the heaven with clouds,

Who prepareth rain for the earth,

Who maketh the mountains to spring with grass.

⁹He giveth to the beast his food,

And to the young ravens which cry.

¹⁰He delighteth not in the strength of the horse;

He taketh no pleasure in the legs of a man.

¹¹The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him,

In those that wait for His mercy.

 

¹²Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem;

Praise thy God, O Zion.

¹³For He hath made strong the bars of thy gates;

He hath blessed thy children within thee.

¹⁴He maketh thy borders peace;

He giveth thee in plenty the fat of wheat.

¹⁵He sendeth out His commandment upon earth;

His word runneth very swiftly.

¹⁶He giveth snow like wool;

He scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes.

¹⁷He casteth forth His ice like crumbs;

Who can stand before His cold?

¹⁸He sendeth forth His word, and melteth them;

He causeth His wind to blow, and the waters flow.

¹⁹He declareth His word unto Jacob,

His statutes and His ordinances unto Israel.

²⁰He hath not dealt so with any nation;

And as for His ordinances, they have not known them.

Hallelujah.

148 Hallelujah.

Praise ye the Lord from the heavens;

Praise Him in the heights.

²Praise ye Him, all His angels;

Praise ye Him, all His hosts.

³Praise ye Him, sun and moon;

Praise Him, all ye stars of light.

⁴Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens,

And ye waters that are above the heavens.

⁵Let them praise the name of the Lord;

For He commanded, and they were created.

⁶He hath also established them for ever and ever;

He hath made a decree which shall not be transgressed.

 

⁷Praise the Lord from the earth,

Ye sea-monsters, and all deeps;

⁸Fire and hail, snow and vapour,

Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;

⁹Mountains and all hills,

Fruitful trees and all cedars;

¹⁰Beasts and all cattle,

Creeping things and winged fowl;

¹¹Kings of the earth and all peoples,

Princes and all judges of the earth;

¹²Both young men and maidens,

Old men and children;

¹³Let them praise the name of the Lord,

For His name alone is exalted;

His glory is above the earth and heaven.

¹⁴And He hath lifted up a horn for His people,

A praise for all His saints,

Even for the children of Israel, a people near unto Him.

Hallelujah.

149 Hallelujah.

Sing unto the Lord a new song,

And His praise in the assembly of the saints.

²Let Israel rejoice in his Maker;

Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

³Let them praise His name in the dance;

Let them sing praises unto Him with the timbrel and harp.

⁴For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people;

He adorneth the humble with salvation.

 

⁵Let the saints exult in glory;

Let them sing for joy upon their beds.

⁶Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,

And a two-edged sword in their hand;

⁷To execute vengeance upon the nations,

And chastisements upon the peoples;

⁸To bind their kings with chains,

And their nobles with fetters of iron;

⁹To execute upon them the judgment written;

He is the glory of all His saints.

Hallelujah.

150 Hallelujah.

Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in the firmament of His power.

²Praise Him for His mighty acts;

Praise Him according to His abundant greatness.

³Praise Him with the blast of the horn;

Praise Him with the psaltery and harp.

⁴Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;

Praise Him with stringed instruments and the pipe.

⁵Praise Him with the loud-sounding cymbals;

Praise Him with the clanging cymbals.

⁶Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.

Hallelujah.

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1. That is, the nether-world.
2. That is, the righteous.
3. See Deut. xii. 9.
4. That is, Praise ye the Lord.
5. Heb. Jaar. See 1 Chr. xiii. 5.