1  “I have made a covenant with my ^meyes;

how then could I ⁿgaze at a virgin?

2  What would be my portion from God above

and my heritage from the Almighty on high?

3  Is not calamity for the unrighteous,

and disaster for the workers of iniquity?

4  Does not he see my ways

and ^onumber all my steps?

5  “If I have walked with falsehood

and my foot has hastened to deceit;

6  (Let me be ^pweighed in a just balance,

and let God know my ^qintegrity!)

7  if ^rmy step has turned aside from the way

and my heart has gone after my eyes,

and if any spot has stuck to my hands,

8  then ^slet me sow, and another eat,

and let what grows for me¹ be rooted out.

9  “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,

and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,

10  then let my wife grind for another,

and let others bow down on her.

11  For that would be a heinous crime;

that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;

12  for that would be a ^tfire that consumes as far as Abaddon,

and it would burn to the root all my increase.

13  “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,

when they brought a complaint against me,

14  what then shall I do when God rises up?

When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

15  ^uDid not he who made me in the womb make him?

^vAnd did not one fashion us in the womb?

16  “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,

or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17  or have eaten my morsel alone,

and the fatherless has not eaten of it

18  (for from my youth the fatherless² grew up with me as with a father,

and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow³),

19  if I have seen anyone perish for ^wlack of clothing,

or the needy without covering,

20  if his body has not blessed me,⁴

and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,

21  if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,

because I saw my help in the gate,

22  then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,

and let my arm be ^xbroken from its socket.

23  For I was in terror of calamity from God,

and I could not have faced his ^ymajesty.

24  “If I have made gold my trust

or called fine gold my ^zconfidence,

25  if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant

or because my hand had found much,

26  if I have looked at the ^asun⁵ when it shone,

or the moon moving in splendor,

27  and my heart has been secretly enticed,

and my mouth has kissed my hand,

28  this also would be an iniquity ^bto be punished by the judges,

for I would have been false to God above.

29  “If I have ^crejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,

or exulted when evil overtook him

30  (I have not let my mouth sin

by asking for his life with a ^dcurse),

31  if the men of my tent have not said,

‘Who is there that has not been filled with his meat?’

32  (the sojourner has not lodged in the street;

^eI have opened my doors to the traveler),

33  if I have ^fconcealed my transgressions as others do⁶

by hiding my iniquity in my heart,

34  because I stood in great fear of the multitude,

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—

35  ^gOh, that I had one to hear me!

(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)

Oh, that I had the indictment written by my adversary!

36  Surely I would carry it on my shoulder;

I would bind it on me as a crown;

37  I would give him an account of all my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

38  “If my land has cried out against me

and its furrows have wept together,

39  if I have eaten its yield without payment

and made its owners breathe their last,

40  let thorns grow instead of wheat,

and foul weeds instead of barley.”

1  ^uContend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;

fight against those who fight against me!

2  Take hold of shield and buckler

and rise for my help!

3  Draw the spear and javelin¹

against my pursuers!

Say to my soul,

“I am your salvation!”

4  ^vLet them be put to shame and dishonor

who seek after my life!

Let them be turned back and disappointed

who devise evil against me!

5  Let them be like chaff before the wind,

with the angel of the Lord driving them away!

6  Let their way be dark and slippery,

with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!

7  For without cause they hid their net for me;

without cause they ^wdug a pit for my life.²

8  Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it!

And let the ^xnet that he hid ensnare him;

let him fall into it—to his destruction!

9  Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,

exulting in his salvation.

10  All my ^ybones shall say,

“O Lord, ^zwho is like you,

^adelivering the poor

from him who is too strong for him,

the poor and needy from him who robs him?”

11  ^bMalicious³ witnesses rise up;

they ask me of things that I do not know.

12  They ^crepay me evil for good;

my soul is bereft.⁴

13  But I, ^dwhen they were sick—

I wore sackcloth;

I afflicted myself with ^efasting;

I prayed with head bowed⁵ on my chest.

14  I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;

as one who laments his mother,

I bowed down in mourning.

15  But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;

they gathered together against me;

wretches whom I did not know

tore at me without ceasing;

16  like profane mockers at a feast,⁶

they gnash at me with their teeth.

17  How long, O Lord, will you look on?

Rescue me from their destruction,

my precious life from the ^flions!

18  I will thank you in the great congregation;

in the mighty throng I will praise you.

19  Let not those rejoice over me

who are wrongfully my foes,

and let not those ^gwink the eye

who ^hhate me ⁱwithout cause.

20  For they do not speak peace,

but against those who are quiet in the land

they devise words of deceit.

21  They ^jopen wide their mouths against me;

they say, ^k“Aha, Aha!

Our eyes have seen it!”

22  You have seen, O Lord; be not ^lsilent!

O Lord, ^mbe not far from me!

23  ⁿAwake and rouse yourself for my vindication,

for my cause, my God and my Lord!

24  ^oVindicate me, O Lord, my God,

according to your righteousness,

and let them not rejoice over me!

25  Let them not say in their hearts,

“Aha, our heart’s desire!”

Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”

26  Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether

who rejoice at my calamity!

Let them be ^pclothed with shame and dishonor

who magnify themselves against me!

27  Let those who delight in my righteousness

shout for joy and be glad

and say evermore,

“Great is the Lord,

who delights in the welfare of his servant!”

28  Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness

and of your praise all the day long.

1  ^mIt shall come to pass in the latter days

that the mountain of the house of the Lord

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

and it shall be lifted up above the hills;

and ⁿpeoples shall flow to it,

2  and ^omany nations shall come, and say:

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob,

that he may teach us his ways

and that we may walk in his paths.”

For ^pout of Zion shall go forth the law,¹

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

3  He shall judge between many peoples,

and shall decide disputes for strong nations far away;

and they shall beat their ^qswords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

^rnation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war anymore;

4  ^sbut they shall sit ^tevery man under his vine and under his fig tree,

and ^uno one shall make them afraid,

for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

5  For all the peoples walk

each in the name of its god,

but we will ^vwalk in the name of the Lord our God

forever and ever.

6  In that day, declares the Lord,

I will ^wassemble the ^xlame

and gather those who have been driven away

and those whom I have afflicted;

7  and the lame I will make the ^yremnant,

and those who were cast off, a strong nation;

and the Lord will ^zreign over them in Mount Zion

from this time forth and forevermore.

8  And you, O tower of the flock,

hill of the daughter of Zion,

to you shall it come,

the former dominion shall come,

kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.

9  Now why do you cry aloud?

^aIs there no king in you?

Has your counselor perished,

that pain seized you like a woman in labor?

10  Writhe and groan,² O daughter of Zion,

like a woman in labor,

for now you shall go out from the city

and dwell in the open country;

you shall go to Babylon.

There you shall be rescued;

^bthere the Lord will redeem you

from the hand of your enemies.

11  Now many nations

are assembled against you,

saying, “Let her be defiled,

and let our eyes gaze upon Zion.”

12  But they do not know

the thoughts of the Lord;

they do not understand his plan,

that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.

13  Arise and ^cthresh,

O daughter of Zion,

for I will make your horn iron,

and I will make your hoofs bronze;

you shall beat in pieces many peoples;

and shall devote³ their gain to the Lord,

their wealth to the Lord of the whole earth.