1  ¹ “Can you draw out ^uLeviathan² with a fishhook

or press down his tongue with a cord?

2  Can you put ^va rope in his nose

or pierce his jaw with ^va hook?

3  Will he make many pleas to you?

Will he speak to you soft words?

4  Will he make a covenant with you

to take him for ^wyour servant forever?

5  Will you play with him as with a bird,

or will you put him on a leash for your girls?

6  Will traders bargain over him?

Will they divide him up among the merchants?

7  Can you fill his skin with harpoons

or his head with fishing spears?

8  Lay your hands on him;

remember the battle—you will not do it again!

9  ³ Behold, the hope of a man is false;

he is laid low even at the sight of him.

10  No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.

Who then is he who can stand before me?

11  ^xWho has first given to me, that I should repay him?

^yWhatever is under the whole heaven is mine.

12  “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,

or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.

13  Who can strip off his outer garment?

Who would come near him with a bridle?

14  Who can open the doors of his face?

Around his teeth is terror.

15  His back is made of⁴ rows of shields,

shut up closely as with a seal.

16  One is so near to another

that no air can come between them.

17  They are ^zjoined one to another;

they clasp each other and cannot be separated.

18  His sneezings flash forth light,

and his eyes are like ^athe eyelids of the dawn.

19  Out of his mouth go flaming torches;

sparks of fire leap forth.

20  Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,

as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.

21  His breath ^bkindles coals,

and a flame comes forth from his mouth.

22  In his neck abides strength,

and terror dances before him.

23  The folds of his flesh ^cstick together,

firmly cast on him and immovable.

24  His heart is hard as a stone,

hard as the lower millstone.

25  When he raises himself up, the mighty⁵ are afraid;

at the crashing they are beside themselves.

26  Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail,

nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.

27  He counts iron as straw,

and bronze as rotten wood.

28  The arrow cannot make him flee;

for him, sling stones are turned to stubble.

29  Clubs are counted as stubble;

he laughs at the rattle of javelins.

30  His underparts are like sharp ^dpotsherds;

he spreads himself like ^ea threshing sledge on the mire.

31  He makes the deep boil like a pot;

he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.

32  Behind him he leaves a shining wake;

one would think the deep to be white-haired.

33  ^fOn earth there is not his like,

a creature without fear.

34  He sees everything that is high;

he is king over all the ^gsons of pride.”

2  “I know that you can ^hdo all things,

and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

3  ⁱ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’

Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,

things ^jtoo wonderful for me, which I did not know.

4  ‘Hear, and I will speak;

^kI will question you, and you make it known to me.’

5  I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye sees you;

6  therefore I despise myself,

and repent in^{6 l}dust and ashes.”

1  Blessed is the man¹

who ^awalks not in ^bthe counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in ^cthe way of sinners,

nor ^dsits in ^ethe seat of ^fscoffers;

2  but his ^gdelight is in the law² of the Lord,

and on his ^hlaw he meditates day and night.

3  He is like ⁱa tree

planted by ^jstreams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its ^kleaf does not wither.

^lIn all that he does, he prospers.

4  The wicked are not so,

but are like ^mchaff that the wind drives away.

5  Therefore the wicked ⁿwill not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in ^othe congregation of the righteous;

6  for the Lord ^pknows ^qthe way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

1  ^rWhy do ^sthe nations rage³

and the peoples plot in vain?

2  The kings of the earth set themselves,

and the rulers take counsel together,

against the Lord and against his ^tAnointed, saying,

3  “Let us ^uburst their bonds apart

and cast away their cords from us.”

4  He who ^vsits in the heavens ^wlaughs;

the Lord holds them in derision.

5  Then he will speak to them in his ^xwrath,

and terrify them in his fury, saying,

6  “As for me, I have ^yset my King

on ^zZion, my ^aholy hill.”

7  I will tell of the decree:

The Lord said to me, ^b“You are my Son;

today I have begotten you.

8  Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

and ^cthe ends of the earth your possession.

9  You shall ^dbreak⁴ them with ^ea rod of iron

and dash them in pieces like ^fa potter’s vessel.”

10  Now therefore, O kings, be wise;

be warned, O rulers of the earth.

11  ^gServe the Lord with ^hfear,

and ⁱrejoice with ^htrembling.

12  ^jKiss ^kthe Son,

lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,

for his ^lwrath is quickly kindled.

^mBlessed are all who take refuge in him.

1  O Lord, ^ohow many are my foes!

Many are ^prising against me;

2  many are saying of my soul,

^q“There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah⁵

3  But you, O Lord, are ^ra shield ^sabout me,

my glory, and ^tthe lifter of my head.

4  I ^ucried aloud to the Lord,

and he ^vanswered me from his ^wholy hill. Selah

5  I ^xlay down and slept;

I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.

6  I ^ywill not be afraid of many thousands of people

who have ^zset themselves against me all around.

7  ^aArise, O Lord!

Save me, O my God!

For you ^bstrike all my enemies on the cheek;

you ^cbreak the teeth of the wicked.

8  ^dSalvation belongs to the Lord;

your blessing be on your people! Selah

1  Answer me when I call, O God of my ^frighteousness!

You have ^ggiven me relief when I was in distress.

Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

2  O men,⁶ how long shall my honor be turned into shame?

How long will you love vain words and seek after ^hlies? Selah

3  But know that the Lord has ⁱset apart ^jthe godly for himself;

the Lord hears when I call to him.

4  ^kBe angry,⁷ and do not sin;

^lponder in your own hearts ^mon your beds, and be silent. Selah

5  Offer ⁿright sacrifices,

and put your ^otrust in the Lord.

6  There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?

^pLift up ^qthe light of your face upon us, O Lord!”

7  You have put ^rmore joy in my heart

than they have when their grain and wine abound.

8  In peace I will both ^slie down and sleep;

for you alone, O Lord, make me ^tdwell in safety.

1  Give ear to my words, O Lord;

consider my ^ugroaning.

2  Give attention to the sound of my cry,

my ^vKing and my God,

for ^wto you do I pray.

3  O Lord, in ^xthe morning you hear my voice;

in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you⁸ and ^ywatch.

4  For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;

evil may not dwell with you.

5  The ^zboastful shall not ^astand before your eyes;

you ^bhate all evildoers.

6  You destroy those who speak ^clies;

the Lord abhors ^dthe bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

7  But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,

will enter your house.

I will ^ebow down ^ftoward your ^gholy temple

in the fear of you.

8  ^hLead me, O Lord, in your righteousness

because of my enemies;

ⁱmake your way straight before me.

9  For there is no truth in their mouth;

their inmost self is ^jdestruction;

^ktheir throat is ^lan open grave;

they ^mflatter with their tongue.

10  ⁿMake them bear their guilt, O God;

let them ^ofall by their own counsels;

because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,

for they have rebelled against you.

11  But let all who ^ptake refuge in you ^qrejoice;

let them ever sing for joy,

and spread your protection over them,

that those who love your name may ^rexult in you.

12  For you ^sbless the righteous, O Lord;

you ^tcover him with favor as with ^ua shield.

1  O Lord, ^wrebuke me not in your anger,

nor ^xdiscipline me in your wrath.

2  Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;

^yheal me, O Lord, ^zfor my bones are troubled.

3  My ^asoul also is greatly troubled.

But you, O Lord—^bhow long?

4  Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;

save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

5  For in ^cdeath there is no remembrance of you;

in Sheol who will give you praise?

6  I am ^dweary with my ^emoaning;

every night I flood my bed with tears;

I drench my couch with my weeping.

7  My ^feye wastes away because of grief;

it grows weak because of all my foes.

8  ^gDepart from me, all you ^hworkers of evil,

for the Lord ⁱhas heard the sound of my weeping.

9  The Lord has heard my ^jplea;

the Lord accepts my prayer.

10  All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;

they shall ^kturn back and be put to shame in a moment.

1  O Lord my God, in you do I ^mtake refuge;

ⁿsave me from all my pursuers and deliver me,

2  lest like ^oa lion they tear my soul apart,

rending it in pieces, with ^pnone to deliver.

3  O Lord my God, ^qif I have done this,

if there is ^rwrong in my hands,

4  if I have repaid ^smy friend¹¹ with evil

or ^tplundered my enemy without cause,

5  let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,

and let him ^utrample my life to the ground

and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

6  ^vArise, O Lord, in your anger;

^wlift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;

^xawake for me; you have appointed a judgment.

7  Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;

over it return on high.

8  The Lord ^yjudges the peoples;

^zjudge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness

and according to the integrity that is in me.

9  Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,

and may you establish the righteous—

you who ^atest ^bthe minds and hearts,¹²

O righteous God!

10  My shield is ^cwith God,

who saves ^dthe upright in heart.

11  God is ^ea righteous judge,

and a God who feels ^findignation every day.

12  If a man¹³ does not repent, God¹⁴ will ^gwhet his sword;

he has ^hbent and ⁱreadied his bow;

13  he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,

making his ^jarrows ^kfiery shafts.

14  Behold, the wicked man ^lconceives evil

and is ^lpregnant with mischief

and gives birth to lies.

15  He makes ^ma pit, digging it out,

and falls into the hole that he has made.

16  His ⁿmischief returns upon his own head,

and on his own skull his violence descends.

17  I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,

and I will ^osing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

1  O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your ^qname in all the earth!

You have set your ^rglory above the heavens.

2  ^sOut of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established ^tstrength because of your foes,

to still ^uthe enemy and the avenger.

3  When I ^vlook at your heavens, the work of your ^wfingers,

the moon and the stars, ^xwhich you have set in place,

4  ^ywhat is man that you are ^zmindful of him,

and ^athe son of man that you ^bcare for him?

5  Yet you have made him a little lower than ^cthe heavenly beings¹⁶

and crowned him with ^dglory and honor.

6  You have given him ^edominion over the works of your hands;

^fyou have put all things under his feet,

7  all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

8  the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9  O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

1  I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;

I will recount all of your ^gwonderful deeds.

2  I will be glad and ^hexult in you;

I will ⁱsing praise to your name, ^jO Most High.

3  When my enemies turn back,

they stumble and perish before¹⁹ your presence.

4  For you have ^kmaintained my just cause;

you have ^lsat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

5  You have ^mrebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;

you have ⁿblotted out their name forever and ever.

6  The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;

their cities you rooted out;

the very memory of them has perished.

7  But the Lord sits enthroned forever;

he has established his throne for justice,

8  and he ^ojudges the world with righteousness;

he ^pjudges the peoples with uprightness.

9  The Lord is ^qa stronghold for ^rthe oppressed,

a stronghold in ^stimes of trouble.

10  And those who ^tknow your name put their trust in you,

for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

11  Sing praises to the Lord, who ^usits enthroned in Zion!

Tell among the peoples his ^vdeeds!

12  For he who ^wavenges blood is mindful of them;

he ^xdoes not forget the cry of the afflicted.

13  ^yBe gracious to me, O Lord!

See my affliction from those who hate me,

O you who lift me up from ^zthe gates of death,

14  that I may recount all your praises,

that in the gates of ^athe daughter of Zion

I may ^brejoice in your salvation.

15  The nations have sunk in ^cthe pit that they made;

in ^dthe net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.

16  The Lord has made himself ^eknown; he has executed judgment;

the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion.²⁰ Selah

17  The wicked shall ^freturn to Sheol,

all the nations that ^gforget God.

18  For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

and ^hthe hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

19  ⁱArise, O Lord! Let not ^jman prevail;

let the nations be judged before you!

20  Put them in fear, O Lord!

Let the nations know that they are but ^jmen! Selah