1  ¹ “Can you draw out ^gLeviathan² with a fishhook

or press down his tongue with a cord?

2  Can you put a rope in his nose

or pierce his jaw with a 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 your ^hservant 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 ⁱstir him up.

Who then is he who can stand before me?

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

^kWhatever 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 joined one to another;

they clasp each other and cannot be separated.

18  His sneezings flash forth light,

and his eyes are like the ^leyelids 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 kindles 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 stick 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 potsherds;

he spreads himself like a ^mthreshing 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  On earth there is not his like,

a creature without fear.

34  He sees everything that is high;

he is king over all the sons of pride.”

2  “I know that ⁿyou can do all things,

and that ^ono purpose of yours can be thwarted.

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

Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,

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

4  ‘Hear, and I will speak;

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

5  ^sI had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now ^tmy eye sees you;

6  therefore ^uI despise myself,

and repent in⁶ dust and ashes.”

1  ^aBlessed is the man¹

who walks not in the ^bcounsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

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

and on his law he ^dmeditates day and night.

3  ^eHe is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that ^fyields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he ^gprospers.

4  The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

6  for ^hthe Lord knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

1  ⁱWhy do the 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 ^jAnointed, saying,

3  “Let us burst their bonds apart

and cast away their cords from us.”

4  He who sits in the heavens ^klaughs;

the Lord holds them in derision.

5  Then he will speak to them in his wrath,

and terrify them in his fury, saying,

6  “As for me, I have set my King

on Zion, my holy hill.”

7  I will tell of the decree:

^lThe Lord said to me, ^m“You are my ⁿSon;

today I have begotten you.

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

and the ^oends of the earth your possession.

9  ^pYou shall break⁴ them with a ^qrod of iron

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

10  Now therefore, O kings, be wise;

be warned, O rulers of the earth.

11  Serve the Lord with fear,

and rejoice with trembling.

12  ^rKiss the Son,

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

for his wrath is quickly kindled.

^sBlessed are all who take refuge in him.

1  O Lord, how many are my foes!

Many are rising against me;

2  many are ^usaying of my soul,

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

3  But you, O Lord, are a ^vshield about me,

my glory, and the ^wlifter of my head.

4  ^xI cried ^yaloud to the Lord,

and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah

5  I ^zlay down and slept;

I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.

6  I will not be afraid ^aof many thousands of people

who have set themselves against me all around.

7  Arise, O Lord!

Save me, O my God!

For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;

you break the teeth of the wicked.

8  ^bSalvation belongs to the Lord;

your blessing be on your people! Selah

1  ^cAnswer me when I call, O God of ^dmy righteousness!

You have given 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 lies? Selah

3  But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself;

the Lord hears when I call to him.

4  ^eBe angry,⁷ and do not sin;

ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah

5  Offer right sacrifices,

and ^fput your trust in the Lord.

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

^gLift up the ^hlight of your face upon us, O Lord!”

7  You have put more joy in my heart

than they have when their grain and wine abound.

8  In peace I will both ⁱlie down and sleep;

for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

1  Give ear to my words, O Lord;

consider my groaning.

2  Give attention to the sound of my cry,

^jmy King and my God,

for to you do I pray.

3  O Lord, ^kin the morning you hear my voice;

in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you⁸ and watch.

4  For you are ^lnot a God who delights in wickedness;

evil may not dwell with you.

5  The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;

you hate all evildoers.

6  You destroy those who speak lies;

the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

7  But I, through the ^mabundance of your steadfast love,

will enter your house.

I will bow down ⁿtoward your holy temple

in the fear of you.

8  ^oLead me, O Lord, in your righteousness

because of my enemies;

^pmake your way straight before me.

9  For there is no truth in their mouth;

their inmost self is destruction;

^qtheir throat is an ^ropen grave;

they flatter with their tongue.

10  Make them bear their guilt, O God;

let them fall 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 take refuge in you ^srejoice;

let them ever sing for joy,

and spread your protection over them,

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

12  For you bless the righteous, O Lord;

you ^ucover him with favor as with a shield.

1  ^vO Lord, rebuke me not in your anger,

nor discipline me in your wrath.

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

^wheal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.

3  My soul also is greatly troubled.

But you, O Lord—how long?

4  Turn, O Lord, ^xdeliver my life;

save me for the sake of your steadfast love.

5  For in death there is no remembrance of you;

in Sheol ^ywho will give you praise?

6  ^zI am weary with my moaning;

every night I flood my bed with tears;

I drench my couch with my weeping.

7  ^aMy eye wastes away because of grief;

it grows weak because of all my foes.

8  ^bDepart from me, all you workers of evil,

for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

9  The Lord has heard my plea;

the Lord accepts my prayer.

10  ^cAll my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;

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

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

^dsave me from all my pursuers and deliver me,

2  lest ^elike a lion they tear my soul apart,

rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

3  O Lord my God, if I have done this,

if there is wrong in my hands,

4  ^fif I have repaid my friend¹¹ with evil

or plundered my enemy without cause,

5  let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,

and let him trample my life to the ground

and lay my glory ^gin the dust. Selah

6  Arise, O Lord, in your anger;

^hlift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;

ⁱawake 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 ^jjudges the peoples;

judge me, O Lord, ^kaccording 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 ^ltest the minds and hearts,¹²

O righteous God!

10  My ^mshield is with God,

who saves the upright in heart.

11  ⁿGod is a righteous judge,

and a God who feels indignation every day.

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

he has bent and readied his bow;

13  he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,

making his arrows fiery shafts.

14  Behold, the wicked man ^oconceives evil

and is pregnant with mischief

and gives birth to lies.

15  He makes a pit, digging it out,

and ^pfalls into the hole that he has made.

16  His mischief returns upon his own head,

and on his own skull his violence descends.

17  ^qI will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,

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

1  O Lord, our Lord,

how ^smajestic is your name in all the earth!

^tYou have set your glory above the heavens.

2  ^uOut of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,

to still the enemy and the avenger.

3  When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

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

4  ^wwhat is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you ^xcare for him?

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

and crowned him with ^yglory and honor.

6  ^zYou have given him dominion over ^athe works of your hands;

^byou 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  ^cI will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;

I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

2  I will be glad and ^dexult in you;

I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

3  When my enemies turn back,

they stumble and perish before¹⁹ your presence.

4  For you have ^emaintained my just cause;

you have sat on the ^fthrone, giving ^grighteous judgment.

5  You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;

you have blotted 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 ^henthroned forever;

he has established his throne for justice,

8  and he ⁱjudges the world with righteousness;

he judges the peoples with uprightness.

9  ^jThe Lord is a stronghold for the ^koppressed,

a stronghold ^lin times of trouble.

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

for you, O Lord, have ⁿnot forsaken those who seek you.

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

^oTell among the peoples his deeds!

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

^qhe does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

13  Be gracious to me, O Lord!

See my affliction from those who hate me,

O you who lift me up from the gates of death,

14  that I may recount all your praises,

that in the gates of the daughter of Zion

I may rejoice in your salvation.

15  The nations have ^rsunk in the pit that they made;

in the ^snet that they hid, their own foot has been caught.

16  The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment;

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

17  The wicked shall ^treturn to Sheol,

all the nations that ^uforget God.

18  For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

19  Arise, O Lord! ^vLet not man prevail;

let the nations be judged before you!

20  Put them in fear, O Lord!

Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah