137  By the waters of ^lBabylon,

^mthere we sat down and wept,

when we remembered Zion.

2  On the willows¹ there

we hung up our lyres.

3  For there our captors

required of us songs,

and our tormentors, mirth, saying,

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4  How shall we sing the Lord’s song

in a foreign land?

5  If I ⁿforget you, O Jerusalem,

let my right hand forget its skill!

6  Let my ^otongue stick to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem

above my highest joy!

7  ^pRemember, O Lord, against the Edomites

^qthe day of Jerusalem,

how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,

down to its foundations!”

8  O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,

blessed shall he be who ^rrepays you

with what you have done to us!

9  Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones

and ^sdashes them against the rock!

138  ^tI give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

before the gods I sing your praise;

2  I bow down ^utoward your holy temple

and ^vgive thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things

your name and your word.¹

3  ^wOn the day I called, you answered me;

my strength of soul you increased.²

4  ^xAll the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,

for they have heard the words of your mouth,

5  and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

for great is the glory of the Lord.

6  For though the Lord is ^yhigh, he regards the lowly,

^zbut the haughty he knows from afar.

7  ^aThough I walk in the midst of trouble,

you preserve my life;

you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

and your right hand delivers me.

8  The Lord will ^bfulfill his purpose for me;

your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not ^cforsake the work of your hands.

139  O Lord, you have ^dsearched me and known me!

2  You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

3  ^eYou search out my path and my lying down

and are ^facquainted with all my ways.

4  Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

5  You hem me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

6  ^gSuch knowledge is ^htoo wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.

7  ⁱWhere shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I ^jflee from your presence?

8  ^kIf I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I ^lmake my bed in Sheol, ^myou are there!

9  If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10  even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

11  If I say, ⁿ“Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

12  ^oeven the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

13  For ^pyou formed my inward parts;

you ^qknitted me together in my mother’s womb.

14  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.¹

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

15  My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16  Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in ^ryour book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

17  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

^sHow vast is the sum of them!

18  If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

19  Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!

O men of blood, depart from me!

20  They speak against you with malicious intent;

your enemies ^ttake your name in vain.²

21  ^uDo I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

22  I hate them with complete hatred;

I count them my enemies.

23  Search me, O God, and know my heart!

^vTry me and know my thoughts!³

24  And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and ^wlead me in the way everlasting!⁴

140  ^xDeliver me, O Lord, from evil men;

preserve me from violent men,

2  who plan evil things in their heart

and ^ystir up wars continually.

3  They make their tongue sharp as a serpent’s,

and ^zunder their lips is the venom of asps. Selah

4  Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;

preserve me from violent men,

who have planned to trip up my feet.

5  The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,

and with cords they have spread a net;¹

beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah

6  ^aI say to the Lord, You are my God;

give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!

7  O Lord, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,

you have covered my head in the day of battle.

8  Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;

do not further their² evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah

9  As for the head of those who surround me,

^blet the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!

10  ^cLet burning coals fall upon them!

Let them be cast into fire,

into miry pits, no more to rise!

11  Let not the slanderer be established in the land;

let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!

12  I know that ^dthe Lord will ^emaintain the cause of the afflicted,

and will execute justice for the needy.

13  Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;

^fthe upright shall dwell in your presence.

141  O Lord, I call upon you; ^ghasten to me!

Give ear to my voice when I call to you!

2  Let my ^hprayer be counted as incense before you,

and the lifting up of my hands as ⁱthe evening sacrifice!

3  ^jSet a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

^kkeep watch over the door of my lips!

4  Do not let my heart incline to any evil,

to busy myself with wicked deeds

in company with men who work iniquity,

and let me not eat of their delicacies!

5  ^lLet a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;

let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head;

let my head not refuse it.

Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.

6  When their judges are thrown over the cliff,¹

then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant.

7  As when one plows and breaks up the earth,

so shall our bones be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.²

8  But my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord;

in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!³

9  Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me

and from the snares of evildoers!

10  Let the wicked fall into their own ^mnets,

while I pass by safely.