45  My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;

I address my verses to the king;

my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

2  You are the most handsome of the sons of men;

grace is poured upon your lips;

therefore God has blessed you forever.

3  Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,

in your splendor and majesty!

4  In your majesty ride out victoriously

for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;

let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!

5  Your arrows are sharp

in the heart of the king’s enemies;

the peoples fall under you.

6  ^eYour throne, O God, is forever and ever.

The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;

7  you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you

with the ^foil of gladness beyond your companions;

8  your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.

From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;

9  daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;

at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.

10  Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:

forget your people and your father’s house,

11  and the king will desire your beauty.

Since he is your lord, bow to him.

12  The people² of Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,

the richest of the people.³

13  All glorious is the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.

14  In many-colored robes she is led to the king,

with her virgin companions following behind her.

15  With joy and gladness they are led along

as they enter the palace of the king.

16  In place of your fathers shall be your sons;

you will make them princes in all the earth.

17  I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;

therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

46  ^hGod is our refuge and strength,

a very present² help in trouble.

2  Therefore ⁱwe will not fear though the earth give way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

3  though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

4  There is a ^jriver whose streams make glad the ^kcity of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High.

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

God will help her when morning dawns.

6  The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

he utters his voice, the earth melts.

7  The Lord of hosts is ^lwith us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

8  ^mCome, behold the works of the Lord,

how he has brought desolations on the earth.

9  ⁿHe makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the chariots with fire.

10  “Be still, and ^oknow that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!”

11  The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

47  ^pClap your hands, all peoples!

^qShout to God with loud songs of joy!

2  For the Lord, the Most High, is ^rto be feared,

a great king over all the earth.

3  ^sHe subdued peoples under us,

and nations under our feet.

4  He chose our heritage for us,

the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah

5  God has gone up with a shout,

the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

6  Sing praises to God, sing praises!

Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

7  For God is the ^tKing of all the earth;

sing praises with a psalm!¹

8  God ^ureigns over the nations;

God sits on his holy throne.

9  The princes of the peoples gather

as the people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God;

he is highly exalted!

48  ^vGreat is the Lord and greatly to be praised

in the city of our God!

His holy mountain, 2 beautiful in elevation,

is ^wthe joy of all the earth,

Mount Zion, in the far north,

the city of the great King.

3  Within her citadels God

has made himself known as a fortress.

4  For behold, the kings assembled;

they came on together.

5  As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;

they were in panic; they took to flight.

6  Trembling took hold of them there,

anguish as of a woman in labor.

7  By the ^xeast wind you shattered

the ships of Tarshish.

8  As we have heard, so have we seen

in the ^ycity of the Lord of hosts,

in the city of our God,

which God will establish forever. Selah

9  We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,

in the midst of your temple.

10  ^zAs your name, O God,

so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.

Your right hand is filled with righteousness.

11  Let Mount Zion be ^aglad!

Let the daughters of Judah rejoice

because of your judgments!

12  Walk about Zion, go around her,

number her towers,

13  consider well her ramparts,

go through her citadels,

that you may ^btell the next generation

14  that this is God,

our God forever and ever.

He will guide us forever.¹

49  Hear this, all peoples!

Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

2  both ^clow and high,

rich and poor together!

3  My mouth shall speak wisdom;

the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.

4  I will incline my ear to a proverb;

I will solve my ^driddle to the music of the lyre.

5  Why should I fear in times of trouble,

when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,

6  those who trust in their wealth

and boast of the abundance of their riches?

7  Truly no man can ransom another,

or give to God the price of his life,

8  for the ransom of their life is costly

and can never suffice,

9  that he should live on forever

and never see the pit.

10  For he sees that ^eeven the wise die;

the fool and the stupid alike must perish

and leave their wealth to others.

11  Their graves are their homes forever,¹

their dwelling places to all generations,

though they called lands by their own names.

12  Man in his pomp will not remain;

he is ^flike the beasts that perish.

13  This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;

yet after them people approve of their boasts.² Selah

14  Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;

death shall be their shepherd,

and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.

Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.

15  But God will ^gransom my soul from the power of Sheol,

for he will ^hreceive me. Selah

16  ⁱBe not afraid when a man becomes rich,

when the glory of his house increases.

17  For when he dies ^jhe will carry nothing away;

his glory will not go down after him.

18  For though, while he lives, ^khe counts himself blessed—

and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—

19  his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,

who will never again see ^llight.

20  Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.