1  In the Lord I take refuge;

how can you say to my soul,

^z“Flee like a bird to your mountain,

2  for behold, the wicked ^abend the bow;

^bthey have fitted their arrow to the string

to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;

3  if ^cthe foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?”¹

4  ^dThe Lord is in his holy temple;

the Lord’s ^ethrone is in heaven;

his eyes see, his eyelids ^ftest the children of man.

5  The Lord ^gtests the righteous,

but ^hhis soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

6  Let him rain coals on the wicked;

ⁱfire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be ^jthe portion of their cup.

7  For the Lord is righteous;

he ^kloves righteous deeds;

^lthe upright shall behold his face.

1  ^eBlessed is the one who considers the poor!¹

^fIn the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;

2  the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;

he is called blessed in the land;

you ^gdo not give him up to the will of his enemies.

3  The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;

in his illness you restore him to full health.²

4  As for me, I said, “O Lord, ^hbe gracious to me;

ⁱheal me,³ for I have sinned against you!”

5  My enemies say of me in malice,

“When will he die, and his name perish?”

6  And when one comes to see me, ^jhe utters empty words,

while his heart gathers iniquity;

when he goes out, he tells it abroad.

7  All who hate me whisper together about me;

they imagine the worst for me.⁴

8  They say, “A deadly thing is poured out⁵ on him;

he will not rise again from where he lies.”

9  Even my ^kclose friend in whom I trusted,

who ^late my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

10  But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,

and raise me up, that I may repay them!

11  By this I know that ^myou delight in me:

my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.

12  But ⁿyou have upheld me because of ^omy integrity,

and ^pset me in your presence ^qforever.

13  ^rBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

Amen and Amen.

1  ⁱIn you, O Lord, do I take refuge;

let me never be put to shame!

2  In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;

incline your ear to me, and save me!

3  Be to me a rock of ^jrefuge,

to which I may continually come;

you have ^kgiven the command to save me,

for you are my ^lrock and my fortress.

4  ^mRescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.

5  For you, O Lord, are my ⁿhope,

my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

6  Upon you I have leaned ^ofrom before my birth;

you are he who ^ptook me from my mother’s womb.

My praise is continually of you.

7  I have been as ^qa portent to many,

but you are my strong refuge.

8  My ^rmouth is filled with your praise,

and with your glory all the day.

9  ^sDo not cast me off in the time of old age;

forsake me not when my strength is spent.

10  For my enemies speak concerning me;

those who ^twatch for my life ^uconsult together

11  and say, “God has forsaken him;

pursue and seize him,

for there is none to deliver him.”

12  O God, be not ^vfar from me;

O my God, ^wmake haste to help me!

13  May my accusers be ^xput to shame and consumed;

^ywith scorn and disgrace may they be covered

who ^zseek my hurt.

14  But I will ^ahope continually

and will ^bpraise you yet more and more.

15  My ^cmouth will tell of your righteous acts,

of your deeds of salvation all the day,

for ^dtheir number is past my knowledge.

16  With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;

I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

17  O God, from my youth you have taught me,

and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

18  So even to ^eold age and gray hairs,

O God, ^fdo not forsake me,

until I proclaim your might to another generation,

your power to all those to come.

19  Your ^grighteousness, O God,

reaches the high heavens.

You who have done ^hgreat things,

O God, ⁱwho is like you?

20  You who have ^jmade me see many troubles and calamities

will ^krevive me again;

from the depths of the earth

you will bring me up again.

21  You will increase my greatness

and comfort me again.

22  I will also praise you with ^lthe harp

for your faithfulness, O my God;

I will sing praises to you with the lyre,

O ^mHoly One of Israel.

23  My lips will shout for joy,

when I sing praises to you;

my soul also, which you have ⁿredeemed.

24  And my ^otongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,

for they have been ^pput to shame and disappointed

who sought to do me hurt.

1  I will sing of ^csteadfast love and justice;

to you, O Lord, I will make music.

2  I will ^dponder the way ^ethat is blameless.

Oh when will you ^fcome to me?

I will ^gwalk with ^hintegrity of heart

within my house;

3  I will not set before my eyes

anything ⁱthat is worthless.

I hate the work of those who ^jfall away;

it shall not cling to me.

4  ^kA perverse heart shall be far from me;

I will ^lknow nothing of evil.

5  Whoever slanders his neighbor ^msecretly

I will ⁿdestroy.

Whoever has a ^ohaughty look and an ^parrogant heart

I will not endure.

6  I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,

that they may dwell with me;

he who walks in ^qthe way that is blameless

shall minister to me.

7  No one who ^rpractices deceit

shall dwell in my house;

no one who utters lies

shall ^scontinue before my eyes.

8  ^tMorning by morning I will destroy

all the wicked in the land,

^ucutting off all ^vthe evildoers

from ^wthe city of the Lord.

1  O Lord, my heart is not ^slifted up;

my eyes are not ^traised too high;

I do not ^uoccupy myself with things

too great and ^vtoo marvelous for me.

2  But I have calmed and quieted my soul,

like a weaned ^wchild with its mother;

like a weaned child is my soul within me.

3  ^xO Israel, hope in the Lord

from this time forth and forevermore.

1  ^aA false balance is an abomination to the Lord,

^bbut a just weight is his delight.

2  ^cWhen pride comes, then comes disgrace,

but with ^dthe humble is wisdom.

3  ^eThe integrity of the upright guides them,

^fbut the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.

4  ^gRiches do not profit in the day of wrath,

^hbut righteousness delivers from death.

5  The righteousness of the blameless ⁱkeeps his way straight,

but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

6  ^hThe righteousness of the upright delivers them,

but the treacherous ^jare taken captive by their lust.

7  When the wicked dies, his ^khope will perish,

and ^lthe expectation of wealth¹ perishes too.

8  ^mThe righteous is delivered from trouble,

and the wicked walks into it instead.

9  With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor,

but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.

10  ⁿWhen it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,

and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.

11  By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,

but ^oby the mouth of the wicked ^pit is overthrown.

12  Whoever ^qbelittles his neighbor lacks sense,

but a man of understanding remains silent.

13  Whoever ^rgoes about slandering reveals secrets,

but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.

14  Where there is ^sno guidance, a people falls,

^sbut in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

15  ^tWhoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm,

but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure.

16  ^uA gracious woman gets honor,

and ^vviolent men get riches.

17  ^wA man who is kind benefits himself,

but a cruel man hurts himself.

18  The wicked earns deceptive wages,

but one who ^xsows righteousness gets a sure reward.

19  Whoever is steadfast in righteousness ^ywill live,

but ^zhe who pursues evil will die.

20  Those of ^acrooked heart are ^ban abomination to the Lord,

but those of ^cblameless ways are ^dhis delight.

21  ^eBe assured, ^fan evil person will not go unpunished,

but ^gthe offspring of the righteous will be delivered.

22  Like ^ha gold ring in a pig’s snout

is a beautiful woman without discretion.

23  The desire of the righteous ends only in good,

ⁱthe expectation of the wicked in wrath.

24  ^jOne gives ^kfreely, yet grows all the richer;

another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

25  ^lWhoever brings blessing ^mwill be enriched,

and ⁿone who waters will himself be watered.

26  ^oThe people curse him who holds back grain,

but ^pa blessing is on the head of him who ^qsells it.

27  Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor,²

but evil comes to ^rhim who searches for it.

28  Whoever ^strusts in his riches will fall,

but the righteous will ^tflourish like a green leaf.

29  Whoever ^utroubles his own household will ^vinherit the wind,

and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.

30  The fruit of the righteous is ^wa tree of life,

and whoever ^xcaptures souls is wise.

31  If ^ythe righteous is repaid on earth,

how much more the wicked and the sinner!