1  ^vHow long, O Lord? Will you ^wforget me forever?

How long will you ^xhide your face from me?

2  How long must I take ^ycounsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

3  ^zConsider and answer me, O Lord my God;

^alight up my eyes, lest ^bI sleep the sleep of death,

4  ^clest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

lest my foes rejoice because I am ^dshaken.

5  But I have ^etrusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall ^frejoice in your salvation.

6  I will sing to the Lord,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.

1  ^rVindicate me, O God, and ^sdefend my cause

against an ungodly people,

from ^tthe deceitful and unjust man

deliver me!

2  For you are ^uthe God in whom I take refuge;

why have you ^vrejected me?

Why do I ^wgo about mourning

because of the oppression of the enemy?

3  ^xSend out your light and your truth;

let them lead me;

let them bring me to your ^yholy hill

and to your ^zdwelling!

4  Then I will go to the altar of God,

to God my exceeding joy,

and I will praise you with the lyre,

O God, my God.

5  ^aWhy are you cast down, O my soul,

and why are you in turmoil within me?

^bHope in God; for I shall again praise him,

my salvation and my God.

1  Truly God is good to ^cIsrael,

to those who are ^dpure in heart.

2  But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,

my steps had nearly slipped.

3  ^eFor I was ^fenvious of the arrogant

when I saw the ^gprosperity of the wicked.

4  For they have no pangs until death;

their bodies are fat and sleek.

5  They are not in trouble as others are;

they are not ^hstricken like the rest of mankind.

6  Therefore pride is ⁱtheir necklace;

violence covers them as ^ja garment.

7  Their ^keyes swell out through fatness;

their hearts overflow with follies.

8  They scoff and ^lspeak with malice;

loftily they threaten oppression.

9  They set their mouths against the heavens,

and their tongue struts through the earth.

10  Therefore his people turn back to them,

and find ^mno fault in them.¹

11  And they say, ⁿ“How can God know?

Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

12  Behold, these are the wicked;

always at ease, they ^oincrease in riches.

13  All in vain have I ^pkept my heart clean

and ^qwashed my hands in innocence.

14  For all the day long I have been ^hstricken

and ^rrebuked ^severy morning.

15  If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

I would have betrayed ^tthe generation of your children.

16  But when I thought how to understand this,

it seemed to me ^ua wearisome task,

17  until I went into ^vthe sanctuary of God;

then I discerned their ^wend.

18  Truly you set them in ^xslippery places;

you make them fall to ruin.

19  How they are destroyed ^yin a moment,

swept away utterly by ^zterrors!

20  Like ^aa dream when one awakes,

O Lord, when ^byou rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

21  When my soul was embittered,

when I was pricked in heart,

22  I was ^cbrutish and ignorant;

I was like ^da beast toward you.

23  Nevertheless, I am continually with you;

you ^ehold my right hand.

24  You ^fguide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will ^greceive me to glory.

25  ^hWhom have I in heaven but you?

And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

26  ⁱMy flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is ^jthe strength² of my heart and my ^kportion ^lforever.

27  For behold, those who are ^mfar from you shall perish;

you put an end to everyone who is ⁿunfaithful to you.

28  But for me it is good to ^obe near God;

I have made the Lord God my ^prefuge,

that I may ^qtell of all your works.

1  ^yBless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name!

2  ^yBless the Lord, O my soul,

and ^zforget not all his benefits,

3  who ^aforgives all your iniquity,

who ^bheals all your diseases,

4  who ^credeems your life from the pit,

who ^dcrowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

5  who ^esatisfies you with good

so that your youth is renewed like ^fthe eagle’s.

6  The Lord works ^grighteousness

and justice for all who are oppressed.

7  He made known his ^hways to Moses,

his ⁱacts to the people of Israel.

8  The Lord is ^jmerciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9  ^kHe will not always chide,

nor will he ^lkeep his anger forever.

10  He does not deal with us ^maccording to our sins,

nor repay us according to our iniquities.

11  For ⁿas high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his ^osteadfast love toward ^pthose who fear him;

12  as far as the east is from the west,

so far does he ^qremove our transgressions from us.

13  As ^ra father shows compassion to his children,

so the Lord shows compassion ^pto those who fear him.

14  For he knows our frame;¹

he ^sremembers that we are dust.

15  As for man, his days are like ^tgrass;

he flourishes like ^ua flower of the field;

16  for ^vthe wind passes over it, and ^wit is gone,

and ^xits place knows it no more.

17  But ^ythe steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on ^pthose who fear him,

and his righteousness to ^zchildren’s children,

18  to those who ^akeep his covenant

and ^bremember to do his commandments.

19  The Lord has ^cestablished his throne in the heavens,

and his ^dkingdom rules over all.

20  Bless the Lord, O you ^ehis angels,

you ^fmighty ones who ^gdo his word,

obeying the voice of his word!

21  Bless the Lord, all his ^hhosts,

his ⁱministers, who do his will!

22  ^jBless the Lord, all his works,

in all places of his dominion.

^kBless the Lord, O my soul!

1  Behold, how good and pleasant it is

when ^ebrothers dwell in unity!¹

2  It is like the precious ^foil on ^gthe head,

running down on the beard,

on the beard of Aaron,

running down on ^hthe collar of his robes!

3  It is like ⁱthe dew of ^jHermon,

which falls on ^kthe mountains of Zion!

For there the Lord ^lhas commanded the blessing,

life forevermore.

1  A wise son hears his father’s instruction,

but ^qa scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

2  From the fruit of his mouth a man ^reats what is good,

but the desire of the treacherous ^sis for violence.

3  ^tWhoever guards his mouth preserves his life;

^uhe who opens wide his lips ^vcomes to ruin.

4  ^wThe soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,

while the soul of the diligent ^xis richly supplied.

5  The righteous hates falsehood,

but the wicked brings shame¹ and disgrace.

6  ^yRighteousness guards him whose ^zway is blameless,

but sin overthrows the wicked.

7  ^aOne pretends to be rich,² yet has nothing;

^banother pretends to be poor,³ yet has great wealth.

8  The ransom of a man’s life is his wealth,

but a poor man ^chears no threat.

9  ^dThe light of the righteous rejoices,

but ^ethe lamp of the wicked will be put out.

10  ^fBy insolence comes nothing but strife,

but with those who take advice is wisdom.

11  ^gWealth gained hastily⁴ will dwindle,

but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

12  Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

^hbut a desire fulfilled is ⁱa tree of life.

13  Whoever ^jdespises ^kthe word⁵ brings destruction on himself,

but he who reveres the commandment⁶ will be ^lrewarded.

14  The teaching of the wise is ^ma fountain of life,

that one may ⁿturn away from the snares of death.

15  ^oGood sense wins ^pfavor,

but the way of the treacherous is their ruin.⁷

16  ^qEvery prudent man acts with knowledge,

^rbut a fool flaunts his folly.

17  A wicked messenger falls into trouble,

but ^sa faithful envoy brings healing.

18  Poverty and disgrace come to him who ^tignores instruction,

^ubut whoever ^vheeds reproof is honored.

19  ^wA desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul,

but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools.

20  Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,

but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

21  ^xDisaster⁸ pursues sinners,

^ybut the righteous are rewarded with good.

22  ^zA good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,

but ^athe sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous.

23  The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food,

but it is swept away through ^binjustice.

24  ^cWhoever spares the rod hates his son,

but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.⁹

25  ^dThe righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite,

but the belly of the wicked suffers want.