Give Ear to My Voice
A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, I call upon you; thasten to me!
Give ear to my voice when I call to you!
2 Let umy prayer be counted as incense before you,
3 xSet a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
ykeep watch over the door of my lips!
4 zDo not let my heart incline to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with men who awork iniquity,
and blet me not eat of their delicacies!
5 cLet 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 dmy prayer is continually against their evil deeds.
6 When their judges are ethrown over the cliff,1
then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant.
7 As when one plows and breaks up the earth,
8 But gmy eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord;
hin you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!3
9 Keep me from ithe trap that they have laid for me
and from the snares of evildoers!
10 Let the wicked jfall into their own nets,
while I pass by safely.
The Year of the Lord’s Favor
1 sThe Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has tanointed me
to bring good news to the poor;1
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and uthe opening of the prison to those who are bound;2
2 vto proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
wand the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
xto give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
ythe oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
zthat they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, athat he may be glorified.3
4 bThey shall build up the ancient ruins;
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
5 cStrangers shall stand and tend your flocks;
foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;
6 dbut you shall be called the priests of the Lord;
they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;
eyou shall eat the wealth of the nations,
and in their glory you shall boast.
7 fInstead of your shame there shall be a double portion;
instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;
therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;
they shall have everlasting joy.
8 gFor I the Lord love justice;
I hate robbery and wrong;4
hI will faithfully give them their recompense,
iand I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their offspring shall be known among the nations,
and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge them,
that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.
10 jI will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my soul shall exult in my God,
kfor he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself llike a priest with a beautiful headdress,
mand as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord God will cause nrighteousness and praise
to sprout up before all the nations.