Book One
The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked
1 Blessed is the man1
who awalks not in bthe counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in cthe way of sinners,
nor dsits in ethe seat of fscoffers;
2 but his gdelight is in the law2 of the Lord,
and on his hlaw he meditates day and night.
3 He is like ia tree
planted by jstreams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its kleaf does not wither.
lIn all that he does, he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like mchaff that the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked nwill not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in othe congregation of the righteous;
6 for the Lord pknows qthe way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
The Reign of the Lord’s Anointed
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his tAnointed, saying,
3 “Let us uburst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
4 He who vsits in the heavens wlaughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his xwrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have yset my King
7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, b“You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and cthe ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall dbreak4 them with ea rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like fa potter’s vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 gServe the Lord with hfear,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,
for his lwrath is quickly kindled.
mBlessed are all who take refuge in him.
Why Do You Hide Yourself?
10 Why, O Lord, do you stand kfar away?
2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
let them nbe caught in the schemes that they have devised.
3 For the wicked oboasts of the desires of his soul,
and the one greedy for gain pcurses1 and qrenounces the Lord.
4 In the pride of his face2 the wicked does not qseek him;3
all his thoughts are, r“There is no God.”
5 His ways prosper at all times;
your judgments are on high, sout of his sight;
as for all his foes, he tpuffs at them.
6 He usays in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
throughout all generations I vshall not meet adversity.”
7 wHis mouth is filled with cursing and xdeceit and yoppression;
zunder his tongue are amischief and biniquity.
8 He sits in ambush in the villages;
in chiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 he lurks in ambush like da lion in his ethicket;
he flurks that he may seize the poor;
he seizes the poor when he draws him into his gnet.
10 The helpless are crushed, sink down,
and fall by his might.
11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
12 jArise, O Lord; O God, klift up your hand;
lforget not the afflicted.
13 Why does the wicked mrenounce God
and say in his heart, “You will not ncall to account”?
14 But you do see, for you onote mischief and vexation,
that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless pcommits himself;
you have been qthe helper of the fatherless.
15 rBreak the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
scall his wickedness to account till you find none.
16 tThe Lord is king forever and ever;
the unations perish from his land.
17 O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
you will vstrengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 to wdo justice to the fatherless and xthe oppressed,
so that yman who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
The Steadfast Love of the Lord
33 hShout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
iPraise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the jlyre;
make melody to him with jthe harp of kten strings!
3 Sing to him la new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in mfaithfulness.
5 He nloves righteousness and justice;
othe earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6 By pthe word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by qthe breath of his mouth all rtheir host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as sa heap;
he tputs the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
9 For uhe spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The Lord vbrings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 wThe counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 xBlessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has ychosen as his heritage!
13 The Lord zlooks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
14 from awhere he sits enthroned he blooks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
16 cThe king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 dThe war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.
18 Behold, ethe eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
fon those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may gdeliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in hfamine.
20 Our soul iwaits for the Lord;
he is our jhelp and kour shield.
21 For our heart is lglad in him,
because we mtrust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent
71 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.
My Refuge and My Fortress
91 He who dwells in athe shelter of the Most High
will abide in bthe shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say1 to the Lord, “My crefuge and my dfortress,
my God, in whom I etrust.”
3 For he will deliver you from fthe snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will gcover you with his pinions,
and under his hwings you will ifind refuge;
his jfaithfulness is ka shield and buckler.
5 lYou will not fear mthe terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and nsee the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your odwelling place—
the Most High, who is my crefuge2—
10 pno evil shall be allowed to befall you,
qno plague come near your tent.
11 rFor he will command his sangels concerning you
to tguard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you ustrike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on vthe lion and the wadder;
the young lion and xthe serpent you will ytrample underfoot.
14 “Because he zholds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he aknows my name.
15 When he bcalls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and chonor him.
16 With dlong life I will satisfy him
and eshow him my salvation.”