To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, iwhen Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
kaccording to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
lblot out my transgressions.
2 mWash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and ncleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 oAgainst you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
pso that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was qbrought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth rin the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with shyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be twhiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken urejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right2 spirit within me.
11 vCast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from wbloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For xyou will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
18 aDo good to Zion in your good pleasure;
bbuild up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
To the choirmaster. A cMaskil3 of David, dwhen Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
1 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
2 Your tongue plots destruction,
like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit.
3 You elove evil more than good,
and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.
5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous shall see and fear,
and shall laugh at him, saying,
7 “See the man who would not make
God his refuge,
but ftrusted in the abundance of his riches
and sought refuge in his own destruction!”4
8 But I am like a ggreen olive tree
in the house of God.
I htrust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.
9 I will thank you forever,
because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, ifor it is good,
in the presence of the godly.
To the choirmaster: according to jMahalath. A Maskil5 of David.
1 kThe fool says in his heart, l“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
mthere is none who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,6
who seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
nthere is none who does good,
not even one.
4 oHave those who work evil no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?
5 There they are, in great terror,
where there is no terror!
For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When God prestores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil7 of David, qwhen the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”
1 O God, save me by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.
2 O God, hear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For rstrangers8 have risen against me;
ruthless men seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah
4 Behold, God is my shelper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
5 tHe will return the evil to my enemies;
in your faithfulness uput an end to them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
vI will give thanks to your name, O Lord, wfor it is good.
7 For he has xdelivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has ylooked in triumph on my enemies.
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil9 of David.
1 Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and zhide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
3 because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they drop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7 yes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hurry to find a shelter
from the raging wind and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, adivide their tongues;
for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
11 ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
do not depart from its marketplace.
12 For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
then I could hide from him.
13 But it is you, a man, my equal,
my companion, my bfamiliar friend.
14 We used to take sweet counsel together;
within God’s house we walked cin the throng.
15 Let death steal over them;
let them go down to Sheol dalive;
for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
16 But I call to God,
and the Lord will save me.
17 Evening and emorning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
18 He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for many are arrayed against me.
19 God will give ear and humble them,
he who is enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not change
and do not fear God.
20 My companion10 stretched out his hand against his friends;
he violated his covenant.
21 His speech was smooth as butter,
fyet war was in his heart;
ghis words were softer than oil,
yet they were drawn swords.
22 hCast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
ihe will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
23 But you, O God, will cast them down
into the pit of destruction;
men of blood and treachery
shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.
To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam11 of David, jwhen the Philistines seized him in Gath.
1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man ktramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
3 When I am afraid,
I put my ltrust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; mI shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they injure my cause;12
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They nstir up strife, they lurk;
they owatch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
7 For their crime will they escape?
In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You have kept count of my tossings;13
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in pyour book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that14 qGod is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 I must perform my vows to you, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
13 For you have rdelivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
that I may swalk before God
in the tlight of life.
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam15 of David, uwhen he fled from Saul, vin the cave.
1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
win the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
to God who xfulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who ytramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
4 My soul is in the midst of zlions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 aBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
6 They set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They bdug a pit in my way,
but they have cfallen into it themselves. Selah
7 dMy heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
eI will sing and make melody!
8 Awake, my glory!16
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
9 fI will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your steadfast love is great gto the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam17 of David.
1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?18
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked are hestranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4 They have venom like the ivenom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it does not hear the voice of jcharmers
or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, kbreak the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young llions, O Lord!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away;
when he maims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!19
10 nThe righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his ofeet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a pGod who judges on earth.”
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam20 of David, qwhen Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.
1 rDeliver me from my enemies, O my God;
protect me from those who rise up against me;
2 deliver me from those who work evil,
and save me from bloodthirsty men.
3 For behold, they lie in wait for my life;
fierce men sstir up strife against me.
For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,
4 for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
tAwake, come to meet me, and see!
5 You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.
uRouse yourself to punish all the nations;
spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah
6 Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
7 There they are, bellowing with their mouths
with swords in their lips—
for “Who,” they think,21 “will hear us?”
8 But you, O Lord, vlaugh at them;
you hold all the nations in derision.
9 O my Strength, I will watch for you,
for you, O God, are my fortress.
10 My God in his steadfast love22 will wmeet me;
God will let me xlook in triumph on my enemies.
11 Kill them not, lest my people forget;
make them totter23 by your power and bring them down,
O Lord, our yshield!
12 For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
13 consume them in wrath;
consume them till they are no more,
zthat they may know that God rules over Jacob
to the ends of the earth. Selah
14 Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
15 They wander about for food
and growl if they do not get their fill.
16 But I will sing of your strength;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love ain the morning.
For you have been to me a fortress
and a refuge in the day of my distress.
17 O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, O God, are my fortress,
the God who shows me steadfast love.
To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam24 of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and bwhen Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
1 O God, you have crejected us, broken our defenses;
you have been angry; oh, restore us.
2 You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;
repair its breaches, for it totters.
3 dYou have made your people see hard things;
you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.
4 You have set up a ebanner for those who fear you,
that they may flee to it from the bow.25 Selah
5 fThat your beloved ones may be delivered,
give salvation by your right hand and answer us!
6 God has spoken in his holiness:26
“With exultation I will divide up Shechem
and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet;
Judah is my gscepter.
8 Moab is my washbasin;
upon Edom I cast my shoe;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”27
9 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Have you not hrejected us, O God?
iYou do not go forth, O God, with our armies.
11 Oh, grant us help against the foe,
for vain is the salvation of man!
12 With God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. Of David.
1 Hear my cry, O God,
listen to my prayer;
2 from the end of the earth I call to you
jwhen my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock
that is higher than I,
3 for you have been my refuge,
a kstrong tower against the enemy.
4 Let me ldwell in your tent forever!
Let me take refuge munder the shelter of your wings! Selah
5 For you, O God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 Prolong the life of the king;
nmay his years endure to all generations!
7 May he be enthroned forever before God;
appoint osteadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
8 So will I ever sing praises to your name,
as I perform my vows day after day.
To the choirmaster: according to pJeduthun. A Psalm of David.
1 qFor God alone my soul waits rin silence;
from him comes my salvation.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.
3 How long will all of you attack a man
to batter him,
like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
4 They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.
They take pleasure in falsehood.
They bless with their mouths,
sbut inwardly they curse. Selah
5 tFor God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,
for my hope is from him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
7 On God rests my salvation and my glory;
my mighty rock, my refuge is God.
8 uTrust in him at all times, O people;
vpour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
9 Those of wlow estate are but a breath;
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.
10 Put no xtrust in extortion;
set no vain hopes on robbery;
yif riches increase, set not your heart on them.
11 Once God has spoken;
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God,
12 and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.
For you will render to a man
zaccording to his work.
A Psalm of David, awhen he was in the wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, you are my God; bearnestly I seek you;
cmy soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have dlooked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the ewatches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
they shall be a portion for jackals.
11 But fthe king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;
preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
from the throng of evildoers,
3 who whet their tongues like swords,
who gaim bitter words like arrows,
4 shooting hfrom ambush at the blameless,
shooting at him suddenly and without fear.
5 They hold fast to their evil purpose;
they talk of laying snares secretly,
thinking, “Who can see them?”
6 They search out injustice,
saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”
For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.
7 But God shoots his arrow at them;
they are wounded suddenly.
8 They are brought to ruin, iwith their own tongues turned against them;
all who see them will jwag their heads.
9 Then all mankind fears;
they tell what God has brought about
and ponder what he has done.
10 Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him!
Let all the kupright in heart exult!
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.
1 Praise is due to you,28 O God, in Zion,
and to you shall vows be performed.
2 O you who hear prayer,
lto you shall all flesh come.
3 When iniquities prevail against me,
you matone for our transgressions.
4 nBlessed is the one you choose and bring near,
oto dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!
5 By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
O God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas;
6 the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being pgirded with might;
7 who qstills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the rtumult of the peoples,
8 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
9 You visit the earth and swater it;29
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide their grain,
for so you have prepared it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
11 You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
12 The tpastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
13 the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
uthey shout and sing together for joy.
To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.
1 vShout for joy to God, all the earth;
2 wsing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
4 All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 xCome and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
6 yHe turned the sea into dry land;
zthey passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him,
7 awho rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
9 who has kept our soul among the living
and has not let our bfeet slip.
10 For you, O God, have ctested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
11 You brought us into the net;
you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
12 you let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will perform my vows to you,
14 that which my lips uttered
and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah
16 dCome and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
17 I cried to him with my mouth,
and ehigh praise was on30 my tongue.31
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19 But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
1 fMay God be gracious to us and bless us
and gmake his face to shine upon us, Selah
2 that your way may be known on earth,
your hsaving power among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let iall the peoples praise you!
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you jjudge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you!
6 kThe earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us;
llet all the ends of the earth fear him!
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.
1 mGod shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
and those who hate him shall flee before him!
2 nAs smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
as wax melts before fire,
so the wicked shall perish before God!
3 But the righteous shall be glad;
they shall oexult before God;
they shall be jubilant with joy!
4 Sing to God, psing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the Lord;
exult before him!
5 qFather of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in rhis holy habitation.
6 sGod settles the solitary in a home;
he tleads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
7 O God, uwhen you went out before your people,
vwhen you marched through the wilderness, Selah
8 wthe earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God,32 the God of Israel.
9 Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
you restored your inheritance as it languished;
10 your flock33 found a dwelling in it;
in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.
11 The Lord gives the word;
xthe women who announce the news are a great host:
12 “The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”
The women at home divide the spoil—
13 though you men lie among the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
its pinions with shimmering gold.
14 When the Almighty scatters kings there,
let snow fall on Zalmon.
15 O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
O many-peaked34 mountain, mountain of Bashan!
16 Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
at the mount that yGod desired for his abode,
yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?
17 The zchariots of God are twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands;
the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
18 aYou ascended on high,
leading a host of captives in your train
and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell there.
19 Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bbears us up;
God is our salvation. Selah
20 Our God is a God of salvation,
and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
21 But God will cstrike the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
22 The Lord said,
“I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23 that you may strike your dfeet in their blood,
that ethe tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”
24 Your procession is35 seen, O God,
the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
25 the singers in front, the musicians last,
between them virgins playing tambourines:
26 “Bless God in the great congregation,
the Lord, O you36 who are of Israel’s fountain!”
27 There is Benjamin, fthe least of them, in the lead,
the princes of Judah in their throng,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.
28 Summon your power, O God,37
the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem
gkings shall bear hgifts to you.
30 Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute;
scatter the peoples who delight in war.38
31 Nobles shall come from Egypt;
iCush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God.
32 O jkingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praises to the Lord, Selah
33 to him who krides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
behold, he sends out his voice, his lmighty voice.
34 mAscribe power to God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
and whose power is in the skies.
35 Awesome is God from his39 sanctuary;
the God of Israel—he is the one who ngives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!
To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. Of David.
1 Save me, O God!
For the owaters have come up to my neck.40
2 I sink in deep pmire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the qflood sweeps over me.
3 rI am weary with my crying out;
my throat is parched.
sMy eyes grow dim
with waiting for my God.
4 More in number than the hairs of my head
are tthose who hate me uwithout cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5 O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
6 vLet not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,
O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel.
7 For it is wfor your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
8 xI have become a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother’s sons.
9 For yzeal for your house has consumed me,
and zthe reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and humbled41 my soul with afasting,
it became my reproach.
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,
I became a byword to them.
12 I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make bsongs about me.
13 cBut as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the dabundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14 Deliver me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the edeep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant mercy, fturn to me.
17 gHide not your face from your servant,
for hI am in distress; make haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!
19 You know my reproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20 Reproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none,
and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me poison for food,
22 kLet their own table before them become a snare;
and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.42
23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
and make their loins tremble continually.
24 lPour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 mMay their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom you have struck down,
and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.
27 Add to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you.43
28 Let them be nblotted out of the obook of the living;
let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
29 But pI am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, set me on high!
30 I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 qThis will please the Lord more than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 rWhen the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, let your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy
and sdoes not despise his own people who are prisoners.
34 tLet heaven and earth praise him,
uthe seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion
and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
36 the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who vlove his name shall dwell in it.
To the choirmaster. Of David, wfor the memorial offering.
1 xMake haste, O God, to deliver me!
O Lord, ymake haste to help me!
2 zLet them be put to shame and confusion
who seek my life!
Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
3 Let them turn back because of their shame
who say, a“Aha, Aha!”
4 May all who seek you
rejoice and be bglad in you!
May those who love your salvation
say evermore, “God is great!”
5 But cI am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay!
1 dIn you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
elet me never be put to shame!
2 fIn your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!
3 Be to me a grock of refuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Rescue 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 hope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
hyou are he who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is icontinually of you.
7 I have been as a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all the day.
9 jDo not cast me off in the time of old age;
kforsake me not when my strength is spent.
10 For my enemies speak concerning me;
those who lwatch for my life mconsult together
11 and nsay, “God has forsaken him;
pursue and seize him,
for there is none to deliver him.”
12 O God, obe not far from me;
O my God, pmake haste to help me!
13 May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
with scorn and disgrace may they be qcovered
who seek my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for rtheir 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 seven to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
19 tYour righteousness, O God,
ureaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, vwho is like you?
20 wYou who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will xrevive 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 yI will also praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy,
when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have redeemed.
24 And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been put to shame and disappointed
who sought to do me hurt.
zOf Solomon.
1 Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to the royal son!
2 aMay he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!
3 Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!
4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!
5 May they fear you44 bwhile the sun endures,
and as long as the moon, cthroughout all generations!
6 May he be dlike rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth!
7 In his days may ethe righteous flourish,
and peace abound, till the moon be no more!
8 fMay he have dominion gfrom sea to sea,
and hfrom the River45 to the iends of the earth!
9 May desert tribes bow down before him,
and his enemies jlick the dust!
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands
render him tribute;
may the kkings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts!
11 May all kings fall down before him,
all nations serve him!
12 lFor he mdelivers the needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has nno helper.
13 He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and osaves the lives of the needy.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
and pprecious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live;
may qgold of Sheba be given to him!
May prayer be made for him continually,
and blessings invoked for him all the day!
16 May there be abundance of grain in the land;
on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
rlike the grass of the field!
17 May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun!
sMay people be blessed in him,
all nations call him blessed!
18 tBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does uwondrous things.
19 vBlessed be his glorious name forever;
may wthe whole earth be filled with his glory!
xAmen and Amen!
20 The yprayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are zpure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly aslipped.
3 bFor I was cenvious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity 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 stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them das a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out through efatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak 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 no fault in them.46
11 And they say, f“How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands gin innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
20 hLike a dream when one iawakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was jlike a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your kcounsel,
and afterward you will lreceive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength47 of my heart and mmy portion forever.
27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may ntell of all your works.
A oMaskil48 of Asaph.
1 O God, why do you pcast us off forever?
Why does your anger smoke against the qsheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your congregation, which you have rpurchased of old,
which you have redeemed to be the stribe of your heritage!
Remember Mount Zion, where you have dwelt.
3 Direct your steps to the perpetual ruins;
the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
4 Your foes have roared in the midst of your meeting place;
they set up their own signs for signs.
5 They were like those who swing axes
in a forest of trees.49
6 And all its tcarved wood
they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
7 They uset your sanctuary on fire;
they profaned the dwelling place of your name,
bringing it down to the ground.
8 They said to themselves, v“We will utterly subdue them”;
they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 wWe do not see our signs;
there is no longer any prophet,
and there is none among us who knows how long.
10 xHow long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
11 Why do you yhold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the fold of your garment50 and destroy them!
12 Yet God my King is from of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 zYou divided the sea by your might;
you broke the heads of the sea monsters51 on the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of aLeviathan;
you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
15 bYou split open springs and brooks;
cyou dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 dYours is the day, yours also the night;
eyou have established the heavenly lights and the sun.
17 fYou have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you have made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
and a foolish people reviles your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts;
gdo not forget the life of your poor forever.
20 hHave regard for ithe covenant,
for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame;
let the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, O God, defend your cause;
jremember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
1 kWe give thanks to you, O God;
we give thanks, for your name is near.
We52 recount your wondrous deeds.
2 “At the set time that I appoint
I will judge with equity.
3 When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,
it is I who keep steady its pillars. Selah
4 I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
and lto the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn;
5 do not lift up your horn on high,
or speak with haughty neck.’”
6 For not from the east or from the west
and not from the wilderness comes lifting up,
7 but it is mGod who executes judgment,
nputting down one and lifting up another.
8 For in the hand of the Lord there is a ocup
with foaming wine, well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
and all the wicked of the earth
shall pdrain it down to the dregs.
9 But I will declare it forever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.
1 In Judah God is known;
qhis name is great in Israel.
2 His abode has been established in rSalem,
his dwelling place in Zion.
3 There he broke the flashing arrows,
the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah
4 Glorious are you, more majestic
than the mountains full of prey.
5 The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;
they sank into sleep;
all the men of war
were unable to use their hands.
6 At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both rider and horse lay stunned.
7 But you, you are sto be feared!
tWho can stand before you
when once your anger is roused?
8 From the heavens you uttered judgment;
the earth feared and was still,
9 when God arose to establish judgment,
to save all the humble of the earth. Selah
10 Surely the wrath of man shall praise you;
the remnant53 of wrath you will put on like a belt.
11 Make your vows to the Lord your God and perform them;
let all around him bring ugifts
to him who is to be feared,
12 who cuts off the spirit of princes,
who is to be feared by the kings of the earth.
To the choirmaster: according to vJeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 I wcry aloud to God,
aloud to God, and he will hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I moan;
when I meditate, xmy spirit faints. Selah
4 You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the ydays of old,
the years long ago.
6 I said,54 “Let me remember my song in the znight;
let me meditate in my heart.”
Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever,
and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah
10 Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
11 I will bremember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
12 I will ponder all your work,
and cmeditate on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy.
dWhat god is great like our God?
14 You are the God who works wonders;
you have emade known your might among the peoples.
15 You with your arm fredeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 gWhen the waters hsaw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
indeed, the deep trembled.
17 iThe clouds poured out water;
the skies gave forth thunder;
your jarrows flashed on every side.
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lighted up the world;
kthe earth trembled and shook.
19 Your lway was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.56
20 You mled your people like a nflock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
A oMaskil57 of Asaph.
1 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
2 pI will open my mouth in a qparable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,
that rour fathers have told us.
4 sWe will not hide them from their children,
but ttell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.
5 He established a utestimony in Jacob
vand appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
6 that the next generation might know them,
the children wyet unborn,
and arise and xtell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God
and not yforget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be zlike their fathers,
a astubborn and brebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 The Ephraimites, armed with58 the bow,
turned back on the day of battle.
10 They did not ckeep God’s covenant,
but refused to walk according to his law.
11 They forgot his works
and the wonders that he had shown them.
12 dIn the sight of their fathers he performed wonders
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
13 eHe divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters stand like a heap.
14 fIn the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all the night with a fiery light.
15 gHe split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16 He made streams come out of the rock
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
17 Yet they sinned still more against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They htested God in their heart
by demanding the food they icraved.
19 jThey spoke against God, saying,
“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20 He struck the rock so that water gushed out
and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
or provide meat for his people?”
21 kTherefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
a fire was kindled against Jacob;
his anger rose against Israel,
22 because lthey did not believe in God
and did not trust his saving power.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above
and mopened the doors of heaven,
24 and nhe rained down on them manna to eat
and ogave them the grain of heaven.
25 Man ate of the bread of the angels;
he sent them food in abundance.
26 pHe caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;
27 he rained meat on them like dust,
winged birds like the sand of the seas;
28 he let them fall in the midst of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
29 And they ate and were well filled,
for qhe gave them what they craved.
30 rBut before they had satisfied their craving,
while the food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them,
and he killed the strongest of them
and laid low the young men of Israel.
32 sIn spite of all this, they still sinned;
tdespite his wonders, they did not believe.
33 So he made their days vanish like59 a breath,60
and their years in terror.
34 When he killed them, they sought him;
they repented and sought God earnestly.
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God their uredeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouths;
they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he, being compassionate,
vatoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 He wremembered that they were but xflesh,
a ywind that passes and comes not again.
40 How often they zrebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the desert!
41 They tested God again and again
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power61
or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
43 awhen he performed his signs in Egypt
and his marvels in the fields of Zoan.
44 bHe turned their rivers to blood,
so that they could not drink of their streams.
45 cHe sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
and dfrogs, which destroyed them.
46 eHe gave their crops to the destroying locust
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47 fHe destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamores with frost.
48 gHe gave over their cattle to the hail
and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49 He let loose on them his burning anger,
wrath, indignation, and distress,
a company of destroying angels.
50 He made a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death,
but gave their lives over to the plague.
51 hHe struck down every firstborn in Egypt,
ithe firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 Then he led out his people like sheep
and jguided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid,
kbut the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And he lbrought them to his holy land,
mto the mountain which his right hand had won.
55 He ndrove out nations before them;
ohe apportioned them for a possession
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56 Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High God
and did not keep his testimonies,
57 but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
they twisted plike a deceitful bow.
58 qFor they provoked him to anger with their high places;
they moved him to jealousy with their idols.
59 When God heard, he was full of wrath,
and he utterly rrejected Israel.
60 sHe forsook his dwelling at Shiloh,
the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
61 and delivered his tpower to captivity,
uhis glory to the hand of the foe.
62 He gave his people over to the sword
and vented his wrath on his heritage.
63 Fire devoured their young men,
and their young women had no marriage song.
64 Their vpriests fell by the sword,
and their wwidows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord xawoke as from sleep,
like a strong man shouting because of wine.
66 And he put his adversaries to rout;
he put them to everlasting shame.
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, ywhich he loves.
69 He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
like the earth, which he has founded forever.
70 He zchose David his servant
and took him afrom the sheepfolds;
71 from following the nursing ewes he brought him
to bshepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his inheritance.
72 cWith upright heart he shepherded them
and guided them with his skillful hand.
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, dthe nations have come into your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple;
they have laid Jerusalem in eruins.
2 They have given the fbodies of your servants
to the birds of the heavens for food,
the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there was gno one to bury them.
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
hmocked and derided by those around us.
5 iHow long, O Lord? jWill you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 kPour out your anger on the nations
that do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
that do not call upon your name!
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