1  ^lBe merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

for in you my soul ^mtakes refuge;

in ⁿthe shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

^otill the storms of destruction pass by.

2  I cry out to God Most High,

to God who ^pfulfills his purpose for me.

3  ^qHe will send from heaven and save me;

he will put to shame ^rhim who tramples on me. Selah

^sGod will send out ^this steadfast love and his faithfulness!

4  My soul is in the midst of ^ulions;

I lie down amid fiery beasts—

the children of man, whose ^vteeth are spears and arrows,

whose ^wtongues are sharp swords.

5  ^xBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

6  They set ^ya net for my steps;

my soul was ^zbowed down.

They ^adug a pit in my way,

but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah

7  ^bMy heart is ^csteadfast, O God,

my heart is steadfast!

I will sing and make melody!

8  ^dAwake, ^emy glory!²

Awake, ^fO harp and lyre!

I will awake the dawn!

9  I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to you among the nations.

10  For your ^gsteadfast love is great to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the clouds.

11  ^xBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

1  Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?⁴

Do you judge the children of man uprightly?

2  No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

your hands ^jdeal out violence on earth.

3  The wicked are ^kestranged from the womb;

they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

4  ^lThey have venom like the venom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

5  so that it ^mdoes not hear the voice of charmers

or of the cunning enchanter.

6  O God, ⁿbreak the teeth in their mouths;

tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!

7  Let them ^ovanish like water that runs away;

when he ^paims his arrows, let them be blunted.

8  Let them be like the snail ^othat dissolves into slime,

like ^qthe stillborn child who never sees the sun.

9  Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of ^rthorns,

whether green or ablaze, may he ^ssweep them away!⁵

10  ^tThe righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

he will ^ubathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.

11  Mankind will say, “Surely there is ^va reward for the righteous;

surely there is a God who ^wjudges on earth.”

1  ^aDeliver me from my enemies, O my God;

^bprotect me from those who ^crise up against me;

2  deliver me from ^dthose who work evil,

and save me from ^ebloodthirsty men.

3  For behold, they ^flie in wait for my life;

fierce men ^gstir up strife against me.

^hFor no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,

4  for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.

ⁱAwake, come to meet me, and see!

5  You, ^jLord God of hosts, are God of Israel.

Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;

spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

6  Each evening they ^kcome back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

7  There they are, ^lbellowing with their mouths

with ^mswords in their lips—

for ⁿ“Who,” they think,⁷ “will hear us?”

8  But you, O Lord, ^olaugh at them;

you hold all the nations in derision.

9  O my Strength, I will watch for you,

for you, O God, are ^pmy fortress.

10  ^qMy God in his steadfast love^{8 r}will meet me;

God will let me ^slook in triumph on my enemies.

11  Kill them not, lest my people forget;

make them totter⁹ by your power and ^tbring them down,

O Lord, our ^ushield!

12  For ^vthe 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  ^wconsume them in wrath;

consume them till they are no more,

that they may ^xknow that God rules over Jacob

to ^ythe ends of the earth. Selah

14  ^zEach evening they come back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

15  They ^awander 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 in the morning.

For you have been to me ^ba fortress

and ^ca refuge in ^dthe day of my distress.

17  O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,

for you, O God, ^bare my fortress,

^ethe God who shows me steadfast love.

1  O God, ^jyou have rejected us, ^kbroken our defenses;

you have been angry; ^loh, restore us.

2  You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;

^mrepair its breaches, for it totters.

3  ⁿYou have made your people see hard things;

^oyou have given us ^pwine to drink that made us stagger.

4  You have set up ^qa banner for those who fear you,

that they may flee to it ^rfrom the bow.¹¹ Selah

5  ^sThat your ^tbeloved ones may be delivered,

give salvation by your right hand and answer us!

6  God has spoken ^uin his holiness:¹²

“With exultation ^vI will divide up ^wShechem

and portion out the Vale of ^xSuccoth.

7  ^yGilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;

^zEphraim is ^amy helmet;

Judah is my ^bscepter.

8  ^cMoab is my washbasin;

upon Edom I ^dcast my shoe;

over ^ePhilistia I shout in triumph.”¹³

9  Who will bring me to the fortified city?

^fWho will lead me to Edom?

10  Have you not ^grejected us, O God?

You ^hdo not go forth, O God, with our armies.

11  Oh, grant us help against the foe,

for ⁱvain is the salvation of man!

12  With God we shall ^jdo valiantly;

it is he who will ^ktread down our foes.

1  Hear my cry, O God,

^mlisten to my prayer;

2  from the end of the earth I call to you

when my heart is ⁿfaint.

Lead me to ^othe rock

that is higher than I,

3  for you have been ^pmy refuge,

a strong ^qtower against the enemy.

4  Let me ^rdwell in your tent forever!

Let me take refuge under ^sthe 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  ^tProlong ^uthe life of the king;

may his years endure to all generations!

7  May he be enthroned forever before God;

appoint ^vsteadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!

8  So will I ever sing praises to your name,

as I ^wperform my vows day after day.

1  For God alone ^ymy soul ^zwaits in silence;

from him comes my salvation.

2  ^aHe alone is my rock and my salvation,

my ^bfortress; ^cI shall not be greatly shaken.

3  How long will all of you attack a man

to batter him,

like ^da leaning wall, a tottering fence?

4  They only plan to thrust him down from his ^ehigh position.

They take pleasure in falsehood.

^fThey bless with their mouths,

but inwardly they curse. Selah

5  For God alone, O ^ymy soul, wait in silence,

for my hope is from him.

6  ^aHe only is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

7  On God rests my ^gsalvation and my glory;

my mighty rock, ^hmy refuge is God.

8  ⁱTrust in him at all times, O people;

^jpour out your heart before him;

God is ^ha refuge for us. Selah

9  ^kThose of low estate are but a breath;

those of high estate ^lare a delusion;

in the balances they go up;

^kthey are together lighter than a breath.

10  Put no trust in extortion;

^mset no vain hopes on robbery;

ⁿif riches increase, set not your heart on them.

11  ^oOnce God has spoken;

^otwice have I heard this:

that ^ppower belongs to God,

12  and that to you, O Lord, ^qbelongs steadfast love.

For you will ^rrender to a man

according to his work.

1  O God, you are my God; ^tearnestly I seek you;

^umy soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in ^va dry and weary land where there is no water.

2  So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

beholding ^wyour power and glory.

3  Because your ^xsteadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you.

4  So I will bless you ^yas long as I live;

in your ^zname I will ^alift up my hands.

5  My soul will be ^bsatisfied as with fat and rich food,

and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,

6  when I remember you ^cupon my bed,

and meditate on you in ^cthe watches of the night;

7  for you have been my help,

and in ^dthe shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

8  My soul ^eclings to you;

your right hand ^fupholds me.

9  But those who seek to destroy my life

^gshall go down into ^hthe 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 ⁱthe king shall rejoice in God;

all who ^jswear by him shall exult,

^kfor the mouths of ^lliars will be stopped.

1  Hear my voice, O God, in my ^mcomplaint;

preserve my life from dread of the enemy.

2  Hide me from ⁿthe secret plots of the wicked,

from the throng of evildoers,

3  who ^owhet their tongues like swords,

who ^paim bitter words like arrows,

4  shooting from ^qambush at the blameless,

shooting at him suddenly and ^rwithout fear.

5  They ^shold fast to their evil purpose;

they talk of ^tlaying snares secretly,

thinking, ^u“Who can see them?”

6  They search out injustice,

saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”

For ^vthe inward mind and heart of a man are deep.

7  ^wBut God shoots his arrow at them;

they are wounded suddenly.

8  They are brought to ruin, with their own ^xtongues turned against them;

all who ^ysee them will ^zwag their heads.

9  Then all mankind ^yfears;

they ^atell what God has brought about

and ponder what he has done.

10  Let ^bthe righteous one rejoice in the Lord

and ^ctake refuge in him!

Let all ^dthe upright in heart exult!

1  Praise ^eis due to you,¹⁴ O God, in Zion,

and to you shall ^fvows be performed.

2  O you who ^ghear prayer,

to you ^hshall all flesh come.

3  When ⁱiniquities prevail against me,

you ^jatone for our transgressions.

4  ^kBlessed is the one you choose and bring near,

to ^ldwell in your courts!

We shall be ^msatisfied with the goodness of your house,

the holiness of your temple!

5  By ⁿawesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,

O God of our salvation,

the hope of all ^othe 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,

^rthe tumult 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;¹⁵

you greatly enrich it;

^tthe river of God is full of water;

^uyou provide their grain,

for so you have prepared it.

10  You water its furrows abundantly,

settling its ridges,

softening it with ^vshowers,

and blessing its growth.

11  You crown the year with your bounty;

your wagon tracks ^woverflow with abundance.

12  ^xThe pastures of the wilderness overflow,

the hills ^ygird themselves with joy,

13  ^zthe meadows clothe themselves with flocks,

the valleys deck themselves with grain,

they ^ashout and sing together for joy.

1  ^bShout for joy to God, all the earth;

2  sing the glory of his name;

^cgive to him glorious praise!

3  Say to God, ^d“How awesome are your deeds!

So great is your power that your enemies ^ecome cringing to you.

4  ^fAll the earth worships you

and sings praises to you;

they sing praises to your name.” Selah

5  ^gCome and see what God has done:

^dhe is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

6  He ^hturned the sea into dry land;

they ⁱpassed through the river on foot.

There did we rejoice in him,

7  who rules by his might forever,

whose ^jeyes 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 ^khas not let our feet slip.

10  For you, O God, have ^ltested us;

you have tried us as silver is tried.

11  You brought us into ^mthe net;

you laid a crushing burden on our backs;

12  you let men ⁿride over our heads;

we went through fire and through ^owater;

yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

13  I will come into your house with burnt offerings;

I will ^pperform my vows to you,

14  that which my lips uttered

and my mouth promised ^qwhen 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  ^rCome 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 high praise was on¹⁶ my tongue.¹⁷

18  If I had ^scherished iniquity in my heart,

^tthe Lord would not have listened.

19  But truly ^uGod 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!

1  May God ^wbe gracious to us and bless us

and make his face to ^xshine upon us, Selah

2  that ^yyour way may be known on earth,

your ^zsaving power among all nations.

3  ^aLet the peoples praise you, O God;

let all the peoples praise you!

4  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,

for you ^bjudge the peoples with equity

and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

5  ^aLet the peoples praise you, O God;

let all the peoples praise you!

6  The earth has ^cyielded its increase;

God, our God, shall bless us.

7  God shall bless us;

let ^dall the ends of the earth fear him!

1  ^eGod shall arise, his enemies shall be ^fscattered;

and those who hate him shall flee before him!

2  As ^gsmoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;

^has wax melts before fire,

so the wicked shall perish before God!

3  But ⁱthe righteous shall be glad;

they shall exult before God;

they shall be jubilant with joy!

4  Sing to God, ^jsing praises to his name;

^klift up a song to him who ^lrides through ^mthe deserts;

his name is ⁿthe Lord;

exult before him!

5  ^oFather of the fatherless and ^pprotector of widows

is God in his holy habitation.

6  God ^qsettles the solitary in a home;

he ^rleads out the prisoners to prosperity,

but ^sthe rebellious dwell in ^ta parched land.

7  O God, when you ^uwent out before your people,

^vwhen you marched through ^wthe wilderness, Selah

8  ^xthe earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,

before God, the One of Sinai,

before God,¹⁸ the God of Israel.

9  ^yRain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;

you restored your inheritance as it languished;

10  your flock¹⁹ found a dwelling in it;

in your goodness, O God, you ^zprovided for the needy.

11  The Lord gives ^athe word;

^bthe women who announce the news are a great host:

12  ^c“The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”

The women at home ^ddivide the spoil—

13  though you men lie among ^ethe 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 ^fZalmon.

15  O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;

O many-peaked²⁰ mountain, mountain of Bashan!

16  Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,

at the mount that God ^gdesired for his abode,

yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?

17  ^hThe chariots of God are twice ten thousand,

thousands upon thousands;

the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.

18  ⁱYou ascended on high,

^jleading a host of captives in your train

and ^kreceiving gifts among men,

even among ^lthe rebellious, ^mthat the Lord God may dwell there.

19  Blessed be the Lord,

who daily ⁿbears us up;

God is our salvation. Selah

20  Our God is a God of salvation,

^oand to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.

21  ^pBut God will strike 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 ^qfrom Bashan,

^rI will bring them back from the depths of the sea,

23  that you may ^sstrike your feet in their blood,

that ^tthe tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”

24  Your procession is²¹ seen, O God,

the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—

25  ^uthe singers in front, ^vthe musicians last,

between them ^wvirgins playing tambourines:

26  ^x“Bless God in the great congregation,

the Lord, O you²² who are of ^yIsrael’s fountain!”

27  There is ^zBenjamin, the least of them, in the lead,

the princes of Judah in their throng,

the princes of ^aZebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

28  ^bSummon your power, O God,²³

the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.

29  Because of your temple at Jerusalem

kings shall ^cbear gifts to you.

30  Rebuke ^dthe beasts that dwell among the reeds,

the herd of ^ebulls with the calves of the peoples.

^fTrample underfoot those who lust after tribute;

scatter the peoples who delight in war.²⁴