Psalms 31-60
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PIB reduced verse number chapters are derived from the World English Bible
The verse numbers that have been retained are either at the beginning of paragraphs or every 5 - 10 verses depending on the amount of text. The paragraph numbers below are designed to aid locating verses while encourage reading these in a wider context.
The following full version of Psalms, Chapters 31 - 60, is machine readable in Chrome and Safari [Edit > Speech > Start Speaking] or Microsoft Edge [Settings and more > Read aloud]
[HINT: To find Bible verses, use Ctrl+F (PC) or command+F (Mac) and copy in a short phrase from the PIB Scripture. E.g. 2-4 words, without the book name or verse numbers.]
Chapter: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 - 32 - 33 - 34 - 35 - 36 - 37 - 38 - 39 - 40 - 41 - 42 - 43 - 44 - 45 - 46 - 47 - 48 - 49 - 50
51 - 52 - 53 - 54 - 55 - 56 - 57 - 58 - 59 - 60 - 61 - 62 - 63 - 64 - 65 - 66 - 67 - 68 - 69 - 70 - 71 - 72 - 73 - 74 - 75 - 76 - 77 - 78 - 79 - 80 - 81 - 82 - 83 - 84 - 85 - 86 - 87 - 88 - 89 - 90 - 91 - 92 - 93 - 94 - 95 - 96 - 97 - 98 - 99 - 100
101 - 102 - 103 - 104 - 105 - 106 - 107 - 108 - 109 - 110 - 111 - 112 - 113 - 114 - 115 - 116 - 117 - 118 - 119 - 120 - 121 - 122 - 123 - 124 - 125 - 126 - 127 - 128 - 129 - 130 - 131 - 132 - 133 - 134 - 135 - 136 - 137 - 138 - 139 - 140 - 141 - 142 - 143 - 144 - 145 - 146 - 147 - 148 - 149 - 150
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
Psalm 31
Psalm 31 [1.] In you, Yahweh, I take refuge.
Let me never be disappointed.
Deliver me in your righteousness.
Bow down your ear to me.
Deliver me speedily.
Be to me a strong rock,
a house of defense to save me.
For you are my rock and my fortress,
therefore for your name’s sake lead me and guide me.
Pluck me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me,
for you are my stronghold.
Into your hand I commend my spirit.
You redeem me, Yahweh, God of truth.
I hate those who regard lying vanities,
but I trust in Yahweh.
I will be glad and rejoice in your loving kindness,
for you have seen my affliction.
You have known my soul in adversities.
You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy.
You have set my feet in a large place.
Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am in distress.
My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief.
Psalm 31 [10.] For my life is spent with sorrow,
my years with sighing.
My strength fails because of my iniquity.
My bones are wasted away.
Because of all my adversaries I have become utterly contemptible to my neighbors,
A fear to my acquaintances.
Those who saw me on the street fled from me.
I am forgotten from their hearts like a dead man.
I am like broken pottery.
For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side,
while they conspire together against me,
they plot to take away my life.
But I trust in you, Yahweh.
I said, “You are my God.”
Make your face to shine on your servant.
Save me in your loving kindness.
Let me not be disappointed, Yahweh, for I have called on you.
Let the wicked be disappointed.
Let them be silent in Sheol.[a]
Let the lying lips be mute,
which speak against the righteous insolently, with pride and contempt.
Oh how great is your goodness,
which you have laid up for those who fear you,
which you have worked for those who take refuge in you,
before the sons of men!
Psalm 31 [20.] In the shelter of your presence you will hide them from the plotting of man.
You will keep them secretly in a dwelling away from the strife of tongues.
Praise be to Yahweh,
for he has shown me his marvelous loving kindness in a strong city.
As for me, I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before your eyes.”
Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you.
Oh love Yahweh, all you his saints!
Yahweh preserves the faithful,
and fully recompenses him who behaves arrogantly.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who hope in Yahweh.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 31:17 Sheol is the place of the dead.
By David. A contemplative psalm.
Psalm 32
Psalm 32 [1.] Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh doesn’t impute iniquity,
in whose spirit there is no deceit.
When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy on me.
My strength was sapped in the heat of summer.
Selah.
For this, let everyone who is godly pray to you in a time when you may be found.
Surely when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach to him.
You are my hiding place.
You will preserve me from trouble.
You will surround me with songs of deliverance.
Selah.
I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go.
I will counsel you with my eye on you.
Don’t be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding,
who are controlled by bit and bridle, or else they will not come near to you.
Psalm 32 [10.] Many sorrows come to the wicked,
but loving kindness shall surround him who trusts in Yahweh.
Be glad in Yahweh, and rejoice, you righteous!
Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!
Psalm 33
Psalm 33 [1.] Rejoice in Yahweh, you righteous!
Praise is fitting for the upright.
Give thanks to Yahweh with the lyre.
Sing praises to him with the harp of ten strings.
Sing to him a new song.
Play skillfully with a shout of joy!
For Yahweh’s word is right.
All his work is done in faithfulness.
He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap.
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
For he spoke, and it was done.
He commanded, and it stood firm.
Psalm 33 [10.] Yahweh brings the counsel of the nations to nothing.
He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.
The counsel of Yahweh stands fast forever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh,
the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.
Yahweh looks from heaven.
He sees all the sons of men.
From the place of his habitation he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth,
he who fashions all of their hearts;
and he considers all of their works.
There is no king saved by the multitude of an army.
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
A horse is a vain thing for safety,
neither does he deliver any by his great power.
Behold, Yahweh’s eye is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his loving kindness;
to deliver their soul from death,
to keep them alive in famine.
Psalm 33 [20.] Our soul has waited for Yahweh.
He is our help and our shield.
For our heart rejoices in him,
because we have trusted in his holy name.
Let your loving kindness be on us, Yahweh,
since we have hoped in you.
By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.
Psalm 34
Psalm 34 [1.] [a] I will bless Yahweh at all times.
His praise will always be in my mouth.
My soul shall boast in Yahweh.
The humble shall hear of it, and be glad.
Oh magnify Yahweh with me.
Let us exalt his name together.
I sought Yahweh, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to him, and were radiant.
Their faces shall never be covered with shame.
This poor man cried, and Yahweh heard him,
and saved him out of all his troubles.
Yahweh’s angel encamps around those who fear him,
and delivers them.
Oh taste and see that Yahweh is good.
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Oh fear Yahweh, you his saints,
for there is no lack with those who fear him.
Psalm 34 [10.] The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger,
but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.
Come, you children, listen to me.
I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.
Who is someone who desires life,
and loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil,
and your lips from speaking lies.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but Yahweh delivers him out of them all.
Psalm 34 [20.] He protects all of his bones.
Not one of them is broken.
Evil shall kill the wicked.
Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
Yahweh redeems the soul of his servants.
None of those who take refuge in him shall be condemned.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 34:1 Psalm 34 is an acrostic poem, with each verse starting with a letter of the alphabet (ordered from Alef to Tav).
By David.
Psalm 35
Psalm 35 [1.] Contend, Yahweh, with those who contend with me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
Take hold of shield and buckler,
and stand up for my help.
Brandish the spear and block those who pursue me.
Tell my soul, “I am your salvation.”
Let them be as chaff before the wind,
Yahweh’s angel driving them on.
Let their way be dark and slippery,
Yahweh’s angel pursuing them.
For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me.
Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul.
Let destruction come on him unawares.
Let his net that he has hidden catch himself.
Let him fall into that destruction.
My soul shall be joyful in Yahweh.
It shall rejoice in his salvation.
Psalm 35 [10.] All my bones shall say, “Yahweh, who is like you,
who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him;
yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”
Unrighteous witnesses rise up.
They ask me about things that I don’t know about.
They reward me evil for good,
to the bereaving of my soul.
But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth.
I afflicted my soul with fasting.
My prayer returned into my own bosom.
I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother.
I bowed down mourning, as one who mourns his mother.
But in my adversity, they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together.
The attackers gathered themselves together against me, and I didn’t know it.
They tore at me, and didn’t cease.
Like the profane mockers in feasts,
they gnashed their teeth at me.
Lord, how long will you look on?
Rescue my soul from their destruction,
my precious life from the lions.
I will give you thanks in the great assembly.
I will praise you among many people.
Don’t let those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me;
neither let those who hate me without a cause wink their eyes.
Psalm 35 [20.] For they don’t speak peace,
but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
Yes, they opened their mouth wide against me.
They said, “Aha! Aha! Our eye has seen it!”
You have seen it, Yahweh. Don’t keep silent.
Lord, don’t be far from me.
Wake up! Rise up to defend me, my God!
My Lord, contend for me!
Vindicate me, Yahweh my God, according to your righteousness.
Don’t let them gloat over me.
Don’t let them say in their heart, “Aha! That’s the way we want it!”
Don’t let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”
Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity.
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me.
Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause.
Yes, let them say continually, “Yahweh be magnified,
who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant!”
My tongue shall talk about your righteousness and about your praise all day long.
For the Chief Musician. By David, the servant of Yahweh.
Psalm 36
Psalm 36 [1.] An inner sanctuary is within my heart about the disobedience of the wicked:
“There is no fear of God before his eyes.”
For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
too much to detect and hate his sin.
The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit.
He has ceased to be wise and to do good.
He plots iniquity on his bed.
He sets himself in a way that is not good.
He doesn’t abhor evil.
Your loving kindness, Yahweh, is in the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.
Your judgments are like a great deep.
Yahweh, you preserve man and animal.
How precious is your loving kindness, God!
The children of men take refuge under the shadow of your wings.
They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of your house.
You will make them drink of the river of your pleasures.
For with you is the spring of life.
In your light shall we see light.
Psalm 36 [10.] Oh continue your loving kindness to those who know you,
your righteousness to the upright in heart.
Don’t let the foot of pride come against me.
Don’t let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
There the workers of iniquity are fallen.
They are thrust down, and shall not be able to rise.
By David.
Psalm 37
Psalm 37 [1.] Don’t fret because of evildoers,
neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass,
and wither like the green herb.
Trust in Yahweh, and do good.
Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture.
Also delight yourself in Yahweh,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to Yahweh.
Trust also in him, and he will do this:
he will make your righteousness go out as the light,
and your justice as the noon day sun.
Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him.
Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way,
because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.
For evildoers shall be cut off,
but those who wait for Yahweh shall inherit the land.
Psalm 37 [10.] For yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more.
Yes, though you look for his place, he isn’t there.
But the humble shall inherit the land,
and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
The wicked plots against the just,
and gnashes at him with his teeth.
The Lord will laugh at him,
for he sees that his day is coming.
The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow,
to cast down the poor and needy,
to kill those who are upright on the path.
Their sword shall enter into their own heart.
Their bows shall be broken.
Better is a little that the righteous has,
than the abundance of many wicked.
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but Yahweh upholds the righteous.
Yahweh knows the days of the perfect.
Their inheritance shall be forever.
They shall not be disappointed in the time of evil.
In the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
Psalm 37 [20.] But the wicked shall perish.
The enemies of Yahweh shall be like the beauty of the fields.
They will vanish—
vanish like smoke.
The wicked borrow, and don’t pay back,
but the righteous give generously.
For such as are blessed by him shall inherit the land.
Those who are cursed by him shall be cut off.
A man’s goings are established by Yahweh.
He delights in his way.
Though he stumble, he shall not fall,
for Yahweh holds him up with his hand.
I have been young, and now am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
nor his children begging for bread.
All day long he deals graciously, and lends.
His offspring[a] is blessed.
Depart from evil, and do good.
Live securely forever.
For Yahweh loves justice,
and doesn’t forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
The righteous shall inherit the land,
and live in it forever.
Psalm 37 [30.] The mouth of the righteous talks of wisdom.
His tongue speaks justice.
The law of his God is in his heart.
None of his steps shall slide.
The wicked watches the righteous,
and seeks to kill him.
Yahweh will not leave him in his hand,
nor condemn him when he is judged.
Wait for Yahweh, and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to inherit the land.
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
I have seen the wicked in great power,
spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil.
But he passed away, and behold, he was not.
Yes, I sought him, but he could not be found.
Mark the perfect man, and see the upright,
for there is a future for the man of peace.
As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together.
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
But the salvation of the righteous is from Yahweh.
He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
Psalm 37 [40.] Yahweh helps them, and rescues them.
He rescues them from the wicked, and saves them,
Because they have taken refuge in him.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 37:26 or, seed
A Psalm by David, for a memorial.
Psalm 38
Psalm 38 [1.] Yahweh, don’t rebuke me in your wrath,
neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.
For your arrows have pierced me,
your hand presses hard on me.
There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation,
neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin.
My wounds are loathsome and corrupt,
because of my foolishness.
I am pained and bowed down greatly.
I go mourning all day long.
For my waist is filled with burning.
There is no soundness in my flesh.
I am faint and severely bruised.
I have groaned by reason of the anguish of my heart.
Lord, all my desire is before you.
My groaning is not hidden from you.
Psalm 38 [10.] My heart throbs.
My strength fails me.
As for the light of my eyes, it has also left me.
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague.
My kinsmen stand far away.
They also who seek after my life lay snares.
Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things,
and meditate deceits all day long.
But I, as a deaf man, don’t hear.
I am as a mute man who doesn’t open his mouth.
Yes, I am as a man who doesn’t hear,
in whose mouth are no reproofs.
For in you, Yahweh, do I hope.
You will answer, Lord my God.
For I said, “Don’t let them gloat over me,
or exalt themselves over me when my foot slips.”
For I am ready to fall.
My pain is continually before me.
For I will declare my iniquity.
I will be sorry for my sin.
But my enemies are vigorous and many.
Those who hate me without reason are numerous.
Psalm 38 [20.] They who also render evil for good are adversaries to me,
because I follow what is good.
Don’t forsake me, Yahweh.
My God, don’t be far from me.
Hurry to help me,
Lord, my salvation.
For the Chief Musician. For Jeduthun. A Psalm by David.
Psalm 39
Psalm 39 [1.] I said, “I will watch my ways, so that I don’t sin with my tongue.
I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me.”
I was mute with silence.
I held my peace, even from good.
My sorrow was stirred.
My heart was hot within me.
While I meditated, the fire burned:
I spoke with my tongue:
“Yahweh, show me my end,
what is the measure of my days.
Let me know how frail I am.
Behold, you have made my days hand widths.
My lifetime is as nothing before you.
Surely every man stands as a breath.”
Selah.
“Surely every man walks like a shadow.
Surely they busy themselves in vain.
He heaps up, and doesn’t know who shall gather.
Now, Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in you.
Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Don’t make me the reproach of the foolish.
I was mute.
I didn’t open my mouth,
because you did it.
Psalm 39 [10.] Remove your scourge away from me.
I am overcome by the blow of your hand.
When you rebuke and correct man for iniquity,
You consume his wealth like a moth.
Surely every man is but a breath.”
Selah.
“Hear my prayer, Yahweh, and give ear to my cry.
Don’t be silent at my tears.
For I am a stranger with you,
a foreigner, as all my fathers were.
Oh spare me, that I may recover strength,
before I go away, and exist no more.”
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
Psalm 40
Psalm 40 [1.] I waited patiently for Yahweh.
He turned to me, and heard my cry.
He brought me up also out of a horrible pit,
out of the miry clay.
He set my feet on a rock,
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God.
Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in Yahweh.
Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done,
and your thoughts which are toward us.
They can’t be declared back to you.
If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire.
You have opened my ears.
You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
Then I said, “Behold, I have come.
It is written about me in the book in the scroll.
I delight to do your will, my God.
Yes, your law is within my heart.”
I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly.
Behold, I will not seal my lips, Yahweh, you know.
Psalm 40 [10.] I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart.
I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation.
I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly.
Don’t withhold your tender mercies from me, Yahweh.
Let your loving kindness and your truth continually preserve me.
Be pleased, Yahweh, to deliver me.
Hurry to help me, Yahweh.
Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it.
Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt.
Let them be desolate by reason of their shame that tell me, “Aha! Aha!”
Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.
Let such as love your salvation say continually, “Let Yahweh be exalted!”
But I am poor and needy.
May the Lord think about me.
You are my help and my deliverer.
Don’t delay, my God.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
Psalm 41
Psalm 41 [1.] Blessed is he who considers the poor.
Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil.
Yahweh will preserve him, and keep him alive.
He shall be blessed on the earth,
and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
Yahweh will sustain him on his sickbed,
and restore him from his bed of illness.
I said, “Yahweh, have mercy on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
My enemies speak evil against me:
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
All who hate me whisper together against me.
They imagine the worst for me.
“An evil disease”, they say, “has afflicted him.
Now that he lies he shall rise up no more.”
Psalm 41 [10.] But you, Yahweh, have mercy on me, and raise me up,
that I may repay them.
By this I know that you delight in me,
because my enemy doesn’t triumph over me.
As for me, you uphold me in my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.
Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel,
from everlasting and to everlasting!
Amen and amen.
For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by the sons of Korah.
Psalm 42
Psalm 42 BOOK II[1.] As the deer pants for the water brooks,
so my soul pants after you, God.[a]
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me,
how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to God’s house,
with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day.
Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God!
For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.
My God, my soul is in despair within me.
Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon, from the hill Mizar.
Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls.
All your waves and your billows have swept over me.
Yahweh[b] will command his loving kindness in the daytime.
In the night his song shall be with me:
a prayer to the God of my life.
I will ask God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
Psalm 42 [10.] As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me,
while they continually ask me, “Where is your God?”
Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God! For I shall still praise him,
the saving help of my countenance, and my God.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 42:1 The Hebrew word rendered “God” is “אֱלֹהִ֑ים” (Elohim).
b. Psalm 42:8 “Yahweh” is God’s proper Name, sometimes rendered “LORD” (all caps) in other translations.
Psalm 43
Psalm 43 [1.] Vindicate me, God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation.
Oh, deliver me from deceitful and wicked men.
For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
Oh, send out your light and your truth.
Let them lead me.
Let them bring me to your holy hill,
To your tents.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my exceeding joy.
I will praise you on the harp, God, my God.
Psalm 43 [5.] Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God!
For I shall still praise him:
my Savior, my helper, and my God.
For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. A contemplative psalm.
Psalm 44
Psalm 44 [1.] We have heard with our ears, God;
our fathers have told us,
what work you did in their days,
in the days of old.
You drove out the nations with your hand,
but you planted them.
You afflicted the peoples,
but you spread them abroad.
For they didn’t get the land in possession by their own sword,
neither did their own arm save them;
but your right hand, and your arm, and the light of your face,
because you were favorable to them.
You are my King, God.
Command victories for Jacob!
Through you, will we push down our adversaries.
Through your name, will we tread them under who rise up against us.
For I will not trust in my bow,
neither shall my sword save me.
But you have saved us from our adversaries,
and have shamed those who hate us.
In God we have made our boast all day long,
we will give thanks to your name forever.
Selah.
But now you rejected us, and brought us to dishonor,
and don’t go out with our armies.
Psalm 44 [10.] You make us turn back from the adversary.
Those who hate us take plunder for themselves.
You have made us like sheep for food,
and have scattered us among the nations.
You sell your people for nothing,
and have gained nothing from their sale.
You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
a scoffing and a derision to those who are around us.
You make us a byword among the nations,
a shaking of the head among the peoples.
All day long my dishonor is before me,
and shame covers my face,
At the taunt of one who reproaches and verbally abuses,
because of the enemy and the avenger.
All this has come on us,
yet have we not forgotten you,
Neither have we been false to your covenant.
Our heart has not turned back,
neither have our steps strayed from your path,
Though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals,
and covered us with the shadow of death.
Psalm 44 [20.] If we have forgotten the name of our God,
or spread out our hands to a strange god;
won’t God search this out?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long.
We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.
Wake up!
Why do you sleep, Lord?[a]
Arise!
Don’t reject us forever.
Why do you hide your face,
and forget our affliction and our oppression?
For our soul is bowed down to the dust.
Our body clings to the earth.
Rise up to help us.
Redeem us for your loving kindness’ sake.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 44:23 The word translated “Lord” is “Adonai.”
For the Chief Musician. Set to “The Lilies.” A contemplation by the sons of Korah. A wedding song.
Psalm 45
Psalm 45 [1.] My heart overflows with a noble theme.
I recite my verses for the king.
My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer.
You are the most excellent of the sons of men.
Grace has anointed your lips,
therefore God has blessed you forever.
Strap your sword on your thigh, mighty one:
your splendor and your majesty.
In your majesty ride on victoriously on behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness.
Let your right hand display awesome deeds.
Your arrows are sharp.
The nations fall under you, with arrows in the heart of the king’s enemies.
Your throne, God, is forever and ever.
A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom.
All your garments smell like myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made you glad.
Kings’ daughters are among your honorable women.
At your right hand the queen stands in gold of Ophir.
Psalm 45 [10.] Listen, daughter, consider, and turn your ear.
Forget your own people, and also your father’s house.
So the king will desire your beauty,
honor him, for he is your lord.
The daughter of Tyre comes with a gift.
The rich among the people entreat your favor.
The princess inside is all glorious.
Her clothing is interwoven with gold.
She shall be led to the king in embroidered work.
The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to you.
With gladness and rejoicing they shall be led.
They shall enter into the king’s palace.
Your sons will take the place of your fathers.
You shall make them princes in all the earth.
I will make your name to be remembered in all generations.
Therefore the peoples shall give you thanks forever and ever.
For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. [a]
Psalm 46
Psalm 46 [1.] God is our refuge and strength,
Selah.
There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad,
the holy place of the tents of the Most High.
God is within her. She shall not be moved.
God will help her at dawn.
The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved.
He lifted his voice, and the earth melted.
Yahweh of Armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Selah.
Come, see Yahweh’s works,
what desolations he has made in the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth.
He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear.
He burns the chariots in the fire.
Psalm 46 [10.] “Be still, and know that I am God.
Yahweh of Armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Selah.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 46:1 Alamoth is a musical term.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.
Psalm 47
Psalm 47 [1.] Oh clap your hands, all you nations.
Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
For Yahweh Most High is awesome.
He is a great King over all the earth.
He subdues nations under us,
and peoples under our feet.
He chooses our inheritance for us,
the glory of Jacob whom he loved.
Selah.
Psalm 47 [5.] God has gone up with a shout,
Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praise to God, sing praises.
Sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is the King of all the earth.
Sing praises with understanding.
God reigns over the nations.
God sits on his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples are gathered together,
the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God.
He is greatly exalted!
A Song. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.
Psalm 48
Psalm 48 [1.] Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised,
in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.
Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,
is Mount Zion, on the north sides,
the city of the great King.
God has shown himself in her citadels as a refuge.
For, behold, the kings assembled themselves,
they passed by together.
They saw it, then they were amazed.
They were dismayed.
They hurried away.
Trembling took hold of them there,
pain, as of a woman in travail.
With the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish.
As we have heard, so we have seen,
in the city of Yahweh of Armies, in the city of our God.
God will establish it forever.
Selah.
We have thought about your loving kindness, God,
in the middle of your temple.
Psalm 48 [10.] As is your name, God,
so is your praise to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice,
Because of your judgments.
Walk about Zion, and go around her.
Number its towers.
Mark well her bulwarks.
Consider her palaces,
that you may tell it to the next generation.
For this God is our God forever and ever.
He will be our guide even to death.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.
Psalm 49
Psalm 49 [1.] Hear this, all you peoples.
Listen, all you inhabitants of the world,
both low and high,
rich and poor together.
My mouth will speak words of wisdom.
My heart shall utter understanding.
I will incline my ear to a proverb.
I will open my riddle on the harp.
Why should I fear in the days of evil,
when iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
Those who trust in their wealth,
and boast in the multitude of their riches—
none of them can by any means redeem his brother,
nor give God a ransom for him.
For the redemption of their life is costly,
no payment is ever enough,
That he should live on forever,
that he should not see corruption.
Psalm 49 [10.] For he sees that wise men die;
Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever,
and their dwelling places to all generations.
They name their lands after themselves.
But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure.
He is like the animals that perish.
This is the destiny of those who are foolish,
and of those who approve their sayings.
Selah.
They are appointed as a flock for Sheol.[a]
Death shall be their shepherd.
The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning.
Their beauty shall decay in Sheol,[b]
far from their mansion.
But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,[c]
for he will receive me.
Selah.
Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich,
when the glory of his house is increased.
For when he dies he shall carry nothing away.
His glory shall not descend after him.
Though while he lived he blessed his soul—
and men praise you when you do well for yourself—
he shall go to the generation of his fathers.
They shall never see the light.
Psalm 49 [20.] A man who has riches without understanding,
is like the animals that perish.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 49:14 Sheol is the place of the dead.
b. Psalm 49:14 Sheol is the place of the dead.
c. Psalm 49:15 Sheol is the place of the dead.
A Psalm by Asaph.
Psalm 50
Psalm 50 [1.] The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, speaks,
and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines out.
Our God comes, and does not keep silent.
A fire devours before him.
It is very stormy around him.
He calls to the heavens above,
to the earth, that he may judge his people:
“Gather my saints together to me,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
The heavens shall declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge.
Selah.
“Hear, my people, and I will speak;
Israel, and I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
I don’t rebuke you for your sacrifices.
Your burnt offerings are continually before me.
I have no need for a bull from your stall,
nor male goats from your pens.
Psalm 50 [10.] For every animal of the forest is mine,
and the livestock on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the mountains.
The wild animals of the field are mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
or drink the blood of goats?
Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving.
Pay your vows to the Most High.
Call on me in the day of trouble.
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
But to the wicked God says,
“What right do you have to declare my statutes,
that you have taken my covenant on your lips,
since you hate instruction,
and throw my words behind you?
When you saw a thief, you consented with him,
and have participated with adulterers.
“You give your mouth to evil.
Your tongue frames deceit.
Psalm 50 [20.] You sit and speak against your brother.
You slander your own mother’s son.
You have done these things, and I kept silent.
You thought that I was just like you.
I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.
“Now consider this, you who forget God,
lest I tear you into pieces, and there be no one to deliver.
Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me,
and prepares his way so that I will show God’s salvation to him.”
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
Psalm 51
Psalm 51 [1.] Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness.
According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.
Cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions.
My sin is constantly before me.
Against you, and you only, have I sinned,
and done that which is evil in your sight;
that you may be proved right when you speak,
and justified when you judge.
Behold, I was born in iniquity.
In sin my mother conceived me.
Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts.
You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean.
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones which you have broken may rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all of my iniquities.
Psalm 51 [10.] Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a right spirit within me.
Don’t throw me from your presence,
and don’t take your holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation.
Uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways.
Sinners shall be converted to you.
Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation.
My tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
Lord, open my lips.
 |
| Psalm 51:12 |
My mouth shall declare your praise.
Do well in your good pleasure to Zion.
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,
in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings.
Then they will offer bulls on your altar.
For the Chief Musician. A contemplation by David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, “David has come to Abimelech’s house.”
Psalm 52
Psalm 52 [1.] Why do you boast of mischief, mighty man?
God’s loving kindness endures continually.
You love evil more than good,
lying rather than speaking the truth.
Selah.
You love all devouring words,
you deceitful tongue.
Psalm 52 [5.] God will likewise destroy you forever.
He will take you up, and pluck you out of your tent,
and root you out of the land of the living.
Selah.
The righteous also will see it, and fear,
and laugh at him, saying,
“Behold, this is the man who didn’t make God his strength,
but trusted in the abundance of his riches,
and strengthened himself in his wickedness.”
But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in God’s house.
I trust in God’s loving kindness forever and ever.
I will give you thanks forever, because you have done it.
I will hope in your name, for it is good,
in the presence of your saints.
For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Mahalath.” A contemplation by David.
Psalm 53
Psalm 53 [1.] The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity.
There is no one who does good.
God looks down from heaven on the children of men,
to see if there are any who understood,
who seek after God.
Every one of them has gone back.
They have become filthy together.
There is no one who does good, no, not one.
Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and don’t call on God?
Psalm 53 [5.] There they were in great fear, where no fear was,
for God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you.
You have put them to shame,
because God has rejected them.
Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God brings back his people from captivity,
then Jacob shall rejoice,
and Israel shall be glad.
For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A contemplation by David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Isn’t David hiding himself among us?”
Psalm 54
Psalm 54 [1.] Save me, God, by your name.
Vindicate me in your might.
Hear my prayer, God.
Listen to the words of my mouth.
For strangers have risen up against me.
Violent men have sought after my soul.
They haven’t set God before them.
Selah.
Behold, God is my helper.
The Lord is the one who sustains my soul.
Psalm 54 [5.] He will repay the evil to my enemies.
Destroy them in your truth.
With a free will offering, I will sacrifice to you.
I will give thanks to your name, Yahweh, for it is good.
For he has delivered me out of all trouble.
My eye has seen triumph over my enemies.
For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A contemplation by David.
Psalm 55
Psalm 55 [1.] Listen to my prayer, God.
Don’t hide yourself from my supplication.
Attend to me, and answer me.
I am restless in my complaint, and moan,
Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they bring suffering on me.
In anger they hold a grudge against me.
My heart is severely pained within me.
The terrors of death have fallen on me.
Fearfulness and trembling have come on me.
Horror has overwhelmed me.
Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language,
for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
Psalm 55 [10.] Day and night they prowl around on its walls.
Malice and abuse are also within her.
Destructive forces are within her.
Threats and lies don’t depart from her streets.
For it was not an enemy who insulted me,
then I could have endured it.
Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me,
then I would have hidden myself from him.
But it was you, a man like me,
my companion, and my familiar friend.
We took sweet fellowship together.
We walked in God’s house with company.
Let death come suddenly on them.
Let them go down alive into Sheol.[a]
For wickedness is among them, in their dwelling.
As for me, I will call on God.
Yahweh will save me.
Evening, morning, and at noon, I will cry out in distress.
He will hear my voice.
He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me,
although there are many who oppose me.
God, who is enthroned forever,
will hear, and answer them.
Selah.
They never change,
who don’t fear God.
Psalm 55 [20.] He raises his hands against his friends.
He has violated his covenant.
His mouth was smooth as butter,
but his heart was war.
His words were softer than oil,
yet they were drawn swords.
Cast your burden on Yahweh, and he will sustain you.
He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction.
Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days,
but I will trust in you.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 55:15 Sheol is the place of the dead.
For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A poem by David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
Psalm 56
Psalm 56 [1.] Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up.
All day long, he attacks and oppresses me.
My enemies want to swallow me up all day long,
for they are many who fight proudly against me.
When I am afraid,
I will put my trust in you.
In God, I praise his word.
In God, I put my trust.
I will not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
All day long they twist my words.
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
They conspire and lurk,
watching my steps, they are eager to take my life.
Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, God.
Psalm 56 [10.] In God, I will praise his word.
In Yahweh, I will praise his word.
I have put my trust in God.
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
Your vows are on me, God.
I will give thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
and prevented my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David, when he fled from Saul, in the cave.
Psalm 57
Psalm 57 [1.] Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me,
for my soul takes refuge in you.
Yes, in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge,
until disaster has passed.
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who accomplishes my requests for me.
He will send from heaven, and save me,
he rebukes the one who is pursuing me.
Selah.
God will send out his loving kindness and his truth.
My soul is among lions.
I lie among those who are set on fire,
even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
and their tongue a sharp sword.
Be exalted, God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be above all the earth!
They have prepared a net for my steps.
My soul is bowed down.
They dig a pit before me.
They fall into the middle of it themselves.
Selah.
My heart is steadfast, God, my heart is steadfast.
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises.
Wake up, my glory! Wake up, lute and harp!
I will wake up the dawn.
I will give thanks to you, Lord, among the peoples.
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
Psalm 57 [10.] For your great loving kindness reaches to the heavens,
and your truth to the skies.
Be exalted, God, above the heavens.
Let your glory be over all the earth.
For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David.
Psalm 58
Psalm 58 [1.] Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones?
Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men?
No, in your heart you plot injustice.
You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth.
The wicked go astray from the womb.
They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
Their poison is like the poison of a snake;
like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
which doesn’t listen to the voice of charmers,
no matter how skillful the charmer may be.
Break their teeth, God, in their mouth.
Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.
Let them vanish like water that flows away.
When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt.
Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away,
like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun.
Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns,
he will sweep away the green and the burning alike.
Psalm 58 [10.] The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance.
He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;
so that men shall say, “Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous.
Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”
For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David, when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.
Psalm 59
Psalm 59 [1.] Deliver me from my enemies, my God.
Set me on high from those who rise up against me.
Deliver me from the workers of iniquity.
Save me from the bloodthirsty men.
For, behold, they lie in wait for my soul.
The mighty gather themselves together against me,
not for my disobedience, nor for my sin, Yahweh.
I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.
Rise up, behold, and help me!
You, Yahweh God of Armies, the God of Israel,
rouse yourself to punish the nations.
Show no mercy to the wicked traitors.
Selah.
They return at evening, howling like dogs,
and prowl around the city.
Behold, they spew with their mouth.
Swords are in their lips,
“For”, they say, “who hears us?”
But you, Yahweh, laugh at them.
You scoff at all the nations.
Oh, my Strength, I watch for you,
for God is my high tower.
Psalm 59 [10.] My God will go before me with his loving kindness.
God will let me look at my enemies in triumph.
Don’t kill them, or my people may forget.
Scatter them by your power, and bring them down, Lord our shield.
For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips,
let them be caught in their pride,
for the curses and lies which they utter.
Consume them in wrath.
Consume them, and they will be no more.
Let them know that God rules in Jacob,
to the ends of the earth.
Selah.
At evening let them return.
Let them howl like a dog, and go around the city.
They shall wander up and down for food,
and wait all night if they aren’t satisfied.
But I will sing of your strength.
Yes, I will sing aloud of your loving kindness in the morning.
For you have been my high tower,
a refuge in the day of my distress.
To you, my strength, I will sing praises.
For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.
For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A teaching poem by David, when he fought with Aram Naharaim and with Aram Zobah, and Joab returned, and killed twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
Psalm 60
Psalm 60 [1.] God, you have rejected us.
You have broken us down.
You have been angry.
Restore us, again.
You have made the land tremble.
You have torn it.
Mend its fractures,
for it quakes.
You have shown your people hard things.
You have made us drink the wine that makes us stagger.
You have given a banner to those who fear you,
that it may be displayed because of the truth.
Selah.
So that your beloved may be delivered,
save with your right hand, and answer us.
God has spoken from his sanctuary:
“I will triumph.
I will divide Shechem,
and measure out the valley of Succoth.
Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim also is the defense of my head.
Judah is my scepter.
Moab is my wash basin.
I will throw my shoe on Edom.
I shout in triumph over Philistia.”
Who will bring me into the strong city?
Who has led me to Edom?
Psalm 60 [10.] Haven’t you, God, rejected us?
You don’t go out with our armies, God.
Give us help against the adversary,
for the help of man is vain.
Through God we shall do valiantly,
for it is he who will tread down our adversaries.