For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
20:1 May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the G.o.d of Jacob set you up on high, 20:2 send you help from the sanctuary, grant you support from Zion, 20:3 remember all your offerings, and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah. 20:4 May He grant you your heart"s desire, and fulfill all your counsel. 20:5 We will triumph in your salvation. In the name of our G.o.d, we will set up our banners. May Yahweh grant all your requests. 20:6 Now I know that Yahweh saves his anointed. He will answer him from his holy heaven, with the saving strength of his right hand. 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust the name of Yahweh our G.o.d. 20:8 They are bowed down and fallen, but we rise up, and stand upright. 20:9 Save, Yahweh!
Let the King answer us when we call!
Psalm 21
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
21:1 The king rejoices in your strength, Yahweh! How greatly he rejoices in your salvation! 21:2 You have given him his heart"s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah. 21:3 For you meet him with the blessings of goodness. You set a crown of fine gold on his head.
21:4 He asked life of you, you gave it to him, even length of days forever and ever. 21:5 His glory is great in your salvation. You lay honor and majesty on him. 21:6 For you make him most blessed forever.
You make him glad with joy in your presence. 21:7 For the king trusts in Yahweh. Through the loving kindness of the Most High, he shall not be moved. 21:8 Your hand will find out all of your enemies. Your right hand will find out those who hate you. 21:9 You will make them as a fiery furnace in the time of your anger. Yahweh will swallow them up in his wrath. The fire shall devour them. 21:10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from among the children of men. 21:11 For they intended evil against you. They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed. 21:12 For you will make them turn their back, when you aim drawn bows at their face. 21:13 Be exalted, Yahweh, in your strength, so we will sing and praise your power.
Psalm 22
For the Chief Musician; set to "The Doe of the Morning." A Psalm by David.
22:1 My G.o.d, my G.o.d, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning? 22:2 My G.o.d, I cry in the daytime, but you don"t answer; in the night season, and am not silent.
22:3 But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel. 22:4 Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them. 22:5 They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed. 22:6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. 22:7 All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying, 22:8 "He trusts in Yahweh; let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him." 22:9 But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust at my mother"s b.r.e.a.s.t.s. 22:10 I was thrown on you from my mother"s womb. You are my G.o.d since my mother bore me. 22:11 Don"t be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is none to help. 22:12 Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. 22:13 They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring. 22:14 I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted within me. 22:15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death. 22:16 For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evil-doers have enclosed me. Like a lion, they pin my hands and feet.
22:17 I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me. 22:18 They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing. 22:19 But don"t be far off, Yahweh. You are my help: hurry to help me. 22:20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog. 22:21 Save me from the lion"s mouth! Yes, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered me. 22:22 I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the a.s.sembly, I will praise you. 22:23 You who fear Yahweh, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him!
Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel! 22:24 For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard. 22:25 Of you comes my praise in the great a.s.sembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him. 22:26 The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.
22:27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you. 22:28 For the kingdom is Yahweh"s. He is the ruler over the nations. 22:29 All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can"t keep his soul alive.
22:30 Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord. 22:31 They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.
Psalm 23
A Psalm by David.
23:1 Yahweh is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing. 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 23:3 He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name"s sake. 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.
23:6 Surely goodness and loving kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in Yahweh"s house forever.
Psalm 24
A Psalm by David.
24:1 The earth is Yahweh"s, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein. 24:2 For he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the floods. 24:3 Who may ascend to Yahweh"s hill? Who may stand in his holy place? 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully. 24:5 He shall receive a blessing from Yahweh, righteousness from the G.o.d of his salvation. 24:6 This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek your face--even Jacob. Selah. 24:7 Lift up your heads, you gates!
Be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory will come in.
24:8 Who is the King of glory? Yahweh strong and mighty, Yahweh mighty in battle. 24:9 Lift up your heads, you gates; yes, lift them up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory will come in. 24:10 Who is this King of glory? Yahweh of Armies is the King of glory! Selah.
Psalm 25
By David.
25:1 To you, Yahweh, do I lift up my soul. 25:2 My G.o.d, I have trusted in you. Don"t let me be shamed. Don"t let my enemies triumph over me.
25:3 Yes, no one who waits for you shall be shamed. They shall be shamed who deal treacherously without cause. 25:4 Show me your ways, Yahweh.
Teach me your paths. 25:5 Guide me in your truth, and teach me, For you are the G.o.d of my salvation, I wait for you all day long. 25:6 Yahweh, remember your tender mercies and your loving kindness, for they are from old times. 25:7 Don"t remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions. Remember me according to your loving kindness, for your goodness" sake, Yahweh. 25:8 Good and upright is Yahweh, therefore he will instruct sinners in the way. 25:9 He will guide the humble in justice. He will teach the humble his way. 25:10 All the paths of Yahweh are loving kindness and truth to such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. 25:11 For your name"s sake, Yahweh, pardon my iniquity, for it is great. 25:12 What man is he who fears Yahweh? He shall instruct him in the way that he shall choose. 25:13 His soul shall dwell at ease.
His seed shall inherit the land. 25:14 The friendship of Yahweh is with those who fear him. He will show them his covenant. 25:15 My eyes are ever on Yahweh, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. 25:16 Turn to me, and have mercy on me, for I am desolate and afflicted. 25:17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Oh bring me out of my distresses.
25:18 Consider my affliction and my travail. Forgive all my sins. 25:19 Consider my enemies, for they are many. They hate me with cruel hatred.
25:20 Oh keep my soul, and deliver me. Let me not be disappointed, for I take refuge in you. 25:21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you. 25:22 Redeem Israel, G.o.d, out all of his troubles.
Psalm 26
By David.
26:1 Judge me, Yahweh, for I have walked in my integrity. I have trusted also in Yahweh without wavering. 26:2 Examine me, Yahweh, and prove me.
Try my heart and my mind. 26:3 For your loving kindness is before my eyes. I have walked in your truth. 26:4 I have not sat with deceitful men, neither will I go in with hypocrites. 26:5 I hate the a.s.sembly of evil-doers, and will not sit with the wicked. 26:6 I will wash my hands in innocence, so I will go about your altar, Yahweh; 26:7 that I may make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard, and tell of all your wondrous works. 26:8 Yahweh, I love the habitation of your house, the place where your glory dwells. 26:9 Don"t gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men; 26:10 in whose hands is wickedness, their right hand is full of bribes. 26:11 But as for me, I will walk in my integrity. Redeem me, and be merciful to me. 26:12 My foot stands in an even place. In the congregations I will bless Yahweh.
Psalm 27
By David.
27:1 Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? 27:2 When evil-doers came at me to eat up my flesh, even my adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell. 27:3 Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, even then I will be confident. 27:4 One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life, to see Yahweh"s beauty, and to inquire in his temple. 27:5 For in the day of trouble he will keep me secretly in his pavilion. In the covert of his tent he will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock. 27:6 Now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me. I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tent. I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to Yahweh. 27:7 Hear, Yahweh, when I cry with my voice. Have mercy also on me, and answer me. 27:8 When you said, "Seek my face," my heart said to you, "I will seek your face, Yahweh." 27:9 Don"t hide your face from me.
Don"t put your servant away in anger. You have been my help. Don"t abandon me, neither forsake me, G.o.d of my salvation. 27:10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then Yahweh will take me up. 27:11 Teach me your way, Yahweh. Lead me in a straight path, because of my enemies. 27:12 Don"t deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen up against me, such as breathe out cruelty. 27:13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of Yahweh in the land of the living. 27:14 Wait for Yahweh. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for Yahweh.
Psalm 28
By David.
28:1 To you, Yahweh, I call. My rock, don"t be deaf to me; lest, if you are silent to me, I would become like those who go down into the pit.
28:2 Hear the voice of my pet.i.tions, when I cry to you, when I lift up my hands toward your Most Holy Place. 28:3 Don"t draw me away with the wicked, with the workers of iniquity who speak peace with their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts. 28:4 Give them according to their work, and according to the wickedness of their doings. Give them according to the operation of their hands. Bring back on them what they deserve. 28:5 Because they don"t regard the works of Yahweh, nor the operation of his hands, he will break them down and not build them up.
28:6 Blessed be Yahweh, because he has heard the voice of my pet.i.tions.
28:7 Yahweh is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song I will thank him. 28:8 Yahweh is their strength. He is a stronghold of salvation to his anointed. 28:9 Save your people, and bless your inheritance. Be their shepherd also, and bear them up forever.
Psalm 29
A Psalm by David.
29:1 Ascribe to Yahweh, you sons of the mighty, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength. 29:2 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to his name. Worship Yahweh in holy array. 29:3 Yahweh"s voice is on the waters. The G.o.d of glory thunders, even Yahweh on many waters. 29:4 Yahweh"s voice is powerful. Yahweh"s voice is full of majesty. 29:5 The voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars. Yes, Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
29:6 He makes them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young, wild ox. 29:7 Yahweh"s voice strikes with flashes of lightning.
29:8 Yahweh"s voice shakes the wilderness. Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 29:9 Yahweh"s voice makes the deer calve, and strips the forests bare. In his temple everything says, "Glory!" 29:10 Yahweh sat enthroned at the Flood. Yes, Yahweh sits as King forever. 29:11 Yahweh will give strength to his people. Yahweh will bless his people with peace.
Psalm 30
A Psalm. A Song for the Dedication of the Temple. By David.
30:1 I will extol you, Yahweh, for you have raised me up, and have not made my foes to rejoice over me. 30:2 Yahweh my G.o.d, I cried to you, and you have healed me. 30:3 Yahweh, you have brought up my soul from Sheol.
You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit. 30:4 Sing praise to Yahweh, you saints of his. Give thanks to his holy name. 30:5 For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning. 30:6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved." 30:7 You, Yahweh, when you favored me, made my mountain stand strong; but when you hid your face, I was troubled. 30:8 I cried to you, Yahweh. To Yahweh I made supplication: 30:9 "What profit is there in my destruction, if I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise you? Shall it declare your truth?
30:10 Hear, Yahweh, and have mercy on me. Yahweh, be my helper." 30:11 You have turned my mourning into dancing for me. You have removed my sackcloth, and clothed me with gladness, 30:12 To the end that my heart may sing praise to you, and not be silent. Yahweh my G.o.d, I will give thanks to you forever!
Psalm 31
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
31:1 In you, Yahweh, I take refuge. Let me never be disappointed.
Deliver me in your righteousness. 31:2 Bow down your ear to me. Deliver me speedily. Be to me a strong rock, a house of defense to save me. 31:3 For you are my rock and my fortress, therefore for your name"s sake lead me and guide me. 31:4 Pluck me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me, for you are my stronghold. 31:5 Into your hand I commend my spirit. You redeem me, Yahweh, G.o.d of truth. 31:6 I hate those who regard lying vanities, but I trust in Yahweh. 31:7 I will be glad and rejoice in your loving kindness, for you have seen my affliction. You have known my soul in adversities. 31:8 You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. You have set my feet in a large place. 31:9 Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am in distress. My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief. 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. 31:11 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. 31:12 I am forgotten from their hearts like a dead man. I am like broken pottery. 31:13 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. 31:14 But I trust in you, Yahweh. I said, "You are my G.o.d." 31:15 My times are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me. 31:16 Make your face to shine on your servant. Save me in your loving kindness. 31:17 Let me not be disappointed, Yahweh, for I have called on you. Let the wicked be disappointed. Let them be silent in Sheol. 31:18 Let the lying lips be mute, which speak against the righteous insolently, with pride and contempt. 31:19 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!
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. 31:21 Praise be to Yahweh, for he has shown me his marvelous loving kindness in a strong city. 31:22 As for me, I said in my haste, "I am cut off from before your eyes." Nevertheless you heard the voice of my pet.i.tions when I cried to you. 31:23 Oh love Yahweh, all you his saints! Yahweh preserves the faithful, and fully recompenses him who behaves arrogantly. 31:24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who hope in Yahweh.