Happy is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,

And who does not stand on the way of sinners,

And who does not sit in the seat of mockers,

But whose delight is in the Lord's law,

And in whose law he meditates day and night.

And he will be like a tree planted at brooks of water,

Which yields its fruit in its season,

And whose leaves will not wither,

For everything that he does will prosper.

Not so the wicked;

They are on the contrary like chaff

Which the wind drives about.

That is why the wicked will not be able to stand at the judgment,

Nor will sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

But the way of the wicked will cease.

And say, “Let us break their bonds apart

And cast their cords off us.”

He who dwells in the heavens will laugh;

The Lord^* will deride them.

Then he will speak to them in his anger,

And in his fury he will terrify them.

But I have anointed my king,

On Zion, my holy mountain.

I will relate the Lord's statute.

He has said to me,

Ask me,

And the ends of the earth as your possession.

So now, you kings, act wisely;

Be admonished, you judges of the earth.

Serve the Lord with fear,

And rejoice in awe.

Kiss the son

Lest he becomes angry

And you perish on the way,

When his anger is kindled but a little.

Happy are all those who trust in him.

O Lord, how my adversaries have increased!

Many are rising up against me.

Many say about myself,

“There is no salvation in God for him.”

Selah.

But you, O Lord, are a shield around me

– My glory,

And the one who lifts up my head.

I call out to the Lord with my voice,

And he answers me from his holy mountain.

Selah.

I lay down and fell asleep.

Then I awoke,

For the Lord sustained me.

I will not be afraid of the tens of thousands of people

Who have ranged themselves against me.

Rise up, O Lord;

Save me, O God of mine,

For you have struck all my enemies on the cheek;

You have broken the teeth of the wicked.

Salvation is of the Lord;

Your blessing is on your people.

Selah.

When I call out,

Answer me, O God of my righteousness.

You have relieved me in adversity;

Have mercy on me,

And hear my prayer.

You sons of man, how long will you put my glory to shame?

You love vanity;

You seek falsehood.

Selah.

So know that the Lord has set apart a sacred one for himself;

The Lord will hear when I call out to him.

Be overawed and do not sin,

Speaking in your heart on your bed,

And be silent.

Selah.

Offer righteous sacrifices,

And put your trust in the Lord.

Many say, “Who will show us goodness?”

Raise the light of your presence on us, O Lord.

You have put gladness in my heart

– More so than at the time

When their corn and new wine became abundant.

I can lie down and sleep at the same time in peace,

For you alone, O Lord, can let me dwell in safety.

O Lord, listen to my words;

Consider my meditation.

Hearken to my call of crying out,

O my king and my God,

For to you I pray.

O Lord, you hear my voice in the morning;

In the morning I will marshal my thoughts to you

And keep watch.

For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness;

No evil dwells in you.

Those who boast shall not stand in your sight;

You hate all who are engaged in iniquity.

You will destroy those who speak falsehood;

The Lord abhors the man of blood and deceit.

But as for me, I will go to your house in the abundance of your kindness;

I will worship facing your holy temple

In fear of you.

Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness

On account of my adversaries;

Make your way straight ahead of me.

For there is no rectitude in his mouth;

Their inner heart consists of lusts.

Condemn them, O God,

Let them fall by their own plans.

Drive them out for the multitude of their transgressions,

For they have rebelled against you.

Then all who put their trust in you will rejoice;

They will shout for joy age-abidingly,

And you will protect them,

And those who love your name

Will exult in you.

For you, O Lord, will bless the righteous man;

You will surround him with delight like a shield.

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger,

And do not chasten me in your fury.

Have mercy on me, O Lord,

For I am languishing.

Heal me, O Lord,

For my bones are agitated,

And my inner being is very agitated.

And you, O Lord,

How long before you act?

Return, O Lord;

Save my life

And deliver me,

For your kindness' sake.

For in death there is no remembrance of you;

In the grave, who can give thanks to you?

I am weary with my sighing;

All night I cause my bed to swim.

I dissolve my mattress with my tears.

My eye has been ravaged with grief;

It has aged because of all my adversaries.

For the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.

The Lord has heard my supplication;

The Lord will accept my prayer.

Let all my enemies be ashamed

And be most frightened;

Let them desist

And become ashamed in an instant.

O Lord my God, I have put my trust in you.

Save me from all those who pursue me,

And deliver me,

Lest he, like a lion, tears my body in pieces,

Crushing me,

With no-one to deliver me.

O Lord my God,

If I have done this,

If there is any injustice in my hands,

If I have requited evil to anyone at peace with me,

Or if I have spoiled my adversary gratuitously,

Then let my enemy pursue me to the death

And catch up with me

And trample on my life on the ground

And place my honour in the dust.

Selah.

Arise, O Lord, in your anger;

Raise yourself at the haughtiness of my adversaries,

And rouse yourself for me by executing the justice

Which you have commanded.

When the congregation of the various peoples surrounds you,

Return on high above them.

The Lord will judge various peoples;

Judge me, O Lord,

According to my righteousness

And my personal integrity.

Please may the evil of the wicked come to an end,

And may you establish the just,

When the righteous God tests hearts and kidneys.

My shield is by means of trust in God,

Who saves the upright in heart.

God judges the just man,

But God is indignant every day.

He certainly will return

And sharpen his sword.

He draws his bow

And aims it.

He has also prepared his deadly weapons;

He has fashioned his arrows into burning ones.

Look how my enemy is giving birth to iniquity

And has conceived vice

And borne falsehood.

He has dug a hole

And hollowed it out,

But he has fallen into the pit

Which he made.

His vice will return on his head,

And his violence will descend on his crown.

I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness,

And I will sing psalms to the name of the Most High, the Lord.

O Lord our Lord,

How excellent your name is in the whole earth!

So set your majesty over the heavens.

Because of your adversaries,

To silence the enemy and avenger.

When I see your heavens,

The work of your fingers

– The moon and the stars which you have established –

I ask, “What is man,

You put him in charge of the works of your hands;

Sheep and oxen, all of them,

And also the beasts of the field,

Birds of the sky

And fish of the sea

And whatever crosses the paths of the seas.

O Lord our Lord,

How excellent your name is on the whole earth!

I will praise the Lord with all my heart;

I will tell of all your wondrous deeds.

I will rejoice and exult in you;

I will sing psalms of your most high name.

When my enemies retreat back,

They will stumble and perish at your presence.

For you will deal with my case and my right;

You will sit on the throne

Judging righteously.

You will rebuke nations

And put an end to the wicked one.

You will eradicate their name

For the age and in perpetuity.

O enemy, devastations will come to an end in perpetuity,

But as for the cities which you have destroyed,

The memory of them has perished.

But the Lord is seated age-abidingly;

He will establish his throne of justice.

And he will judge the world justly;

He will arbitrate between peoples equitably.

And the Lord will be a refuge to the oppressed

– A refuge in times of affliction.

And those who know your name will trust in you,

For you have not forsaken those who seek you,

O Lord.

Sing psalms to the Lord,

Who is seated in Zion;

Relate his deeds

Among the various peoples.

For he who requites bloodshed

Remembers them.

He does not forget

The crying of the {K: afflicted} [Q: meek].

Have mercy on me, O Lord;

Observe my affliction by those who hate me,

You who lift me up from the gates of death,

So that I can relate all your psalms of praise

At the gates of the daughter of Zion,

And rejoice in your salvation.

The nations will sink in the pit which they have made;

In the very net which they hid,

Their leg will be trapped.

The Lord is known

By the justice which he executes;

The wicked man is ensnared

By the work of his own hands.

A meditation. Selah.

The wicked will return to the grave,

As will all the nations forgetful of God.

For the poor will not be forgotten in perpetuity,

Nor will the hope of the {K: meek} [Q: afflicted] perish for eternity.

Arise, O Lord,

Do not let man prevail;

Let the nations be judged

In your presence.

O Lord, put fear in them,

That the nations may know

That they are but man.

Selah.

Why, O Lord, do you stand at a distance?

Why do you hide in times of affliction?

The wicked man in his pride

Ardently pursues the needy,

But they will be caught by the very devices

Which they contrived.

For the wicked man boasts in his personal pleasure-seeking,

And {P: the defrauder blasphemes} [M: he blesses the defrauder]

– He blasphemes the Lord.

The wicked, in his arrogant pride,

Does not seek divine guidance;

God does not come into any of his machinations.

They pervert his {K: way} [Q: ways] all the time.

Your judgments are high up, aloof from him;

He rails at all his adversaries.

He says in his heart,

“I will not falter,

Because from generation to generation

I will not be in difficulty.”

Under his tongue are vice and iniquity.

He lies in ambush in enclosed areas,

He kills the innocent in hiding places;

His eyes lie hidden,

Fixed on the downcast.

He lies in ambush in the hiding place,

Like a lion in a thicket.

He lies in an ambush

Ready to pounce on the poor;

He pounces on the poor

As he draws him into his net.

{K: And} [Q: And] he crouches and keeps low,

And by his dominance

The strength of the downcast fails.

He says in his heart,

“God forgets,

He is hiding his face;

He will never look.”

Arise, O Lord;

O God lift up your hand.

Do not forget the {K: afflicted} [Q: meek].

Why does the wicked blaspheme God?

He says in his heart,

“He will not investigate it.”

You have looked,

For you have seen sorrow and grief,

So as to requite it with your hand.

The downcast commits himself to you;

You are a helper to the orphan.

Break the arm of the wicked and evil one;

Investigate his wickedness

Which he thinks you will not find.

The Lord is king for the age and in perpetuity;

The nations are eliminated from his land.

You have heard the desire of the meek, O Lord,

You will establish their heart;

Your ear has hearkened to it,

So as to provide justice to the orphan and the afflicted.

The man from the earth

Will not cause terror any more.

I have put my trust in the Lord.

How can you say to my inner being,

“Flee to your mountain

Like a bird”?

For behold, the wicked draw the bow;

They attach their arrow to the string,

Ready to shoot under cover of darkness

At the upright of heart.

If the foundations are demolished,

What can the righteous man do?

The Lord is in his holy temple;

The Lord's throne is in heaven.

His eyes are looking;

His eyelids are testing the sons of Adam.

The Lord tests the righteous,

But his being hates the wicked

And him who loves violence.

He will rain burning coals, fire and sulphur on the wicked,

And a scorching wind will be the portion of their cup.

For the righteous Lord loves righteousness,

And the upright will see his face.

Save, O Lord,

For the benevolent man has come to an end,

For faithfulness has ceased

Among the sons of Adam.

Each man speaks falsehood to his neighbour;

They speak with flattering lips

And with an equivocal heart.

The Lord will cut off all flattering lips

And the tongue that speaks bombastic words

– Those who say,

“We will be great with our tongue;

Our lips are with us.

Who is lord over us?”

“Because of the oppression of the poor,

Because of the groaning of the needy,

I will now rise up,

Says the Lord;

I will place him who is railed at

In safety.”

The words of the Lord are pure words;

They are silver,

Refined in a crucible for the earth,

Purified seven times.

You, O Lord, will guard them;

You will preserve him from this generation age-abidingly.

All around, the wicked walk about,

Whilst the basest of the sons of Adam are exalted.

How long, O Lord, will you forget me entirely?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I consult within myself?

Sorrow is in my heart by day.

How long will my enemy be raised up against me?

Look and answer me,

O Lord my God;

Light up my eyes

So that I do not sleep the sleep of death,

Lest my enemy should say,

“I have prevailed over him”,

And my adversaries should rejoice

Because I totter.

But I trust in your kindness;

My heart rejoices in your salvation.¶

I will sing to the Lord,

For he has dealt favourably with me.

The fool has said in his heart,

“There is no God^*.”

They have acted corruptly;

They have acted abominably in deed.

The Lord peered down from heaven

At the sons of Adam,

Do all those engaged in iniquity not know?

– Those who devour my people

In the same way as they devour bread?

They do not call on the Lord.

There, they had a great fear,

For God^* was with a righteous generation.

You iniquitous ones have put the plans of the poor man to shame,

But the Lord is his refuge.

Oh for the salvation of Israel from Zion!

When the Lord reverses the captivity of his people,

Jacob will rejoice

– Israel will be glad.

O Lord, who will dwell in your tent?

Who can reside on your holy mountain?

He who walks perfectly

And does what is righteous

And speaks the truth in his heart.

He does not slander with his tongue;

He does not do wrong to his neighbour,

And he does not utter a reproach against his kin.

Anyone despised in his eyes is rejected,

But he honours those who fear the Lord.

If he swears an oath and it becomes to his detriment,

He does not alter it.

He does not put his money out with interest,

And he does not accept a bribe against an innocent person.

He who behaves this way

Will never be shaken.

Keep guard over me, O God,

For I have put my trust in you.

I have said to the Lord,

“You are the Lord^*,

My source of goodness.

There is nothing above you.”

As for the holy people who are in the land

And the noble ones,

All my delight is in them.

May the sorrows of those who hasten after another be multiplied.

I will not pour out their libations of blood,

And I will not take their names to my lips.

The Lord is the portion of my allotment

And my cup.

You will appoint my lot.

The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;

Indeed, the inheritance has been delightful for me.

I will bless the Lord

Who instructs me.

Moreover, by night

My kidneys discipline me.

And there are pleasant things in perpetuity at your right hand.

Hear, O Lord, in righteousness,

Hearken to my cry;

Listen to my prayer,

Which is not with deceitful lips.

May my justice come from your presence;

May your eyes see things that are upright.

You have tested my heart,

You have paid a visit by night;

You have refined me and found no dross.

I have resolved that my mouth shall not transgress.

As for the works of man,

By the word of your lips

I have been on guard

Against the ways of the violent man.

Keep my steps on your paths,

So my steps do not falter.

I have called on you,

For you answer me, O God.

Turn your ear to me;

Hear my oration.

Show your wondrous kindness,

You who by your right hand save

Those who put their trust in you,

From those who rise up against them.

Keep me as the apple of your eye;

Hide me in the shadow of your wings,

From the wicked ones who treat me with violence

– From my mortal enemies who surround me.

With their fatness they have closed themselves off;

With their mouth they speak haughtily.

Having followed our steps,

They have surrounded {K: me} [Q: us] now;

They have set their eyes

Ready to be devious on the ground.

Here is a simile for this:

Like a lion that is eager to tear in pieces,

Like a young lion that crouches in hiding places.

Arise, O Lord,

Confront him,

Bring him low;

Deliver my life from the wicked one

With your sword.

Deliver me from men by your power, O Lord,

From men of the world,

Whose portion in life

Is that you fill their belly with your hidden treasure,

And their sons are satisfied,

And they leave their surplus to their children.

As for me, I will see your face in righteousness;

I will be satisfied when I awake in your likeness.

“I will cherish you,

O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock and my fortress

And my deliverer,

My God and my firm ground.

I will put my trust in him

– My shield and the horn of my salvation

And my high stronghold.

I will call on the praiseworthy Lord,

And I will be saved from my enemies.

The tightening grip of death surrounded me,

And the onslaughts of the reprobate alarmed me.

The tightening grip of the grave encompassed me;

Deadly snares confronted me.

When I was in a strait,

I called on the Lord,

And I cried out to my God.

He heard my voice from his temple,

And my cry came before him to his ears.

And the earth shook and trembled,

And the foundations of mountains quaked and shook,

Because he was furious.

Smoke went up in his nostrils,

And fire from his mouth came devouring;

Coals were kindled by him.

And he stretched out the heavens and descended,

And thick darkness was under his feet.

And he rode on a cherub and flew

And swooped down on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his hiding place;

Around him as his booth

Was the darkness of water

And the thick clouds of the upper skies.

At the brightness ahead of him

His thick clouds pass along

With their hail and fiery coals.

And the Lord thundered in the heavens,

And the Most High sounded his voice

With hail and fiery coals.

And he sent his arrows

And scattered them,

And he shot lightning bolts

And routed them.

Then channels of water appeared,

And the foundations of the world were revealed

At your rebuke, O Lord

– At the blast of the wind from your nostrils.

He sent help from on high,

And he took hold of me;

He drew me out of great waters.

He delivered me from my strong enemy

And from those who hate me,

For they were stronger than I was.

They confronted me on my day of distress,

But the Lord became a support for me,

And he brought me out to a wide place;

He delivered me,

Because he delighted in me.

The Lord recompensed me

According to my righteousness;

According to the cleanness of my hands

He rewarded me.

For I have kept the ways of the Lord,

And I have not committed wickedness against my God.

For all his injunctions were before me,

And I have not neglected his statutes.

And I was perfect with him,

And I kept myself from iniquity,

And the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness

– According to the cleanness of my hands

Before his eyes.

With the kind, you will act kindly;

With the perfect man, you will act in perfection.

With the pure, you will act in purity,

But with the perverse, you will act in a convoluted way.

For you will save an afflicted people,

And you will bring haughty eyes low.

For you light up my lamp;

The Lord my God brightens my darkness.

For through you I can run through a battalion,

And through my God I can leap over a wall.

As for God, his way is perfect.

The word of the Lord has been refined.

He is a shield to all who trust in him.

For who is God

Apart from the Lord?

And who is a rock,

Except for our God?

It is God who girds me with valour,

Who makes my way perfect,

Who makes my feet like those of hinds

And stands me on my heights,

Who teaches my hands the skills of war

So a copper bow can be drawn by my arms.

And you gave me the shield of your salvation,

While your right hand gives me support,

And your meekness makes me great.

You enlarged my step under me,

And my ankles did not slip.

I pursued my enemies

And caught up with them,

And I did not return

Until I had made an end of them.

I crushed them

So that they could not get up.

They fell under my feet.

And you girded me with valour for war;

You brought down my opponents under me,

And you gave me the neck of my enemies.

And as for those who hate me,

I cut them down.

They cried out,

But there was no saviour;

They looked to the Lord,

But he did not answer them.

And I pulverized them like the dust,

Carried along by the wind.

I disposed of them

Like the filth of the streets.

You delivered me from the contentions of a people;

You set me at the head of nations.

A people that I did not know

Will serve me.

At bidding coming to their ears,

They will obey me.

Foreigners will feign obedience to me.

Foreigners will fade away;

They will be wrenched out of their confines.

How the Lord lives,

And my rock is blessed,

And the God of my salvation is exalted

– The God who gives me vengeance,

And who subdues peoples under me,

Who delivers me from my enemies.

You also raise me up above those who rise up against me;

You rescue me from the man of violence.

He magnifies acts of salvation of his king,

Also showing kindness to his anointed

– To David and to his seed

Age-abidingly.”

The heavens speak of the glory of God,

And the firmament tells of the work of his hands.

Each day utters speech,

And each night declares knowledge.

They have no speech and they have no words;

Their sound is not something heard.

Throughout the seasons he has assigned an abode for the sun.

And as a bridegroom, the sun comes out of its bridal canopy

And exults as a valiant man about to run a course.

Its rising is from one end of the heavens,

And its circuit is to the other end of them.

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The law of the Lord is perfect

In restoring a person.

The testimony of the Lord is faithful,

Making the simple-minded wise.

The precepts of the Lord are upright;

They gladden the heart.

The commandment of the Lord is pure;

It enlightens the eyes.

Fear of the Lord is salutary;

It endures perpetually.

The judgments of the Lord are truth;

They are altogether righteous.

They are more to be desired than gold,

Or than a vast amount of refined gold.

And they are sweeter than honey

And honey-syrup from honeycombs.

Your servant also is warned by them;

There is great reward in keeping them.

Who understands errors?

Oh acquit me from things hidden.

From presumptuous sins, too, preserve your servant;

Do not let them rule over me.

Then I shall be perfect

And acquitted from great transgression.

May the sayings of my mouth be acceptable,

And the meditation of my heart before you,

O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

The Lord will answer you on the day of straitness;

The name of the God of Jacob will set you on high.

He will send you help from the sanctuary,

And he will support you from Zion.

He will remember all your meal-offerings

And regard your burnt offering as fat.

Selah.

He will give to you according to your heart's desire

And fulfil all your ambitions.

Let us shout for joy in your salvation

And set up a banner in the name of our God.

The Lord will fulfil all your requests.

Now I know that the Lord saves his messiah;

He will answer him from his holy heavens,

By the mighty acts of salvation of his right hand.

Some bring chariots to remembrance,

And others horses,

But we the name of the Lord our God.

They collapse and fall down,

But we arise

And are kept firmly upright.

O Lord, save;

The king will answer us

On the day when we call.

O Lord, the king will take pleasure in your strength,

And how greatly he shall rejoice in your salvation!

You have given him his heart's desire,

And you have not withheld the request of his lips.

Selah.

For you have gone in front of him,

With blessings of goodness;

You have put a crown of pure gold on his head.

He asked you for life;

You gave him it

– Length of days,

Age-long and in perpetuity.

His glory is great through your salvation;

You bestow majesty and splendour on him.

For you have appointed him everlasting blessings;

You have gladdened him with happiness at your presence.

For the king trusts in the Lord.

And through kindness of the Most High,

He shall not falter.

Your hand will find all your enemies;

Your right hand will discover those who hate you.

You will appoint them a fiery furnace

At the time of your presence.

The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,

And fire will consume them.

You will eliminate their fruit from the earth,

And their seed from among the sons of Adam.

For they have tendered you wickedness;

They have devised machinations,

But they will not prevail.

For you have appointed them to flight;

With your bowstring you aim at their face.

Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength;

Let us sing

And sing psalms of your might.

Why are you far from my salvation at my roaring words?

O God of mine, I call by day,

But you do not answer,

And at night,

But I have no quietness.

But you are holy,

You who dwell in the places of praise of Israel.

In you our fathers trusted;

They trusted,

And you rescued them.

They cried out to you,

And they were delivered.

They trusted in you

And were not ashamed.

But I am a worm,

And not a man

– The reproach of men

And despised by the people.

All those who see me, mock me.

They open their lips;

They shake their head,

And say,

“He relied on the Lord

That he would rescue him.

Let him save him,

If he has pleasure in him.”

For you brought me out of the womb;

From my mother's belly you caused me to trust in my mother's breasts.

I was cast on you from the womb;

From my mother's belly

You have been my God.

Do not be far from me,

For adversity is nearby.

For there is no-one to help.

Many bulls have surrounded me;

Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.

They gape at me,

Like a lion that tears and roars.

I have been poured out like water,

And all my bones are out of joint.

My heart has become like wax;

It is melting in my inward parts.

My strength has dried up like a shard,

And my tongue cleaves to my jaws.

You are about to reduce me to death's dust.

For dogs have surrounded me;

The congregation of evildoers has hemmed me in,

Like a lion pinning down my hands and my feet.

They look on,

And stare at me.

But do not you, O Lord, be far off.

Hasten, O my strength, as my help.

Deliver my life from the sword

– My most dear from the power of the dog.

Save me from the mouth of the lion

And from the horns of buffaloes.

You have answered me.

Praise him, you who fear the Lord;

Honour him, all you seed of Jacob,

And revere him,

All you seed of Israel.

For he does not disdain or loathe the affliction of the afflicted man,

And he does not hide his face from him.

And when such a one cries out to him,

He hears it.

My praise is on account of you in a great convocation.

I will fulfil my vows

In the presence of those who fear him.

The meek will eat and be satisfied;

Those who seek him will praise the Lord.

May your heart live in perpetuity.

And all the ends of the land will remember

And return to the Lord,

And all the families of the Gentiles

Will worship before you.

For the kingdom is the Lord's,

And he is ruler over the Gentiles.

All the opulent of the earth will eat and worship;

All those who go down to the dust will bow down before him.

But he did not keep himself alive.

A seed will serve him;

It will be related concerning the Lord^* to a generation.

They will come and declare his righteousness

To a people reborn,

For he will have accomplished this.

The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not lack anything.

He has me lie down in grassy pastures;

He leads me to restful waters.

He refreshes my inner being;

He conducts me along righteous paths

For his name's sake.

Even if I walk in the Valley of the Shadow of Death,

I shall not fear evil,

For you are with me.

It is your sceptre and staff that comfort me.

You have set a table before me

In the presence of my adversaries.

You have anointed my head with oil;

My cup abounds.

Surely goodness and kindness will pursue me

All the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

In the length of days.

– The world and those who live in it.

He founded it on the seas,

And he prepared it on running waters.

Who can go up to the Lord's mountain,

And who can rise at his holy place?

He who is of innocent hands

And pure in heart,

Who has not shown me vain impertinence

And has not sworn deceitfully.

He will receive blessing from the Lord

And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

This is the generation that seeks him

– Those who look for your presence, O Jacob.

Selah.

Lift up your heads, O gates,

And be lifted up, O age-abiding doors,

And the king of glory will come in.

Who is this king of glory?

The Lord, strong and mighty,

The Lord, mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O gates,

And lift yourselves up, O age-abiding doors,

And the king of glory will come in.

Who is this king of glory?

The Lord of hosts is the king of glory.

Selah.

To you, O Lord,

I direct my sentiments.

O God of mine, in you I have trusted.

May I not be ashamed;

May my enemies not gloat over me.

May none of those who put their hope in you be ashamed either;

Let those who act treacherously without cause be ashamed.

O Lord, make your ways known to me;

Teach me your paths.

Guide my steps in your truth,

And teach me,

For you are the God of my salvation.

I put my hope in you all day long.

Remember your compassion and kindness, O Lord,

For they have existed since ancient time.

Do not remember the sins of my youth

Nor my transgressions.

In accordance with your kindness,

Do remember me

For the sake of your goodness, O Lord.

The Lord is good and upright,

On account of which he instructs sinners on the way.

He guides the steps of the meek in justice,

And he teaches the meek his way.

All the ways of the Lord are kindness and truth

To those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.

For your name's sake, O Lord,

Forgive my iniquity,

For it is great.

Who is this man who fears the Lord?

He will instruct him in the way he is to choose.

His very self will abide in well-being,

And his seed will inherit the earth.

The Lord's private plan is for those who fear him,

And his covenant is to instruct them.

My eyes are continually to the Lord,

For he will extricate my feet from the net.

Turn to me and have mercy on me,

For I am solitary and afflicted.

They have increased the anguish of my heart.

Deliver me out of my distress.

See my affliction and my suffering,

And forgive all my sins.

See how my enemies have increased,

And how they have hated me with a violent hatred.

Guard my life and deliver me;

Do not let me be ashamed,

For I have put my trust in you.

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,

For I have put my hope in you.

Deliver Israel, O God,

From all his adversities.

Judge me, O Lord,

For I have walked in my integrity,

And I have trusted in the Lord;

I shall not stumble.

Examine me, O Lord,

And test me.

Refine my kidneys and my heart,

For your kindness is in front of my eyes,

And I have walked in your truth.

I have not sat in collusion with vain people,

Nor will I concur with the secretive.

I have hated the convocation of wrongdoers,

And I will not sit with the wicked.

I will wash my hands in innocence,

So let me go round your altar, O Lord,

To make declaration with a thankful voice

And to recount all your wondrous acts.

O Lord, I have loved the refuge of your house

And the place of your glorious tabernacle.

Do not gather my being with sinners

Nor my life with men of blood,

In whose hands is scheming,

And whose right hand is full of bribery.

So I will walk in my integrity.

Redeem me and have mercy on me.

My foot stands in uprightness,

And I will bless the Lord in the various convocations.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;

Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

Of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers approach me,

To devour my flesh

– My adversaries and my enemies –

They shall stumble and fall.

Even if a battalion encamps against me,

My heart will not fear.

Even if a war should arise against me,

I will be confident in the situation.

One thing I have requested from the Lord,

Which I seek,

Is that I should dwell in the house of the Lord

All the days of my life,

To see the Lord's pleasantness

And to contemplate his temple.

For he will hide me in a booth;

On the evil day

He will conceal me in the secrecy of his tent.

He will raise me up on a rock.

And now my head will be raised

Against my enemies round about me,

And I will offer in his tent the sacrifices of the battle-cry;

I will sing

And make psalm melody to the Lord.

Hear me, O Lord,

As I call with my voice,

And have mercy on me,

And answer me.

My heart has spoken to you.

You have said to us, “Seek my face”;

Your face, O Lord, I shall seek.

Do not hide your face from me;

Do not turn your servant away in anger.

You have been my help;

Do not forsake me and do not abandon me,

O God of my salvation.

If my father and my mother forsake me,

Then the Lord will gather me up.

Teach me, O Lord, your way,

And lead me along an equitable path,

On account of my adversaries.

Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries,

For false witnesses have risen up against me

Who breathe out violence.

I have believed that I will see the Lord's goodness

In the land of the living.

Put your hope in the Lord,

Be strong,

And may he strengthen your heart,

And put your hope in the Lord.

I will call on you, O Lord, my rock.

Do not turn a deaf ear to me,

Lest in being silent to me,

I should become like those

Who go down to the pit.

Oh hear my supplications being uttered

When I shout out to you

– When I lift up my hands to your holy place of address.

Do not draw me along with the wicked

Or perpetrators of iniquity,

Who speak peace with their neighbour,

While evil is in their heart.

Render them according to their work

And according to the evil of their acts.

Render them according to the deeds of their hands;

Requite them their due.

For they do not discern the works of the Lord

Nor the deeds of his hands.

He will demolish them

And not build them up.

Blessed is the Lord,

For he has heard my supplications uttered.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

My heart has put its trust in him.

And I have been helped,

So my heart rejoiced,

And I will praise him with my song.

The Lord is their strength,

And the stronghold of salvation is his messiah.

Oh save your people,

And bless your inheritance,

And be a shepherd to them and exalt them

Age-abidingly.

Ascribe what is due to the Lord,

You mighty ones

– Ascribe glory and strength to the Lord.

Ascribe the glory of his name to the Lord;

Worship the Lord in holy splendour.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters,

The God of glory causes thunder;

The Lord is over great waters.

The voice of the Lord is with power;

The voice of the Lord is with splendour.

The voice of the Lord breaks cedars;

Indeed the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.

And he makes them leap like a calf

– Lebanon and Sirion like the young of a buffalo.

The voice of the Lord cleaves apart

With a fiery flame.

The voice of the Lord shakes the desert;

The Lord shakes the desert of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord causes hinds to calve

And strips woodland bare.

And in his temple,

All of it speaks of glory.

The Lord abode the flood,

And the Lord abides as age-abiding king.

The Lord will give strength to his people;

The Lord will bless his people with peace.

I will extol you, O Lord,

For you have liberated me,

And you have not given my enemies cause for joy over me.

O Lord my God,

I cried out to you,

And you restored me.

O Lord, you have brought my being up from the grave;

You have preserved me alive

From me going down to the pit.

Sing psalms to the Lord,

You sanctified ones of his,

And give thanks at holy remembrance of him.

For although there is a moment in his anger,

There is life in his good pleasure.

In the evening, weeping is prevalent,

But in the morning there is rejoicing.

And I have said in my prosperity,

“I will never falter.”

O Lord, in your goodwill

You established my strong mountain,

But when you hid your face,

I was terrified.

O Lord, I call out to you,

And it is with the Lord^* that I plead.

What profit is there in my blood

If I go down into the pit?

Does the dust give you thanks?

Does it proclaim your truth?

Hear, O Lord,

And have mercy on me.

O Lord, be a helper to me.

You have turned my mourning into dancing for me;

You have untied my sackcloth

And girded me with joy,

So that one may sing psalms of glory to you

And not be silent.

O Lord my God,

I will give you thanks age-abidingly.

In you, O Lord, I have put my trust.

Do not let me ever be ashamed;

Deliver me in your righteousness.

Extend your ear to me;

Rescue me speedily.

Be a rock-founded stronghold to me

– A fortified building to save me.

For you are my rock and my stronghold,

So for your name's sake,

Conduct me and lead me.

Extricate me from the net

Which they have hidden for me,

For you are my fortress.

I commit my spirit into your hand.

You have redeemed me,

O Lord God of truth.

I have hated those who keep false idols,

And I have trusted in the Lord.

I will rejoice and be happy in your kindness,

In that you have looked at my affliction;

You have known my inner self in adversities.

And you have not consigned me to the hand of the enemy;

You have stood my feet in a safe place.

Have mercy on me, O Lord,

For I am in straits;

My eye is ravaged with grief,

As are my mind and my body.

For my life has been worn down with distress,

And my years with sighing.

My strength falters in my iniquity,

And my bones have wasted away.

I have been a reproach to all my adversaries,

And very much so to my neighbours,

And frightening to my acquaintances.

Those who saw me in the open

Fled from me.

I have been forgotten like one deceased

– Out of mind.

I have become like an article going to waste.

For I have heard the slander of many;

There was fear all round

When they plotted together against me

– When they contrived to take my life.

But I put my trust in you, O Lord;

I have said,

“You are my God.”

My times are in your hand.

Oh rescue me from the hand of my enemies

And those who pursue me.

Shine your face on your servant;

Save me in your kindness.

O Lord, do not let me be ashamed,

For I have called on you.

Let the wicked be ashamed;

Let them be silent at the grave.

Let false-speaking lips be dumbfounded,

Which speak insolently against the righteous

In arrogance and in contempt.

How great your goodness is

Which you have hidden away

For those who fear you,

Which you have produced for those who trust in you

In the presence of the sons of Adam!

You will hide them in the secrecy of your face;

You will conceal them in a booth from the brusque ways of man

And from hostile talk.

Blessed be the Lord,

For he has shown his wonderful kindness to me

In a fortified city.

But I said in my haste,

“I have been cut off from the presence of your eyes.”

Truly, you have heard my supplications uttered

When I cried out to you.

Love the Lord, all you people of his grace.

The Lord is a guardian of the faithful,

And an abundant retributer

Of him who behaves proudly.

Be strong and may he encourage your heart,

All you who are awaiting the Lord.

And in whose spirit is no deceit.

When I was silent,

My bones wasted away

– When I roared all day long.

Because day and night your hand was heavy on me,

My moisture turned into summer drought.

Selah.

I acknowledge my sin to you,

And I do not hide my iniquity.

I have said,

“I will make confession concerning my transgression to the Lord”,

And you have forgiven the iniquity of my sin.

Selah.

On account of this, every man of grace will pray to you

At a time when you may be found.

Surely in the flood of great waters,

They will not be able to reach him.

You are my hiding place.

You keep me from adversity;

You surround me with shouts of deliverance.

Selah.

“I will instruct you,

And I will teach you the way by which you will go.

I will counsel you with my eye.

Do not be like the horse or like the mule,

Which cannot be made to understand,

With a bit and bridle as their trappings to control them,

Otherwise they will not come close to you.”

The wicked will have many pains,

But as for him who trusts in the Lord,

Kindness will surround him.

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice,

You righteous,

And shout for joy,

All you upright in heart.

Shout for joy, you righteous because of the Lord;

Praise is becoming to the upright.

Give thanks to the Lord with the harp;

Make psalm melody with the ten-stringed lute.

Sing a new song to him;

Strike up skilfully with jubilation.

For the word of the Lord is upright,

And all his dealings are performed faithfully.

He loves righteousness and justice;

The earth is full of the Lord's kindness.

And by the spirit of his mouth,

All their array.

He gathers up the waters of the sea into an accumulation;

He puts the depths in treasuries.

Let all the earth fear the Lord;

Let all the inhabitants of the world be afraid of him.

For he spoke, and it came to pass;

He commanded, and it stood firm.

The Lord frustrates the counsel of the nations;

He thwarts the designs of the various peoples.

The counsel of the Lord stands age-abidingly;

The designs of his heart are from generation to generation.

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord

– The people whom he has chosen as his inheritance.

The Lord looks on from heaven;

He sees all the sons of Adam.

From his place of residence he observes

All the inhabitants of the earth

– That is he who formed their hearts all together

And who discerns all their works.

No king is saved by greatness of military force;

A warrior is not delivered by greatness of strength.

A horse is a fallacious means of safety,

And it does not provide deliverance by its great strength.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him

– On those who are waiting for his kindness,

For their own salvation from death

And for their preservation in famine.

“Our being is waiting for the Lord;

He is our help and our shield.

For in him our heart rejoices,

For we trust in his holy name.

O Lord, may your kindness be upon us,

According to how we have waited for you.”

I will bless the Lord at all times;

Praise of him is constantly in my mouth.

My being will be praised because of the Lord;

The meek will hear it and rejoice.

Extol the Lord with me,

And let us exalt his name together.

When I sought the Lord,

He answered me,

And he delivered me from all my fears.

They looked to him and brightened up,

And their faces were not ashamed.

There was a certain poor man

Who called out,

And the Lord heard him

And saved him from all his adversities.

The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,

And he delivers them.

Happy is the man who trusts in him.

Fear the Lord, you holy ones of his,

For those who fear him have no lack of anything.

Lion cubs are reduced,

And they hunger,

But those who seek the Lord

Will not suffer lack of any good thing.

Come, you sons, and listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

To cut off the memory of them from the earth.

They call out,

And the Lord hears,

And he delivers them from all their adversities.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted,

And he saves those of contrite spirit.

Many are the woes of the righteous man,

But the Lord delivers him from all of them.

Evil will slay the wicked,

And those who hate the righteous will be held guilty.

The Lord redeems the life of his servants,

And none of those who trust in him

Shall be held guilty.

O Lord, contend with my adversaries;

Do battle with those who do battle with me.

Take hold of buckler and shield,

And rise up to my assistance.

And draw out the spear,

And close in on those who pursue me.

Say to my being,

“I am your salvation.”

Let those who seek my life

Be ashamed and suffer ignominy;

Let those who devise my harm

Be driven back and be disgraced.

Let them be like chaff before the wind,

With the angel of the Lord driving them.

Let their way consist of darkness and slippery places,

With the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

For they secretly prepared without cause

A pit with their net for me.

Without cause they dug it for my life.

Let destruction come upon him,

Which he will be unaware of,

And let his net which he hid

Catch him.

Let him fall into it

To his destruction.

Then my being will rejoice in the Lord;

It will exult in his salvation.

All my bones say,

“O Lord, who is like you?

– Delivering the afflicted

From him who is stronger than he,

And the afflicted and poor

From him who exploits them.”

False witnesses rise up

And interrogate me concerning things

Which I do not know about.

They repay me evil for good,

Leaving me destitute.

Whilst I, when they were sick,

Wore sackcloth for my clothing.

I afflicted myself with fasting,

But my prayer returned to my own bosom.

I conducted myself as to a friend or as to a brother of mine;

I was downcast in melancholy,

As one mourning for his mother.

When I keeled over,

They rejoiced,

And slanderers gathered themselves against me more and more.

And I did not recognize their accusations

As they tore at me without stopping,

With profane cake mockers,

Who gnash their teeth at me instead.

O Lord^*, how long will you look on?

Rescue my life from their devastations;

Rescue my most dear from the lion cubs.

I will give you thanks in a great convocation;

I will praise you among a numerous people.

Do not let my enemies rejoice over me on the basis of falsehood,

Nor let those who hate me without cause gloat over me.

For they do not speak peace,

But they conceive deceitful words

Against those who are quiet in the land.

And they have railed at me;

They have said,

“Ha, ha! Our eye has seen it.”

You have seen it, O Lord;

Do not be silent.

O Lord^*, do not be far from me.

Rouse yourself

And awaken to my case,

O God of mine and my Lord

– For my cause.

Judge me according to your righteousness,

O Lord my God,

And do not let them rejoice over me.

Do not let them say in their heart,

“Ha, we have our desire.”

Do not let them say,

“We have swallowed him up.”

Let those who rejoice in me being harmed

Be completely put to shame and disgraced.

And let those who triumph over me

Be clothed in shame and ignominy.

Let those who delight in my justice

Shout for joy and rejoice

And continually say,

“Let the Lord, who delights in his servant's peace,

Be magnified.”

And my tongue will utter your righteousness

And your praise, all day long.

The transgressive speech of the wicked man is,

For he flatters himself in his own sight,

Indifferent to finding iniquity in himself

– Indifferent to being hateful.

The words of his mouth are vanity and deceit.

He has ceased acting wisely

And doing what is good.

He devises vanity on his couch;

He takes his stand on a way that is not good.

He does not reject evil.

O Lord, your kindness is in heaven;

Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Your righteousness is like tremendous mountains;

Your justice is like a great deep.

O Lord, you save man and beast.

How precious your kindness is, O God,

As the sons of Adam shelter in the shade of your wings.

They will be satiated with the fat of your house,

And you will give them drink

With your pleasurable brook.

For the fountain of life is with you;

In your light, we will see light.

Continue your kindness

With those who know you,

And your righteousness

With the upright in heart.

Do not let a proud foot come upon me,

And do not let the hand of the wicked drive me off course.

That is where perpetrators of iniquity have fallen;

They have been thrust down,

And they cannot get up.

Do not be infuriated by evildoers;

Do not be envious of perpetrators of injustice.

For they will quickly be cut down like wild herbage

And will wither like green grass.

Trust in the Lord and do good;

Dwell in the land

And feed on faithfulness.

And delight in the Lord,

And he will grant you the requests of your heart.

Entrust your way to the Lord,

And trust in him,

And he will perform it.

And he will bring out your righteousness like light,

And your justice like midday.

Be still before the Lord,

And wait for him.

Do not be infuriated by him who makes his way a success

– By a man who engages in intrigues.

Cease from anger

And abandon fury;

Do not be infuriated,

Which just leads to acting wickedly.

For those who act wickedly will be cut off,

But those who await the Lord

Will inherit the earth.

And in just a little while,

There will not be any wicked.

As soon as you have taken stock of his position,

He will not be there.

But the meek shall inherit the earth

And delight in great peace.

The wicked man schemes against the righteous man

And gnashes his teeth at him.

The Lord^* will laugh at him,

For he has seen that his day will come.

The wicked unsheathe a sword

And draw their bow,

In order to fell the poor and the needy,

And to slaughter those of an upright way.

Their sword will go into their own heart,

And their bows will be broken up.

The little that the righteous man has

Is better than the much of the many wicked.

For the arms of the wicked will be broken,

But the Lord upholds the righteous.

The Lord knows the days of those with integrity,

Whose inheritance will be age-abiding.

They shall not be ashamed at an evil time,

And in days of famine, they will be satiated.

For the wicked will perish,

And the enemies of the Lord are like the prime part of fatted lambs.

They will be consumed;

In smoke they will be consumed.

The wicked man borrows and does not repay,

But the righteous man shows compassion and gives.

For those blessed by him will inherit the earth,

But those cursed by him will be cut off.

Man's steps are made firm by the Lord,

And he delights in his way.

If he falls,

He will not be cast out,

For the Lord supports his hand.

I was once a young man,

But now I am old,

And I have not seen a righteous man forsaken,

Nor seen his seed seeking bread.

He is compassionate and lends all day,

And his seed is a blessing.

Depart from evil and do good,

And so dwell age-abidingly.

For the Lord loves justice,

And he does not forsake those of his grace.

They are kept safe age-abidingly,

But the seed of the wicked is cut off.

The righteous will inherit the earth

And will dwell on it perpetually.

The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

And his tongue speaks justice.

The law of his God is in his heart;

None of his steps stumbles.

The wicked watches for the righteous

And endeavours to kill him.

The Lord will not leave him in his hand,

Nor will he condemn him when he is judged.

Wait for the Lord,

And guard his way,

And he will exalt you in inheriting the earth.

When the wicked are cut off,

You will see it.

I have seen a wicked, violent man

Spreading himself like a luxuriant native tree.

Then he passes away,

And behold, he is not there,

And although I might seek him,

He is not to be found.

Maintain integrity

And see to being upright,

For the final state of man is peace.

But transgressors will be completely destroyed;

The final state of the wicked is to be cut off.

But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;

He is their stronghold in the time of tribulation.

And the Lord will help them and deliver them;

He will deliver them from the wicked ones

And save them,

For they have trusted in him.

O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger,

Nor chasten me in your fury.

For your arrows rain down on me,

And your hand descends onto me.

There is nothing unscathed in my flesh

On account of your indignation;

There is no peace in my bones

On account of my sin.

For my iniquities extend beyond my head;

They weigh down like a burden too heavy for me.

My scars are loathsome;

They are a flux because of my folly.

I am buckled,

I have been brought low in the extreme;

I go mourning all day long.

For my loins are full of inflammation,

And there is nothing unscathed in my flesh.

I have become languid,

And I have been crushed in the extreme.

I roar with the growling of my heart.

O Lord^*, all my yearning is set before you,

And my sighing is not concealed from you.

My heart palpitates;

My strength has deserted me,

And the light of my eyes is not with me either.

Those who love me, and my friends, stand back at my plight,

And my acquaintances station themselves at a distance,

While those who seek my life lay snares,

And those intent on harming me

Speak pernicious things

And contemplate deceitful plots all day long.

But I, like a deaf person, do not hear it,

And like a mute person,

Who does not open his mouth.

And I was like a man who did not hear it,

In whose mouth were no reproofs.

For I have waited for you, O Lord.

You will answer, O Lord^* my God.

For I have said,

“So that they do not rejoice over me,

Or triumph over me when my foot falters.”

For I am on the point of keeling over,

And my grief is in front of me all the time.

For I will confess my iniquity;

I am anxious about my sin.

Meanwhile my enemies are alive

And have become strong.

And those who hate me on false grounds

Have become numerous.

And those who requite evil instead of good

Oppose me for my pursuit of good.

Do not abandon me, O Lord;

O God of mine, do not be far from me.

Hasten to help me,

O Lord^* of my salvation.

I have resolved that I will keep my ways,

Not sinning with my tongue;

I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle

As long as the wicked one is still before me.

I was mute – in silence.

I was quiet because of my good situation,

Then sorrow came upon me.

My heart was hot within me,

A fire was burning in my contemplation;

I spoke with my tongue.

O Lord, make my end known to me,

And what the measure of my days is,

So that I may know how transient I am.

Look, you have appointed my days to be as handbreadths,

And my lifespan is as nothing before you.

Surely all mankind is appointed to nothing but vanity.

Selah.