Psalm 42-59

English Standard Version

^5 (L)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you ^(M)in turmoil within me?
^(N)Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation^{[c] 6} and my God.

My soul is cast down within me;
    therefore I ^(O)remember you
^(P)from the land of Jordan and of ^(Q)Hermon,
    from Mount Mizar.
⁷ Deep calls to deep
    at the roar of your waterfalls;
^(R)all your breakers and your ^(S)waves
    have gone over me.
⁸ By day the Lord ^(T)commands his steadfast love,
    and at ^(U)night his song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.
⁹ I say to God, ^(V)my rock:
    “Why have you forgotten me?
^(W)Why do I go mourning
    because of the oppression of the enemy?”
¹⁰ As with a deadly wound in my bones,
    my adversaries taunt me,
^(X)while they say to me all the day long,
    “Where is your God?”

^11 (Y)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation and my God.

^3 (AF)Send out your light and your truth;
    let them lead me;
let them bring me to your ^(AG)holy hill
    and to your ^(AH)dwelling!
⁴ Then I will go to the altar of God,
    to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
    O God, my God.

^5 (AI)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
^(AJ)Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation and my God.

^4 (AT)You are my King, O God;
    ^(AU)ordain salvation for Jacob!
⁵ Through you we ^(AV)push down our foes;
    through your name we ^(AW)tread down those who rise up against us.
⁶ For not in ^(AX)my bow do I trust,
    nor can my sword save me.
⁷ But you have saved us from our foes
    and have ^(AY)put to shame those who hate us.
^8 (AZ)In God we have boasted continually,
    and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

⁹ But you have ^(BA)rejected us and disgraced us
    and ^(BB)have not gone out with our armies.
¹⁰ You have made us ^(BC)turn back from the foe,
    and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
¹¹ You have made us like ^(BD)sheep for slaughter
    and have ^(BE)scattered us among the nations.
^12 (BF)You have sold your people for a trifle,
    demanding no high price for them.
¹³ You have made us ^(BG)the taunt of our neighbors,
    the derision and ^(BH)scorn of those around us.
¹⁴ You have made us ^(BI)a byword among the nations,
    ^(BJ)a laughingstock^[e] among the peoples.
¹⁵ All day long my disgrace is before me,
    and ^(BK)shame has covered my face
¹⁶ at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
    at the sight of ^(BL)the enemy and the avenger.

^17 (BM)All this has come upon us,
    though we have not forgotten you,
    and we have not been false to your covenant.
¹⁸ Our heart has not turned back,
    nor have our ^(BN)steps ^(BO)departed from your way;
¹⁹ yet you have ^(BP)broken us in the place of ^(BQ)jackals
    and covered us with ^(BR)the shadow of death.
²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God
    or ^(BS)spread out our hands to ^(BT)a foreign god,
^21 (BU)would not God discover this?
    ^(BV)For he knows the secrets of the heart.
²² Yet ^(BW)for your sake we are killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

^23 (BX)Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
    Rouse yourself! ^(BY)Do not reject us forever!
²⁴ Why ^(BZ)do you hide your face?
    Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
²⁵ For our ^(CA)soul is bowed down to the dust;
    our belly clings to the ground.
²⁶ Rise up; ^(CB)come to our help!
    ^(CC)Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!

² You are ^(CF)the most handsome of the sons of men;
    ^(CG)grace is poured upon your lips;
    therefore God has blessed you forever.
^3 (CH)Gird your ^(CI)sword on your thigh, O ^(CJ)mighty one,
    in ^(CK)your splendor and majesty!

⁴ In your majesty ^(CL)ride out victoriously
    for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;
    let your right hand teach you ^(CM)awesome deeds!
⁵ Your arrows are sharp
    in the heart of the king's enemies;
    the peoples fall under you.

^6 (CN)Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
    The ^(CO)scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
^{7     (CP)}you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore ^(CQ)God, your God, has ^(CR)anointed you
    with the oil of ^(CS)gladness ^(CT)beyond your companions;
⁸     your robes are all fragrant with ^(CU)myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces ^(CV)stringed instruments make you glad;
⁹     daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
    ^(CW)at your right hand stands the queen in ^(CX)gold of Ophir.

¹⁰ Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:
    forget your people and your father's house,
¹¹     and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your ^(CY)lord, ^(CZ)bow to him.
¹²     The people^[g] of Tyre will ^(DA)seek your favor with ^(DB)gifts,
    ^(DC)the richest of the people.^[h]

¹³ All glorious is ^(DD)the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.
^{14     (DE)}In many-colored robes ^(DF)she is led to the king,
    with her virgin companions following behind her.
¹⁵ With joy and gladness they are led along
    as they enter the palace of the king.

¹⁶ In place of your fathers shall be your sons;
    you will make them ^(DG)princes in all the earth.
^17 (DH)I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;
    therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.

⁴ There is ^(DQ)a river whose streams make glad ^(DR)the city of God,
    the holy ^(DS)habitation of the Most High.
^5 (DT)God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
    God will help her when morning dawns.
^6 (DU)The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he ^(DV)utters his voice, the earth ^(DW)melts.
^7 (DX)The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

^8 (DY)Come, behold the works of the Lord,
    how he has brought desolations on the earth.
^9 (DZ)He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he ^(EA)breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    ^(EB)he burns the chariots with fire.
^10 (EC)“Be still, and know that I am God.
    ^(ED)I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”
^11 (EE)The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

⁵ God ^(EN)has gone up with a shout,
    the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
⁶ Sing praises to God, sing praises!
    Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
⁷ For God is ^(EO)the King of all the earth;
    sing praises ^(EP)with a psalm!^[k]

⁸ God ^(EQ)reigns over the nations;
    God sits on his holy throne.
^9 (ER)The princes of the peoples gather
    as the people of the God of Abraham.
For ^(ES)the shields of the earth belong to God;
    he is highly exalted!

⁴ For behold, ^(FA)the kings assembled;
    they came on together.
⁵ As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
    they were in panic; they took to flight.
^6 (FB)Trembling took hold of them there,
    anguish ^(FC)as of a woman in labor.
⁷ By ^(FD)the east wind you ^(FE)shattered
    the ships of ^(FF)Tarshish.
⁸ As we have heard, so have we seen
    in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in ^(FG)the city of our God,
    which God will ^(FH)establish forever. Selah

⁹ We have thought on your ^(FI)steadfast love, O God,
    in the midst of your temple.
¹⁰ As your ^(FJ)name, O God,
    so your praise reaches to ^(FK)the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
¹¹     Let Mount ^(FL)Zion be glad!
Let ^(FM)the daughters of Judah rejoice
    because of your judgments!

¹² Walk about Zion, go around her,
    number her towers,
¹³ consider well her ^(FN)ramparts,
    go through her citadels,
^(FO)that you may tell the next generation
¹⁴     that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
    He will ^(FP)guide us forever.^[l]

^5 (FW)Why should I fear in ^(FX)times of trouble,
    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
⁶ those who ^(FY)trust in their wealth
    and boast of the abundance of their riches?
⁷ Truly no man ^(FZ)can ransom another,
    or ^(GA)give to God ^(GB)the price of his life,
⁸ for ^(GC)the ransom of their life is costly
    and can never suffice,
⁹ that he should live on forever
    and ^(GD)never see the pit.

¹⁰ For he sees ^(GE)that even the wise die;
    ^(GF)the fool and the stupid alike must perish
    and ^(GG)leave their wealth to others.
¹¹ Their ^(GH)graves are their homes forever,^[m]
    their dwelling places ^(GI)to all generations,
    though they ^(GJ)called lands by their own names.
¹² Man in his pomp ^(GK)will not remain;
    ^(GL)he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³ This is the path of those who have ^(GM)foolish confidence;
    yet after them people approve of their boasts.^[n] Selah
¹⁴ Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
    death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright ^(GN)shall rule over them in the morning.
    ^(GO)Their form shall be consumed ^(GP)in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
¹⁵ But God will ^(GQ)ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
    for he will ^(GR)receive me. Selah

¹⁶ Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
    when the glory of his house increases.
^17 (GS)For when he dies he will ^(GT)carry nothing away;
    his glory will not go down after him.
¹⁸ For though, while he lives, he counts himself ^(GU)blessed
    —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
¹⁹ his soul will ^(GV)go to the generation of his fathers,
    who will never again ^(GW)see light.
^20 (GX)Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

³ Our God comes; he ^(HD)does not keep silence;^[o]
    before him is a devouring ^(HE)fire,
    around him a mighty tempest.
^4 (HF)He calls to the heavens above
    and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
⁵ “Gather to me my faithful ones,
    who made ^(HG)a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
^6 (HH)The heavens declare his righteousness,
    for ^(HI)God himself is judge! Selah

^7 (HJ)“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
    O Israel, I will testify against you.
    ^(HK)I am God, your God.
⁸ Not for your sacrifices ^(HL)do I rebuke you;
    your burnt offerings are continually before me.
⁹ I will not accept a bull from your house
    or goats from your folds.
¹⁰ For every beast of the forest is mine,
    the cattle on a thousand hills.
^11 (HM)I know all the birds of the hills,
    and all that moves in the field is mine.

¹² “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
    ^(HN)for the world and its fullness are mine.
¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?
^14 (HO)Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,^[p]
    and ^(HP)perform your vows to the Most High,
¹⁵ and ^(HQ)call upon me in the day of trouble;
    I will ^(HR)deliver you, and you shall ^(HS)glorify me.”

¹⁶ But to the wicked God says:
    “What right have you to recite my statutes
    or take my covenant on your lips?
^17 (HT)For you hate discipline,
    ^(HU)and you cast my words behind you.
¹⁸ If you see a thief, ^(HV)you are pleased with him,
    ^(HW)and you keep company with adulterers.

¹⁹ “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
    ^(HX)and your tongue frames deceit.
²⁰ You sit and speak against your brother;
    you slander your own mother's son.
²¹ These things you have done, and I ^(HY)have been silent;
    you thought that I^[q] was one like yourself.
But now I ^(HZ)rebuke you and ^(IA)lay the charge before you.

²² “Mark this, then, you who ^(IB)forget God,
    lest I tear you apart, and there be ^(IC)none to deliver!
²³ The one who ^(ID)offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
    to one who ^(IE)orders his way rightly
    I will show the ^(IF)salvation of God!”

^3 (IM)For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
^4 (IN)Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil ^(IO)in your sight,
^(IP)so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
⁵ Behold, ^(IQ)I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
⁶ Behold, you delight in truth in ^(IR)the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

⁷ Purge me ^(IS)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    ^(IT)wash me, and I shall be ^(IU)whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    ^(IV)let the bones ^(IW)that you have broken rejoice.
^9 (IX)Hide your face from my sins,
    and ^(IY)blot out all my iniquities.
^10 (IZ)Create in me a ^(JA)clean heart, O God,
    and ^(JB)renew a right^[s] spirit within me.
^11 (JC)Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not ^(JD)your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will ^(JE)return to you.
¹⁴ Deliver me from ^(JF)bloodguiltiness, O God,
    O ^(JG)God of my salvation,
    and ^(JH)my tongue will sing aloud of your ^(JI)righteousness.
¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
^16 (JJ)For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
    you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are ^(JK)a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

^18 (JL)Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
    ^(JM)build up the walls of Jerusalem;
¹⁹ then will you delight in ^(JN)right sacrifices,
    in burnt offerings and ^(JO)whole burnt offerings;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

⁵ But God will break you down forever;
    he will snatch and ^(JU)tear you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from ^(JV)the land of the living. Selah
⁶ The righteous shall ^(JW)see and fear,
    and shall ^(JX)laugh at him, saying,
⁷ “See the man who would not make
    God his refuge,
but ^(JY)trusted in the abundance of his riches
    and sought refuge in his own destruction!”^[u]

⁸ But I am like ^(JZ)a green olive tree
    in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
    forever and ever.
⁹ I will thank you forever,
    because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, ^(KA)for it is good,
    in the presence of the ^(KB)godly.

² God looks down from heaven
    on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,^[w]
    who seek after God.

³ They have all fallen away;
    together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
    not even one.

⁴ Have those who work evil no knowledge,
    who eat up my people as they eat bread,
    and do not call upon God?

⁵ There they are, in great terror,
    ^(KE)where there is no terror!
For God ^(KF)scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
    you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

⁶ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When God restores the fortunes of his people,
    let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

^3 (KK)For ^(KL)strangers^[y] have risen against me;
    ruthless men ^(KM)seek my life;
    they do not set God before themselves. Selah

⁴ Behold, ^(KN)God is my helper;
    the Lord is the upholder of my life.
⁵ He will return the evil to my enemies;
    in your ^(KO)faithfulness ^(KP)put an end to them.

⁶ With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
    I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, ^(KQ)for it is good.
⁷ For he has delivered me from every trouble,
    and my eye has ^(KR)looked in triumph on my enemies.

⁴ My heart is in anguish within me;
    ^(KX)the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
⁵ Fear and trembling come upon me,
    and ^(KY)horror ^(KZ)overwhelms me.
⁶ And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest;
^7 (LA)yes, I would wander far away;
    I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
⁸ I would hurry to find a shelter
    from ^(LB)the raging wind and tempest.”

⁹ Destroy, O Lord, ^(LC)divide their tongues;
    for I see ^(LD)violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰ Day and night they go around it
    on its walls,
and ^(LE)iniquity and trouble are within it;
¹¹     ruin is in its midst;
^(LF)oppression and fraud
    do not depart from its marketplace.

¹² For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
    then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who ^(LG)deals insolently with me—
    then I could hide from him.
^13 (LH)But it is you, a man, my equal,
    my companion, my familiar friend.
¹⁴ We used to take sweet counsel together;
    within God's house we walked in ^(LI)the throng.
¹⁵ Let death steal over them;
    let them go down to Sheol ^(LJ)alive;
    for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

¹⁶ But I call to God,
    and the Lord will save me.
^17 (LK)Evening and ^(LL)morning and at ^(LM)noon
    I ^(LN)utter my complaint and moan,
    and he hears my voice.
¹⁸ He redeems my soul in safety
    from the battle that I wage,
    for ^(LO)many are arrayed against me.
¹⁹ God will give ear and humble them,
    he who is ^(LP)enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not ^(LQ)change
    and do not fear God.

²⁰ My companion^{[aa] (LR)}stretched out his hand against his friends;
    he violated his covenant.
²¹ His ^(LS)speech was ^(LT)smooth as butter,
    yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
    yet they were ^(LU)drawn swords.

^22 (LV)Cast your burden on the Lord,
    and he will sustain you;
^(LW)he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved.

²³ But you, O God, ^(LX)will cast them down
    into ^(LY)the pit of destruction;
men of ^(LZ)blood and treachery
    shall not ^(MA)live out half their days.
But I will ^(MB)trust in you.

⁵ All day long they injure my cause;^[ac]
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.
⁶ They ^(MI)stir up strife, they ^(MJ)lurk;
    they ^(MK)watch my steps,
    as they have waited for my life.
⁷ For their crime will they escape?
    ^(ML)In wrath ^(MM)cast down the peoples, O God!

⁸ You have kept count of my tossings;^{[ad]
    (MN)}put my tears in your bottle.
    ^(MO)Are they not in your book?
⁹ Then my enemies will turn back
    ^(MP)in the day when I call.
    This I know, that^{[ae] (MQ)}God is for me.
¹⁰ In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise,
¹¹ in God I trust; ^(MR)I shall not be afraid.
    What can man do to me?

¹² I must perform my ^(MS)vows to you, O God;
    I will ^(MT)render thank offerings to you.
^13 (MU)For you have delivered my soul from death,
    yes, my feet from falling,
^(MV)that I may walk before God
    ^(MW)in the light of life.

⁴ My soul is in the midst of ^(NJ)lions;
    I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose ^(NK)teeth are spears and arrows,
    whose ^(NL)tongues are sharp swords.

^5 (NM)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!

⁶ They set ^(NN)a net for my steps;
    my soul was ^(NO)bowed down.
They ^(NP)dug a pit in my way,
    but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
^7 (NQ)My heart is ^(NR)steadfast, O God,
    my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
^{8     (NS)}Awake, ^(NT)my glory!^[ag]
Awake, ^(NU)O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
⁹ I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.
¹⁰ For your ^(NV)steadfast love is great to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.

^11 (NW)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!

³ The wicked are ^(OA)estranged from the womb;
    they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
^4 (OB)They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
    like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
⁵ so that it ^(OC)does not hear the voice of charmers
    or of the cunning enchanter.

⁶ O God, ^(OD)break the teeth in their mouths;
    tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
⁷ Let them ^(OE)vanish like water that runs away;
    when he ^(OF)aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
⁸ Let them be like the snail ^(OG)that dissolves into slime,
    like ^(OH)the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
⁹ Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of ^(OI)thorns,
    whether green or ablaze, may he ^(OJ)sweep them away!^[aj]

^10 (OK)The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
    he will ^(OL)bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
¹¹ Mankind will say, “Surely there is ^(OM)a reward for the righteous;
    surely there is a God who ^(ON)judges on earth.”

³ For behold, they ^(OW)lie in wait for my life;
    fierce men ^(OX)stir up strife against me.
^(OY)For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,
⁴     for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
^(OZ)Awake, come to meet me, and see!
⁵     You, ^(PA)Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
    spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

⁶ Each evening they ^(PB)come back,
    howling like dogs
    and prowling about the city.
⁷ There they are, ^(PC)bellowing with their mouths
    with ^(PD)swords in their lips—
    for ^(PE)“Who,” they think,^[al] “will hear us?”

⁸ But you, O Lord, ^(PF)laugh at them;
    you hold all the nations in derision.
⁹ O my Strength, I will watch for you,
    for you, O God, are ^(PG)my fortress.
^10 (PH)My God in his steadfast love^{[am] (PI)}will meet me;
    God will let me ^(PJ)look in triumph on my enemies.

¹¹ Kill them not, lest my people forget;
    make them totter^[an] by your power and ^(PK)bring them down,
    O Lord, our ^(PL)shield!
¹² For ^(PM)the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
    let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
^{13     (PN)}consume them in wrath;
    consume them till they are no more,
that they may ^(PO)know that God rules over Jacob
    to ^(PP)the ends of the earth. Selah

^14 (PQ)Each evening they come back,
    howling like dogs
    and prowling about the city.
¹⁵ They ^(PR)wander about for food
    and growl if they do not get their fill.