Psalm 49-51

Complete Jewish Bible

49 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. A psalm of the descendants of Korach:

²⁽¹⁾Hear this, all you peoples!
Listen, everyone living on earth,
³⁽²⁾regardless of whether low or high,
regardless of whether rich or poor!
⁴⁽³⁾My mouth is about to speak wisdom;
my heart’s deepest thoughts will give understanding.
⁵⁽⁴⁾I will listen with care to [God’s] parable,
I will set my enigma to the music of the lyre.

⁶⁽⁵⁾Why should I fear when the days bring trouble,
when the evil of my pursuers surrounds me,
⁷⁽⁶⁾the evil of those who rely on their wealth
and boast how rich they are?
⁸⁽⁷⁾No one can ever redeem his brother
or give God a ransom for him ,
⁹⁽⁸⁾because the price for him is too high
(leave the idea completely alone!)
¹⁰⁽⁹⁾to have him live on eternally
and never see the pit.
¹¹⁽¹⁰⁾For he can see that wise men will die,
likewise the fool and the brute will perish
and leave their wealth to others.
¹²⁽¹¹⁾They think their homes will last forever,
their dwellings through all generations;
they give their own names to their estates.
¹³⁽¹²⁾But people, even rich ones, will live only briefly;
then, like animals, they will die.
¹⁴⁽¹³⁾This is the manner of life of the foolish
and those who come after, approving their words. (Selah)
¹⁵⁽¹⁴⁾Like sheep, they are destined for Sh’ol;
death will be their shepherd.
The upright will rule them in the morning;
and their forms will waste away in Sh’ol,
until they need no dwelling.
¹⁶⁽¹⁵⁾But God will redeem me from Sh’ol’s control,
because he will receive me. (Selah)

¹⁷⁽¹⁶⁾Don’t be afraid when someone gets rich,
when the wealth of his family grows.
¹⁸⁽¹⁷⁾For when he dies, he won’t take it with him;
his wealth will not go down after him.
¹⁹⁽¹⁸⁾True, while he lived, he thought himself happy —
people praise you when you do well for yourself —
²⁰⁽¹⁹⁾but he will join his ancestors’ generations
and never again see light.
²¹⁽²⁰⁾People, even rich ones, can fail to grasp
that, like animals, they will die.

50 ⁽⁰⁾A psalm of Asaf:

⁽¹⁾The Mighty One, God, Adonai, is speaking,
summoning the world from east to west.
²Out of Tziyon, the perfection of beauty,
God is shining forth.
³Our God is coming and not staying silent.
With a fire devouring ahead of him
and a great storm raging around him,
⁴he calls to the heavens above and to earth,
in order to judge his people.
⁵“Gather to me my faithful,
those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”

⁶The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for God himself is judge. (Selah)

⁷“Listen, my people, I am speaking:
Isra’el, I am testifying against you,
I, God, your God.
⁸I am not rebuking you for your sacrifices;
your burnt offerings are always before me.
⁹I have no need for a bull from your farm
or for male goats from your pens;
¹⁰for all forest creatures are mine already,
as are the animals on a thousand hills;
¹¹I know all the birds in the mountains;
whatever moves in the fields is mine.
¹²If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
for the world is mine, and everything in it.
¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
¹⁴Offer thanksgiving as your sacrifice to God,
pay your vows to the Most High,
¹⁵and call on me when you are in trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked God says:
“What right do you have to proclaim my laws
or take my covenant on your lips,
¹⁷when you so hate to receive instruction
and fling my words behind you?
¹⁸When you see a thief, you join up with him,
you throw in your lot with adulterers,
¹⁹you give your mouth free rein for evil
and harness your tongue to deceit;
²⁰you sit and speak against your kinsman,
you slander your own mother’s son.
²¹When you do such things, should I stay silent?
You may have thought I was just like you;
but I will rebuke and indict you to your face.
²²Consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to save you.

²³“Whoever offers thanksgiving
as his sacrifice honors me;
and to him who goes the right way
I will show the salvation of God.”
51 ⁽⁰⁾For the leader. A psalm of David, ²when Natan the prophet came to him after his affair with Bat-Sheva:

³⁽¹⁾God, in your grace, have mercy on me;
in your great compassion, blot out my crimes.
⁴⁽²⁾Wash me completely from my guilt,
and cleanse me from my sin.
⁵⁽³⁾For I know my crimes,
my sin confronts me all the time.

⁶⁽⁴⁾Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil from your perspective;
so that you are right in accusing me
and justified in passing sentence.

⁷⁽⁵⁾True, I was born guilty,
was a sinner from the moment my mother conceived me.
⁸⁽⁶⁾Still, you want truth in the inner person;
so make me know wisdom in my inmost heart.

⁹⁽⁷⁾Sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
¹⁰⁽⁸⁾Let me hear the sound of joy and gladness,
so that the bones you crushed can rejoice.
¹¹⁽⁹⁾Turn away your face from my sins,
and blot out all my crimes.

¹²⁽¹⁰⁾Create in me a clean heart, God;
renew in me a resolute spirit.
¹³⁽¹¹⁾Don’t thrust me away from your presence,
don’t take your Ruach Kodesh away from me.
¹⁴⁽¹²⁾Restore my joy in your salvation,
and let a willing spirit uphold me.
¹⁵⁽¹³⁾Then I will teach the wicked your ways,
and sinners will return to you.

¹⁶⁽¹⁴⁾Rescue me from the guilt of shedding blood,
God, God of my salvation!
Then my tongue will sing
about your righteousness —
¹⁷⁽¹⁵⁾Adonai, open my lips;
then my mouth will praise you.

¹⁸⁽¹⁶⁾For you don’t want sacrifices, or I would give them;
you don’t take pleasure in burnt offerings.
¹⁹⁽¹⁷⁾My sacrifice to God is a broken spirit;
God, you won’t spurn a broken, chastened heart.
²⁰⁽¹⁸⁾In your good pleasure, make Tziyon prosper;
rebuild the walls of Yerushalayim.
²¹⁽¹⁹⁾Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then they will offer bulls on your altar.