Psalm 98-102

Common English Bible

Psalm 98

A psalm.

98 Sing to the Lord a new song
    because he has done wonderful things!
His own strong hand and his own holy arm
    have won the victory!
²The Lord has made his salvation widely known;
    he has revealed his righteousness
    in the eyes of all the nations.
³God has remembered his loyal love
    and faithfulness to the house of Israel;
    every corner of the earth has seen our God’s salvation.

⁴Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth!
    Be happy!
    Rejoice out loud!
    Sing your praises!
⁵Sing your praises to the Lord with the lyre—
    with the lyre and the sound of music.
⁶With trumpets and a horn blast,
    shout triumphantly before the Lord, the king!
⁷Let the sea and everything in it roar;
    the world and all its inhabitants too.
⁸Let all the rivers clap their hands;
    let the mountains rejoice out loud altogether ⁹before the Lord
    because he is coming to establish justice on the earth!
He will establish justice in the world rightly;
    he will establish justice among all people fairly.

Psalm 99

99 The Lord rules—
    the nations shake!
    He sits enthroned on the winged heavenly creatures—
    the earth quakes!
²The Lord is great in Zion;
    he is exalted over all the nations.
³Let them thank your great and awesome name.
    He is holy!

⁴Strong king^[a] who loves justice,
    you are the one who established what is fair.
    You worked justice and righteousness in Jacob.
⁵Magnify the Lord, our God!
    Bow low at his footstool!
    He is holy!
⁶Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
    Samuel too among those who called on his name.
They cried out to the Lord, and he himself answered them—
⁷    he spoke to them from a pillar of cloud.
They kept the laws and the rules God gave to them.
⁸Lord our God, you answered them.
    To them you were a God who forgives
    but also the one who avenged their wrong deeds.
⁹Magnify the Lord our God!
    Bow low at his holy mountain
    because the Lord our God is holy!

Psalm 100

A psalm of thanks.

100 Shout triumphantly to the Lord, all the earth!
²    Serve the Lord with celebration!
    Come before him with shouts of joy!
³Know that the Lord is God—
    he made us; we belong to him.^[b]
    We are his people,
    the sheep of his own pasture.
⁴Enter his gates with thanks;
    enter his courtyards with praise!
    Thank him! Bless his name!
⁵Because the Lord is good,
    his loyal love lasts forever;
    his faithfulness lasts generation after generation.

Psalm 101

Of David. A psalm.

101 Oh, let me sing about faithful love and justice!
    I want to sing my praises to you, Lord!
²I want to study the way of integrity—
    how long before it gets here?
        I will walk with a heart of integrity
        in my own house.
³I won’t set my eyes on anything worthless.
    I hate wrongdoing;
    none of that will stick to me.
⁴A corrupt heart will be far from me.
    I won’t be familiar with evil.
⁵I will destroy anyone
    who secretly tells lies about a neighbor.
I can’t stomach anyone
    who has proud eyes or an arrogant heart.
⁶My eyes focus on those
    who are faithful in the land,
    to have them close to me.
The person who walks without blame
    will work for me.
⁷But the person who acts deceitfully
    won’t stay in my house.
The person who tells lies
    won’t last for long before me.
⁸Every morning I will destroy
    all those who are wicked in the land
        in order to eliminate all evildoers
        from the Lord’s city.

Psalm 102

A prayer of an oppressed person, when weak and pouring out grief to the Lord.

102 Lord, hear my prayer!
    Let my cry reach you!
²Don’t hide your face from me
    in my time of trouble!
Listen to me!
    Answer me quickly as I cry out!
³Because my days disappear like smoke,
    my bones are burned up as if in an oven;
⁴    my heart is smashed like dried-up grass.
    I even forget to eat my food
⁵    because of my intense groans.
    My bones are protruding from my skin.
⁶I’m like some wild owl—
    like some screech owl in the desert.
⁷I lie awake all night.
    I’m all alone like a bird on a roof.
⁸All day long my enemies make fun of me;
    those who mock me curse using my name!
⁹I’ve been eating ashes instead of bread.
    I’ve been mixing tears into my drinks
¹⁰        because of your anger and wrath,
        because you picked me up and threw me away.
¹¹My days are like a shadow soon gone.
    I’m dried up like dead grass.

¹²But you, Lord, rule forever!
    Your fame lasts from one generation to the next!
¹³You will stand up—
        you’ll have compassion on Zion
        because it is time to have mercy on her—
    the time set for that has now come!
¹⁴Your servants cherish Zion’s stones;
    they show mercy even to her dirt.
¹⁵The nations will honor the Lord’s name;
    all the earth’s rulers will honor your glory
¹⁶    because the Lord will rebuild Zion;
    he will be seen there in his glory.
¹⁷God will turn to the prayer of the impoverished;
    he won’t despise their prayers.

¹⁸Let this be written down for the next generation
    so that people not yet created will praise the Lord:
¹⁹    The Lord looked down from his holy summit,
        surveyed the earth from heaven,
²⁰        to hear the prisoners’ groans,
        to set free those condemned to death,
²¹        that the Lord’s name may be declared in Zion
        and his praise declared in Jerusalem,
²²        when all people are gathered together—
        all kingdoms—to serve the Lord.

²³God broke my strength in midstride,
    cutting my days short.
²⁴I said, “My God, don’t take me away in the prime of life—
    your years go on from one generation to the next!
²⁵You laid the earth’s foundations long ago;
    the skies are your handiwork.
²⁶These things will pass away, but you will last.
    All of these things will wear out like clothing;
    you change them like clothes, and they pass on.
²⁷But you are the one!
    Your years never end!
²⁸Let your servants’ children live safe;
    let your servants’ descendants live secure in your presence.”