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Book IV

God’s eternity and man’s transitoriness.

A Prayer of Moses the man of God.

90 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place
In all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever thou [a]hadst formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Thou turnest man to [b]destruction,
And sayest, Return, ye children of men.
For a thousand years in thy sight
Are but as yesterday [c]when it is past,
And as a watch in the night.
Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep:
In the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up;
In the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
For we are consumed in thine anger,
And in thy wrath are we troubled.
Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,
Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath:
We bring our years to an end as [d]a sigh.
10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten,
Or even by reason of strength fourscore years;
Yet is their pride but labor and sorrow;
For it is soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger,
And thy wrath according to the fear that is due unto thee?
12 So teach us to number our days,
That we may get us a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Jehovah; how long?
And let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
14 Oh satisfy us in the morning with thy lovingkindness,
That we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us,
And the years wherein we have seen evil.
16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants,
And thy glory upon their children.
17 And let the [e]favor of the Lord our God be upon us;
And establish thou the work of our hands upon us;
Yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

Security of him who trusts in Jehovah.

91 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
[f]Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in whom I trust.
For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,
And from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover thee with his pinions,
And under his wings shalt thou take refuge:
His truth is a shield and a buckler.
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night,
Nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
For the pestilence that walketh in darkness,
Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
A thousand shall fall at thy side,
And ten thousand at thy right hand;
But it shall not come nigh thee.
Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold,
And see the reward of the wicked.
[g]For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge!
Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee,
Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent.
11 For he will give his angels charge over thee,
To keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands,
Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder:
The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under foot.
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him:
I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble:
I will deliver him, and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him,
And show him my salvation.

Praise for Jehovah’s goodness.

A Psalm, a Song for the sabbath day.

92 It is a good thing to give thanks unto Jehovah,
And to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High;
To show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning,
And thy faithfulness every night,
With an instrument of ten strings, and with the psaltery;
With a solemn sound upon the harp.
For thou, Jehovah, hast made me glad through thy work:
I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
How great are thy works, O Jehovah!
Thy thoughts are very deep.
A brutish man knoweth not;
Neither doth a fool understand this:
When the wicked spring as the grass,
And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish;
It is that they shall be destroyed for ever.
But thou, O Jehovah, art on high for evermore.
For, lo, thine enemies, O Jehovah,
For, lo, thine enemies shall perish;
All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
10 But my horn hast thou exalted like the horn of the wild-ox:
I am anointed with fresh oil.
11 Mine eye also hath seen my desire on [h]mine enemies,
Mine ears have heard my desire of the evil-doers that rise up against me.
12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree:
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 They are planted in the house of Jehovah;
They shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age;
They shall be full of sap and green:
15 To show that Jehovah is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 90:2 Hebrew gavest birth to.
  2. Psalm 90:3 Or, dust. Hebrew crushing.
  3. Psalm 90:4 Or, when it passeth
  4. Psalm 90:9 Or, a sound
  5. Psalm 90:17 Or, beauty
  6. Psalm 91:1 Or, That abideth . . . Almighty; Even I etc.
  7. Psalm 91:9 Or, Because thou hast said, Jehovah is my refuge.
  8. Psalm 92:11 Or, them that lie in wait for me

BOOK IV

Psalms 90–106

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses the man of God.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place(A)
    throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born(B)
    or you brought forth the whole world,
    from everlasting to everlasting(C) you are God.(D)

You turn people back to dust,
    saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”(E)
A thousand years in your sight
    are like a day that has just gone by,
    or like a watch in the night.(F)
Yet you sweep people away(G) in the sleep of death—
    they are like the new grass of the morning:
In the morning it springs up new,
    but by evening it is dry and withered.(H)

We are consumed by your anger
    and terrified by your indignation.
You have set our iniquities before you,
    our secret sins(I) in the light of your presence.(J)
All our days pass away under your wrath;
    we finish our years with a moan.(K)
10 Our days may come to seventy years,(L)
    or eighty,(M) if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,(N)
    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.(O)
11 If only we knew the power of your anger!
    Your wrath(P) is as great as the fear that is your due.(Q)
12 Teach us to number our days,(R)
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.(S)

13 Relent, Lord! How long(T) will it be?
    Have compassion on your servants.(U)
14 Satisfy(V) us in the morning with your unfailing love,(W)
    that we may sing for joy(X) and be glad all our days.(Y)
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
    your splendor to their children.(Z)

17 May the favor[a] of the Lord our God rest on us;
    establish the work of our hands for us—
    yes, establish the work of our hands.(AA)

Psalm 91

Whoever dwells in the shelter(AB) of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow(AC) of the Almighty.[b]
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge(AD) and my fortress,(AE)
    my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you
    from the fowler’s snare(AF)
    and from the deadly pestilence.(AG)
He will cover you with his feathers,
    and under his wings you will find refuge;(AH)
    his faithfulness will be your shield(AI) and rampart.
You will not fear(AJ) the terror of night,
    nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
    nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.(AK)

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
    and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm(AL) will overtake you,
    no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels(AM) concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways;(AN)
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.(AO)
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
    you will trample the great lion and the serpent.(AP)

14 “Because he[c] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble,
    I will deliver him and honor him.(AQ)
16 With long life(AR) I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.(AS)

Psalm 92[d]

A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.

It is good to praise the Lord
    and make music(AT) to your name,(AU) O Most High,(AV)
proclaiming your love in the morning(AW)
    and your faithfulness at night,
to the music of the ten-stringed lyre(AX)
    and the melody of the harp.(AY)

For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;
    I sing for joy(AZ) at what your hands have done.(BA)
How great are your works,(BB) Lord,
    how profound your thoughts!(BC)
Senseless people(BD) do not know,
    fools do not understand,
that though the wicked spring up like grass
    and all evildoers flourish,
    they will be destroyed forever.(BE)

But you, Lord, are forever exalted.

For surely your enemies(BF), Lord,
    surely your enemies will perish;
    all evildoers will be scattered.(BG)
10 You have exalted my horn[e](BH) like that of a wild ox;(BI)
    fine oils(BJ) have been poured on me.
11 My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
    my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.(BK)

12 The righteous will flourish(BL) like a palm tree,
    they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;(BM)
13 planted in the house of the Lord,
    they will flourish in the courts of our God.(BN)
14 They will still bear fruit(BO) in old age,
    they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
    he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.(BP)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 90:17 Or beauty
  2. Psalm 91:1 Hebrew Shaddai
  3. Psalm 91:14 That is, probably the king
  4. Psalm 92:1 In Hebrew texts 92:1-15 is numbered 92:2-16.
  5. Psalm 92:10 Horn here symbolizes strength.