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Psalm 41-42
New King James Version
Psalm 41-42
New King James Version
The Blessing and Suffering of the Godly
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
41 Blessed is he who considers the [a]poor;
The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.
2 The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive,
And he will be blessed on the earth;
(A)You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness;
You will [b]sustain him on his sickbed.
4 I said, “Lord, be merciful to me;
(B)Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”
5 My enemies speak evil of me:
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And if he comes to see me, he speaks [c]lies;
His heart gathers iniquity to itself;
When he goes out, he tells it.
7 All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me they [d]devise my hurt.
8 “An[e] evil disease,” they say, “clings to him.
And now that he lies down, he will rise up no more.”
9 (C)Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted,
(D)Who ate my bread,
Has [f]lifted up his heel against me.
10 But You, O Lord, be merciful to me, and raise me up,
That I may repay them.
11 By this I know that You are well pleased with me,
Because my enemy does not triumph over me.
12 As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,
And (E)set me before Your face forever.
13 (F)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
BOOK TWO
Psalms 42–72
Yearning for God in the Midst of Distresses
To the Chief Musician. A [g]Contemplation of the sons of Korah.
42 As the deer [h]pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 (G)My soul thirsts for God, for the (H)living God.
When shall I come and [i]appear before God?
3 (I)My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
(J)“Where is your God?”
4 When I remember these things,
(K)I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
(L)I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
5 (M)Why are you [j]cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
(N)Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
[k]For the help of His countenance.
6 [l]O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From [m]the Hill Mizar.
7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
(O)All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
8 The Lord will (P)command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And (Q)in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God my Rock,
(R)“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a [n]breaking of my bones,
My enemies [o]reproach me,
(S)While they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 (T)Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The [p]help of my countenance and my God.
Footnotes
- Psalm 41:1 helpless or powerless
- Psalm 41:3 restore
- Psalm 41:6 empty words
- Psalm 41:7 plot
- Psalm 41:8 Lit. A thing of Belial
- Psalm 41:9 Acted as a traitor
- Psalm 42:1 Heb. Maschil
- Psalm 42:1 Lit. longs for
- Psalm 42:2 So with MT, Vg.; some Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Tg. I see the face of God
- Psalm 42:5 Lit. bowed down
- Psalm 42:5 So with MT, Tg.; a few Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg. The help of my countenance, my God
- Psalm 42:6 So with MT, Tg.; a few Heb. mss., LXX, Syr., Vg. put my God at the end of v. 5
- Psalm 42:6 Or Mount
- Psalm 42:10 Lit. shattering
- Psalm 42:10 revile
- Psalm 42:11 Lit. salvation
Psalm 41-42
New International Version
Psalm 41-42
New International Version
Psalm 41[a]
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 Blessed(A) are those who have regard for the weak;(B)
the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.(C)
2 The Lord protects(D) and preserves them—(E)
they are counted among the blessed in the land—(F)
he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.(G)
3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed(H)
and restores them from their bed of illness.(I)
4 I said, “Have mercy(J) on me, Lord;
heal(K) me, for I have sinned(L) against you.”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die and his name perish?(M)”
6 When one of them comes to see me,
he speaks falsely,(N) while his heart gathers slander;(O)
then he goes out and spreads(P) it around.
7 All my enemies whisper together(Q) against me;
they imagine the worst for me, saying,
8 “A vile disease has afflicted him;
he will never get up(R) from the place where he lies.”
9 Even my close friend,(S)
someone I trusted,
one who shared my bread,
has turned[b] against me.(T)
10 But may you have mercy(U) on me, Lord;
raise me up,(V) that I may repay(W) them.
11 I know that you are pleased with me,(X)
for my enemy does not triumph over me.(Y)
12 Because of my integrity(Z) you uphold me(AA)
and set me in your presence forever.(AB)
13 Praise(AC) be to the Lord, the God of Israel,(AD)
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.(AE)
BOOK II
Psalms 42–72
Psalm 42[c][d]
For the director of music. A maskil[e] of the Sons of Korah.
1 As the deer(AF) pants for streams of water,(AG)
so my soul pants(AH) for you, my God.
2 My soul thirsts(AI) for God, for the living God.(AJ)
When can I go(AK) and meet with God?
3 My tears(AL) have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”(AM)
4 These things I remember
as I pour out my soul:(AN)
how I used to go to the house of God(AO)
under the protection of the Mighty One[f]
with shouts of joy(AP) and praise(AQ)
among the festive throng.(AR)
5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?(AS)
Why so disturbed(AT) within me?
Put your hope in God,(AU)
for I will yet praise(AV) him,
my Savior(AW) and my God.(AX)
6 My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember(AY) you
from the land of the Jordan,(AZ)
the heights of Hermon(BA)—from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep(BB)
in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves and breakers
have swept over me.(BC)
8 By day the Lord directs his love,(BD)
at night(BE) his song(BF) is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.(BG)
9 I say to God my Rock,(BH)
“Why have you forgotten(BI) me?
Why must I go about mourning,(BJ)
oppressed(BK) by the enemy?”(BL)
10 My bones suffer mortal agony(BM)
as my foes taunt(BN) me,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”(BO)
11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.(BP)
Footnotes
- Psalm 41:1 In Hebrew texts 41:1-13 is numbered 41:2-14.
- Psalm 41:9 Hebrew has lifted up his heel
- Psalm 42:1 In many Hebrew manuscripts Psalms 42 and 43 constitute one psalm.
- Psalm 42:1 In Hebrew texts 42:1-11 is numbered 42:2-12.
- Psalm 42:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
- Psalm 42:4 See Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.