June 18

Psalms 1:1 — 8:9

 Psalms

BOOK ONE

(Psalms 1 – 41)

1 Happy is the man that has not walked in the counsel of the wicked ones,

    And in the way of sinners has not stood,

      And in the seat of ridiculers has not sat.

 2 But his delight is in the law of Jehovah,

      And in his law he reads in an undertone day and night.

 3 And he will certainly become like a tree planted by streams of water,

      That gives its own fruit in its season

      And the foliage of which does not wither,

      And everything he does will succeed.

 4 The wicked are not like that,

      But are like the chaff that the wind drives away.

 5 That is why the wicked ones will not stand up in the judgment,

      Nor sinners in the assembly of righteous ones.

 6 For Jehovah is taking knowledge of the way of righteous ones,

      But the very way of wicked ones will perish.
 

2 Why have the nations been in tumult

    And the national groups themselves kept muttering an empty thing?

 2 The kings of earth take their stand

      And high officials themselves have massed together as one

      Against Jehovah and against his anointed one,

 3 [Saying:] “Let us tear their bands apart

      And cast their cords away from us!”

 4 The very One sitting in the heavens will laugh;

      Jehovah himself will hold them in derision.

 5 At that time he will speak to them in his anger

      And in his hot displeasure he will disturb them,

 6 [Saying:] “I, even I, have installed my king

      Upon Zion, my holy mountain.”

 7 Let me refer to the decree of Jehovah;

      He has said to me: “You are my son;

      I, today, I have become your father.

 8 Ask of me, that I may give nations as your inheritance

      And the ends of the earth as your own possession.

 9 You will break them with an iron scepter,

      As though a potter’s vessel you will dash them to pieces.”

10 And now, O kings, exercise insight;

       Let yourselves be corrected, O judges of the earth.

11 Serve Jehovah with fear

       And be joyful with trembling.

12 Kiss the son, that He may not become incensed

       And YOU may not perish [from] the way,

       For his anger flares up easily.

       Happy are all those taking refuge in him.

A melody of David when he was running away on account of Absalom his son.

3 O Jehovah, why have my adversaries become many?

    Why are many rising up against me?

 2 Many are saying of my soul:

       “There is no salvation for him by God.” Selah.

 3 And yet you, O Jehovah, are a shield about me,

      My glory and the One lifting up my head.

 4 With my voice I shall call to Jehovah himself,

      And he will answer me from his holy mountain. Selah.

 5 As for me, I will lie down that I may sleep;

      I shall certainly awake, for Jehovah himself keeps supporting me.

 6 I shall not be afraid of ten thousands of people

      Who have set themselves in array against me round about.

 7 Do arise, O Jehovah! Save me, O my God!

      For you will have to strike all my enemies on the jaw.

      The teeth of wicked ones you will have to break.

 8 Salvation belongs to Jehovah.

      Your blessing is upon your people. Selah.

To the director on stringed instruments. A melody of David.

4 When I call, answer me, O my righteous God.

    In the distress you must make broad space for me.

      Show me favor and hear my prayer.

 2 YOU sons of men, how long must my glory be for insult,

      [While] YOU keep loving empty things,

      [While] YOU keep seeking to find a lie? Selah.

 3 So take knowledge that Jehovah will certainly distinguish his loyal one;

      Jehovah himself will hear when I call to him.

 4 BE agitated, but do not sin.

      Have YOUR say in YOUR heart, upon YOUR bed, and keep silent. Selah.

 5 Sacrifice the sacrifices of righteousness,

      And trust in Jehovah.

 6 There are many saying: “Who will show us good?”

      Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Jehovah.

 7 You will certainly give a rejoicing in my heart

      Greater than in the time when their grain and their new wine have abounded.

 8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep,

      For you yourself alone, O Jehovah, make me dwell in security.

To the director for Nehiloth. A melody of David.

5 To my sayings do give ear, O Jehovah;

    Do understand my sighing.

 2 Do pay attention to the sound of my cry for help,

      O my King and my God, because to you I pray.

 3 O Jehovah, in the morning you will hear my voice;

      In the morning I shall address myself to you and be on the watch.

 4 For you are not a God taking delight in wickedness;

      No one bad may reside for any time with you.

 5 No boasters may take their stand in front of your eyes.

      You do hate all those practicing what is hurtful;

 6 You will destroy those speaking a lie.

      A man of bloodshed and deception Jehovah detests.

 7 As for me, in the abundance of your loving-kindness

      I shall come into your house,

      I shall bow down toward your holy temple in fear of you.

 8 O Jehovah, lead me in your righteousness by reason of my foes;

      Make your way smooth before me.

 9 For in their mouth there is nothing trustworthy;

      Their inward part is adversity indeed.

      Their throat is an opened burial place;

      A smooth tongue they use.

10 God will certainly hold them guilty;

       They will fall due to their own counsels.

       In the multitude of their transgressions let there be a dispersing of them,

       Because they have rebelled against you.

11 But all those taking refuge in you will rejoice;

       To time indefinite they will cry out joyfully.

       And you will block approach to them,

       And those loving your name will exult in you.

12 For you yourself will bless anyone righteous, O Jehovah;

       As with a large shield, with approval you will surround them.

To the director on stringed instruments on the lower octave. A melody of David.

6 O Jehovah, do not in your anger reprove me,

    And do not in your rage correct me.

 2 Show me favor, O Jehovah, for I am fading away.

      Heal me, O Jehovah, for my bones have been disturbed.

 3 Yes, my own soul has been very much disturbed;

      And you, O Jehovah—how long?

 4 Do return, O Jehovah, do rescue my soul;

      Save me for the sake of your loving-kindness.

 5 For in death there is no mention of you;

      In Sheol who will laud you?

 6 I have grown weary with my sighing;

      All night long I make my couch swim;

      With my tears I make my own divan overflow.

 7 From vexation my eye has become weak,

      It has grown old because of all those showing hostility to me.

 8 Get away from me, all YOU practicers of what is hurtful,

      For Jehovah will certainly hear the sound of my weeping.

 9 Jehovah will indeed hear my request for favor;

      Jehovah himself will accept my own prayer.

10 All my enemies will be very much ashamed and disturbed;

       They will turn back, they will be ashamed instantly.

A dirge of David that he sang to Jehovah concerning the words of Cush the Benjaminite.

7 O Jehovah my God, in you I have taken refuge.
           Save me from all those persecuting me and deliver me,

 2 That no one may tear my soul to pieces as a lion does,

      Snatching [me] away when there is no deliverer.

 3 O Jehovah my God, if I have done this,

      If there exists any injustice in my hands,

 4 If I have repaid the one rewarding me with what is bad,

      Or [if] I have despoiled anyone showing hostility to me without success,

 5 Let an enemy pursue my soul

      And let him overtake and trample my life down to the very earth

      And cause my own glory to reside in the dust itself. Selah.

 6 Do arise, O Jehovah, in your anger;

      Lift yourself up at the outbursts of fury of those showing hostility to me,

      And do awake for me, [since] you have given command for judgment itself.

 7 And let the very assembly of national groups surround you,

      And against it do you return on high.

 8 Jehovah himself will pass sentence on the peoples.

      Judge me, O Jehovah, according to my righteousness

      And according to my integrity in me.

 9 Please, may the badness of wicked ones come to an end,

      And may you establish the righteous one;

      And God as righteous is testing out heart and kidneys.

10 The shield for me is upon God, a Savior of those upright in heart.

11 God is a righteous Judge,

       And God is hurling denunciations every day.

12 If anyone will not return, His sword he will sharpen,

       His bow he will certainly bend, and he will make it ready [for shooting].

13 And for himself he must prepare the instruments of death;

       His arrows he will make flaming ones.

14 Look! There is one that is pregnant with what is hurtful,

       And he has conceived trouble and is bound to give birth to falsehood.

15 A pit he has excavated, and he proceeded to dig it;

       But he will fall into the hole [that] he went making.

16 His trouble will return upon his own head,

       And upon the crown of his head his own violence will descend.

17 I shall laud Jehovah according to his righteousness,

       And I will make melody to the name of Jehovah the Most High.

To the director upon the Gittith. A melody of David.

8 O Jehovah our Lord, how majestic your name is in all the earth,

    You whose dignity is recounted above the heavens!

 2 Out of the mouth of children and sucklings you have founded strength,

      On account of those showing hostility to you,

      So as to make the enemy and the one taking his vengeance desist.

 3 When I see your heavens, the works of your fingers,

      The moon and the stars that you have prepared,

 4 What is mortal man that you keep him in mind,

      And the son of earthling man that you take care of him?

 5 You also proceeded to make him a little less than godlike ones,

      And with glory and splendor you then crowned him.

 6 You make him dominate over the works of your hands;

      Everything you have put under his feet:

 7 Small cattle and oxen, all of them,

      And also the beasts of the open field,

 8 The birds of heaven and the fish of the sea,

      Anything passing through the paths of the seas.

 9 O Jehovah our Lord, how majestic your name is in all the earth!