June 24
Psalms 36:1 — 39:13
To the director. Of Jehovah’s servant, David.
36 The utterance of transgression to the wicked one is in the midst of his heart;
There is no dread of God in front of his eyes.
2 For he has acted too smoothly to himself in his own eyes
To find out his error so as to hate [it].
3 The words of his mouth are hurtfulness and deception;
He has ceased to have insight for doing good.
4 Hurtfulness is what he keeps scheming upon his bed.
He stations himself on a way that is not good.
What is bad he does not reject.
5 O Jehovah, your loving-kindness is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness is up to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like mountains of God;
Your judicial decision is a vast watery deep.
Man and beast you save, O Jehovah.
7 How precious your loving-kindness is, O God!
And in the shadow of your wings the sons of men themselves take refuge.
8 They drink their fill of the fatness of your house;
And of the torrent of your pleasures you cause them to drink.
9 For with you is the source of life;
By light from you we can see light.
10 Continue your loving-kindness to those knowing you,
And your righteousness to those upright in heart.
11 O may not the foot of haughtiness come [against] me;
As for the hand of wicked people, let it not make me a wanderer.
12 There the practicers of hurtfulness have fallen;
They have been pushed down and have been unable to get up.
Of David.
א [ʼAleph]
37 Do not show yourself heated up because of the evildoers.
Do not be envious of those doing unrighteousness.
2 For like grass they will speedily wither,
And like green new grass they will fade away.
ב [Behth]
3 Trust in Jehovah and do good;
Reside in the earth, and deal with faithfulness.
4 Also take exquisite delight in Jehovah,
And he will give you the requests of your heart.
ג [Gimel]
5 Roll upon Jehovah your way,
And rely upon him, and he himself will act.
6 And he will certainly bring forth your righteousness as the light itself,
And your justice as the midday.
ד [Daleth]
7 Keep silent before Jehovah
and wait longingly for him.
Do not show yourself heated up at anyone making his way successful,
At the man carrying out [his] ideas.
ה [Heʼ]
8 Let anger alone and leave rage;
Do not show yourself heated up only to do evil.
9 For evildoers themselves will be cut off,
But those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth.
ו [Waw]
10 And just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more;
And you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be.
11 But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth,
And they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.
ז [Zayin]
12 The wicked one is plotting against the righteous one,
And at him he is grinding his teeth.
13 Jehovah himself will laugh at him,
For he certainly sees that his day will come.
ח [Chehth]
14 The wicked ones have drawn a sword itself and have bent their bow,
To cause the afflicted and poor one to fall,
To slaughter those who are upright in [their] way.
15 Their own sword will enter into their heart,
And their own bows will be broken.
ט [Tehth]
16 Better is the little of the righteous one
Than the abundance of the many wicked ones.
17 For the very arms of the wicked ones will be broken,
But Jehovah will be supporting the righteous ones.
י [Yohdh]
18 Jehovah is aware of the days of the faultless ones,
And their very inheritance will continue even to time indefinite.
19 They will not be ashamed in the time of calamity,
And in the days of famine they will be satisfied.
כ [Kaph]
20 For the wicked themselves will perish,
And the enemies of Jehovah will be like the preciousness of pastures;
They must come to their end. In smoke they must come to their end.
ל [Lamedh]
21 The wicked one is borrowing and does not pay back,
But the righteous one is showing favor and is making gifts.
22 For those being blessed by him will themselves possess the earth,
But those upon whom evil is called by him will be cut off.
מ [Mem]
23 By Jehovah the very steps of an able-bodied man have been made ready,
And in his way He takes delight.
24 Although he may fall, he will not be hurled down,
For Jehovah is supporting his hand.
נ [Nun]
25 A young man I used to be, I have also grown old,
And yet I have not seen anyone righteous left entirely,
Nor his offspring looking for bread.
26 All day long he is showing favor and lending,
And so his offspring are in line for a blessing.
ס [Samekh]
27 Turn away from what is bad and do what is good,
And so reside to time indefinite.
28 For Jehovah is a lover of justice,
And he will not leave his loyal ones.
ע [ʽAyin]
To time indefinite they will certainly be guarded;
But as for the offspring of the wicked ones, they will indeed be cut off.
29 The righteous themselves will possess the earth,
And they will
reside forever upon it.
פ [Peʼ]
30 The mouth of the righteous is the one that utters wisdom in an undertone,
And his is the tongue that speaks justly.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
His steps will not wobble.
צ [Tsadheh]
32 The wicked one is keeping on the watch for the righteous
And is seeking to put him to death.
33 As for Jehovah, he will not leave him to the hand of that one,
And he will not pronounce him wicked when he is being judged.
ק [Qohph]
34 Hope in Jehovah and keep his way,
And he will exalt you to take possession of the earth.
When the wicked ones are cut off, you will see [it].
ר [Rehsh]
35 I have seen the wicked a tyrant
And spreading himself as a luxuriant [tree] in native soil.
36 And yet he proceeded to pass away, and there he was not;
And I kept seeking him, and he was not found.
ש [Shin]
37 Watch the blameless one and keep the upright one in sight,
For the future of [that] man will be peaceful.
38 But the transgressors themselves will certainly be annihilated together;
The future of wicked people will indeed be cut off.
ת [Taw]
39 And the salvation of the righteous ones is from Jehovah;
He is their fortress in the time of distress.
40 And Jehovah will help them and provide them with escape.
He will provide them with escape from wicked people and save them,
Because they have taken refuge in him.
A melody of David, to bring to remembrance.
38 O Jehovah, do not in your indignation reprove me,
Nor in your rage correct me.
2 For your own arrows have sunk themselves deep into me,
And upon me your hand is come down.
3 There is no sound spot in my flesh because of your denunciation.
There is no peace in my bones on account of my sin.
4 For my own errors have passed over my head;
Like a heavy load they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds have become stinky, they have festered,
Because of my foolishness.
6 I have become disconcerted, I have bowed low to an extreme degree;
All day long I have walked about sad.
7 For my very loins have become full of burning,
And there is no sound spot in my flesh.
8 I have grown numb and become crushed to an extreme degree;
I have roared due to the groaning of my heart.
9 O Jehovah, in front of you is all my desire,
And from you my sighing itself has not been concealed.
10 My own heart has palpitated heavily, my power has left me,
And the light of my own eyes also is not with me.
11 As for my lovers and my companions, they keep standing away from my plague,
And my close acquaintances themselves have stood off at a distance.
12 But those seeking my soul lay out traps,
And those working for a calamity to me have spoken of adversities,
And deceptions they keep muttering all day long.
13 As for me, like someone deaf, I would not listen;
And like someone speechless, I would not open my mouth.
14 And I came to be like a man that was not hearing,
And in my mouth there were no counterarguments.
15 For on you, O Jehovah, I waited;
You yourself proceeded to answer, O Jehovah my God.
16 For I said: “Otherwise they would rejoice at me;
When my foot moved unsteadily, they would certainly assume great airs against me.”
17 For I was ready to limp,
And my pain was in front of me constantly.
18 For I proceeded to tell about my own error;
I began to be anxious over my sin.
19 And my enemies who are alive became mighty,
And those hating me for no reason became many.
20 And they were rewarding me with bad for good;
They kept resisting me in return for my pursuing what is good.
21 Do not leave me, O Jehovah.
O my God, do not keep far away from me.
22 Do make haste to my assistance,
O Jehovah my salvation.
To the director of Jeduthun. A melody of David.
39 I said: “I will guard my ways
To keep from sinning with my tongue.
I will set a muzzle as a guard to my own mouth,
As long as anyone wicked is in front of me.”
2 I became speechless with silence;
I kept quiet from what is good,
And my being pained was ostracized.
3 My heart grew hot inside me;
During my sighing the fire kept burning.
I spoke with my tongue:
4 “Cause me, O Jehovah, to know my end,
And the measure of my days—what it is,
That I may know how transient I am.
5 Look! You have made my days just a few;
And my life’s duration is as nothing in front of you.
Surely every earthling man, though standing firm, is nothing but an exhalation. Selah.
6 Surely in a semblance man walks about.
Surely they are boisterous in vain.
One piles up things and does not know who will be gathering them.
7 And now for what have I hoped, O Jehovah?
My expectation is toward you.
8 From all my transgressions deliver me.
Do not set me as a reproach of the senseless one.
9 I kept speechless; I could not open my mouth,
For you yourself acted.
10 Remove from off me your plague.
Due to the hostility of your hand I myself have come to an end.
11 By reproofs against error you have corrected man,
And you consume his desirable things just as a moth does.
Surely every earthling man is an exhalation. Selah.
12 Do hear my prayer, O Jehovah,
And to my cry for help do give ear.
At my tears do not keep silent.
For I am but an alien resident with you,
A settler the same as all my forefathers.
13 Look away from me, that I may brighten up
Before I go away and I am not.”