Psalm 48-52

New King James Version

⁴ For behold, ^(C)the kings assembled,
They passed by together.
⁵ They saw it, and so they marveled;
They were troubled, they hastened away.
⁶ Fear ^(D)took hold of them there,
And pain, as of a woman in birth pangs,
⁷ As when You break the ^(E)ships of Tarshish
With an east wind.

⁸ As we have heard,
So we have seen
In the city of the Lord of hosts,
In the city of our God:
God will ^(F)establish it forever. Selah

⁹ We have thought, O God, on ^(G)Your lovingkindness,
In the midst of Your temple.
¹⁰ According to ^(H)Your name, O God,
So is Your praise to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
¹¹ Let Mount Zion rejoice,
Let the daughters of Judah be glad,
Because of Your judgments.

¹² Walk about Zion,
And go all around her.
Count her towers;
¹³ Mark well her bulwarks;
Consider her palaces;
That you may ^(I)tell it to the generation following.
¹⁴ For this is God,
Our God forever and ever;
^(J)He will be our guide
^[b]Even to death.

⁵ Why should I fear in the days of evil,
When the iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
⁶ Those who ^(K)trust in their wealth
And boast in the multitude of their riches,
⁷ None of them can by any means redeem his brother,
Nor ^(L)give to God a ransom for him—
⁸ For ^(M)the redemption of their souls is costly,
And it shall cease forever—
⁹ That he should continue to live eternally,
And ^(N)not ^[d]see the Pit.

¹⁰ For he sees wise men die;
Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish,
And leave their wealth to others.
^11 [e]Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever,
Their dwelling places to all generations;
They ^(O)call their lands after their own names.
¹² Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not ^[f]remain;
He is like the beasts that perish.

¹³ This is the way of those who are ^(P)foolish,
And of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah
¹⁴ Like sheep they are laid in the grave;
Death shall feed on them;
^(Q)The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;
^(R)And their beauty shall be consumed in ^[g]the grave, far from their dwelling.
¹⁵ But God ^(S)will redeem my soul from the power of ^[h]the grave,
For He shall ^(T)receive me. Selah

¹⁶ Do not be afraid when one becomes rich,
When the glory of his house is increased;
¹⁷ For when he dies he shall carry nothing away;
His glory shall not descend after him.
¹⁸ Though while he lives ^(U)he blesses himself
(For men will praise you when you do well for yourself),
¹⁹ He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
They shall never see ^(V)light.^[i]
20 A man who is in honor, yet does not understand,
^(W)Is like the beasts that perish.

^4 (AA)He shall call to the heavens from above,
And to the earth, that He may judge His people:
⁵ “Gather ^(AB)My saints together to Me,
^(AC)Those who have ^[j]made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
⁶ Let the ^(AD)heavens declare His righteousness,
For ^(AE)God Himself is Judge. Selah

⁷ “Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you;
^(AF)I am God, your God!
^8 (AG)I will not ^[k]rebuke you ^(AH)for your sacrifices
Or your burnt offerings,
Which are continually before Me.
^9 (AI)I will not take a bull from your house,
Nor goats out of your folds.
¹⁰ For every beast of the forest is Mine,
And the cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹ I know all the birds of the mountains,
And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.

¹² “If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
^(AJ)For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.
^13 (AK)Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats?
^14 (AL)Offer to God thanksgiving,
And ^(AM)pay your vows to the Most High.
^15 (AN)Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

¹⁶ But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to declare My statutes,
Or take My covenant in your mouth,
^17 (AO)Seeing you hate instruction
And cast My words behind you?
¹⁸ When you saw a thief, you ^(AP)consented^[l] with him,
And have been a ^(AQ)partaker with adulterers.
¹⁹ You give your mouth to evil,
And ^(AR)your tongue frames deceit.
²⁰ You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
²¹ These things you have done, and I kept silent;
^(AS)You thought that I was altogether like you;
But I will rebuke you,
And ^(AT)set them in order before your eyes.

²² “Now consider this, you who ^(AU)forget God,
Lest I tear you in pieces,
And there be none to deliver:
²³ Whoever offers praise glorifies Me;
And ^(AV)to him who orders his conduct aright
I will show the salvation of God.”

³ For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
^4 (AZ)Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil ^(BA)in Your sight—
^(BB)That You may be found just ^[m]when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.

^5 (BC)Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
⁶ Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

^7 (BD)Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be ^(BE)whiter than snow.
⁸ Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken ^(BF)may rejoice.
⁹ Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.

^10 (BG)Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your ^(BH)Holy Spirit from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your ^(BI)generous Spirit.
¹³ Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.

¹⁴ Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
¹⁶ For ^(BJ)You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
^17 (BK)The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

¹⁸ Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then You shall be pleased with ^(BL)the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.

⁵ God shall likewise destroy you forever;
He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your dwelling place,
And uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
⁶ The righteous also shall see and fear,
And shall laugh at him, saying,
⁷ “Here is the man who did not make God his strength,
But trusted in the abundance of his riches,
And strengthened himself in his ^[o]wickedness.”

⁸ But I am ^(BO)like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
⁹ I will praise You forever,
Because You have done it;
And in the presence of Your saints
I will wait on Your name, for it ^[p]is good.