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Psalm 136-140
Lexham English Bible

Praise to God for His Creation and Deliverance

136 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loyal love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his loyal love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his loyal love endures forever.
4 To him who alone does great wonders,
for his loyal love endures forever.
5 To him who made the heavens with skill,[a]
for his loyal love endures forever.
6 To him who spread out the earth above the waters,
for his loyal love endures forever.
7 To him who made the great lights,
for his loyal love endures forever.
8 The sun to rule the day,
for his loyal love endures forever.
9 The moon and stars to rule the night,
for his loyal love endures forever.
10 To him who struck Egypt through their firstborn,
for his loyal love endures forever.
11 And he brought Israel out from among them,
for his loyal love endures forever.
12 With a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his loyal love endures forever.
13 To him who divided the Red Sea[b] in two,
for his loyal love endures forever.
14 And he let Israel cross over through the midst of it,
for his loyal love endures forever.
15 But he tossed Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea,[c]
for his loyal love endures forever.
16 To him who led his people through the wilderness,
for his loyal love endures forever.
17 To him who struck great kings,
for his loyal love endures forever.
18 And he killed mighty kings,
for his loyal love endures forever.
19 Sihon the king of the Amorites,
for his loyal love endures forever.
20 And Og the king of Bashan,
for his loyal love endures forever.
21 And he gave their land as an inheritance,
for his loyal love endures forever.
22 An inheritance to Israel his servant,
for his loyal love endures forever.
23 Who remembered us in our low estate,
for his loyal love endures forever.
24 And he rescued us from our enemies,
for his loyal love endures forever.
25 The one who gives food to all flesh,
for his loyal love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his loyal love endures forever.

Lament During the Babylonian Exile

137 By the rivers of Babylon,
there we sat, yes, we wept,
when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows[d] in her midst,
we hung up our lyres.
3 For there our captors asked of us
words of a song,
and our tormentors[e] asked of us jubilation,
“Sing for us from a song of Zion.”
4 How could we sing the song of Yahweh
in a foreign land?[f]
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget.[g]
6 Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if do not I exalt Jerusalem
above my highest joy.
7 Remember, O Yahweh, against the sons of Edom
the day of Jerusalem,
the ones who said, “Lay it bare! Lay it bare
to its foundation!”
8 O daughter of Babylon, about to be devastated,
happy shall be he who pays back to you
what you paid out to us.[h]
9 Happy shall be he who seizes
and smashes your children
against the rock.

Thanksgiving for Yahweh’s Goodness

Of David.[i]

138 I give you thanks with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise.
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name,
because of your loyal love and faithfulness,
for you have magnified your word[j] according to all your name.[k]
3 When[l] I called and you answered me,
you emboldened me in my soul with strength.
4 All the kings of the earth
will praise you, O Yahweh,
when they have heard the words[m] of your mouth,
5 and they will sing of the ways of Yahweh,
because Yahweh’s glory is great.
6 Though Yahweh is high, yet he sees the lowly,
but the proud he perceives[n] at a distance.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve me alive.
You stretch out your hand against the anger of my enemies,
and you save me with your right hand.
8 Yahweh accomplishes things for my benefit.
O Yahweh, your loyal love endures forever;
do not abandon the works of your hands.

The Knowledge of God

For the music director. Of David. A psalm.[o]

139 O Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up.
You understand my thought from afar.
3 You search out[p] my wandering and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word yet on my tongue,
but behold, O Yahweh, you know it completely.
5 You barricade me behind and in front,
and set your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.
It is set high; I cannot prevail against it.
7 Where I can go from your Spirit,
or where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, there you are,
and if I make my bed in Sheol, look! There you are.
9 If I lift up the wings of the dawn,
and I alight on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand would lead me,
and your right hand would hold me fast.
11 And if I should say, “Surely darkness will cover me,
and the light around me will be as night,”
12 even the darkness is not too dark for you,[q]
and the night shines as the day—
the darkness and the light are alike for you.
13 Indeed you created my inward parts;[r]
you wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, because I am fearfully
and wonderfully made.[s]
Wonderful are your works,
and my soul knows it well.
15 My frame[t] was not hidden from you,
when I was created secretly,[u]
and intricately woven
in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my embryo,[v]
and in your book they all were written—
days fashioned for me when there was not one of them.
17 And to me, how precious[w] are your thoughts, O God;
how vast is their sum.
18 If I should count them,
they would outnumber the sand.
I awaken, and I am still with you.
19 If only you would kill the wicked, O God—
so get away from me, you bloodthirsty men—[x]
20 who speak against you deceitfully.
Your enemies take your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Yahweh?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with a complete hatred;
they have become my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 And see if there is in me the worship of false gods,[y]
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Prayer for Help in the Face of Enemies

For the music director. A psalm of David.[z]

140 Rescue me, O Yahweh, from evil men.[aa]
Preserve me from violent men,
2 who plan evil things in their heart.
They stir up wars continually.
3 They sharpen their tongue as sharp as a snake’s;
the venom of a viper is under their lips. Selah
4 Protect me, O Yahweh, from the hands of the wicked.
Preserve me from violent men,
who have planned to make me stumble.[ab]
5 The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords.
They have spread out a net along the side[ac] of the path.
They have set snares for me. Selah
6 I say to Yahweh, “You are my God.”
Listen, O Yahweh, to the voice of my supplications.
7 O Yahweh, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,
you have covered my head in the day of battle.
8 Do not grant, O Yahweh, the desires of the wicked.
Do not allow them to attain their[ad] plan, lest they be exalted. Selah
9 With respect to the head of those who surround me,
may the harm of their lips cover them.
10 Let burning coals fall on them;
let them be dropped into the fire,
into bottomless pits from which they cannot rise.
11 Do not let a slanderer[ae] be established in the land;
as for the man of violence, let evil hunt him quickly.
12 I know[af] that Yahweh will maintain the cause of the afflicted,
and justice for the needy.
13 Surely the righteous will give thanks to your name;
the upright will dwell in your presence.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 136:5 Or “understanding”
  2. Psalm 136:13 Literally “sea of reed”
  3. Psalm 136:15 Literally “sea of reed”
  4. Psalm 137:2 Species of tree uncertain
  5. Psalm 137:3 Only occurring once in the MT, this interpretation is uncertain. The LXX’s “carried us captive” is a guess. If related to the Hebrew root yll it might have the idea of “mockers/yammerers”
  6. Psalm 137:4 Literally “a land of a foreigner”
  7. Psalm 137:5 That is, how to play a musical instrument
  8. Psalm 137:8 Literally “with what you treated us”
  9. Psalm 138:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm
  10. Psalm 138:2 Or “promise”
  11. Psalm 138:2 Or “beyond all your name”
  12. Psalm 138:3 Literally “In the day”
  13. Psalm 138:4 Or “heard about the words”
  14. Psalm 138:6 Hebrew “knows”
  15. Psalm 139:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm
  16. Psalm 139:3 Hebrew “winnow”; or perhaps from another root, “measure”
  17. Psalm 139:12 Or “does not obscure from you”
  18. Psalm 139:13 Literally “kidneys”
  19. Psalm 139:14 Or “I am made wonderful fearfully”
  20. Psalm 139:15 Literally “bone”
  21. Psalm 139:15 Or “in the secret place”
  22. Psalm 139:16 Hebrew “unformed substance”
  23. Psalm 139:17 Or “difficult”
  24. Psalm 139:19 Literally “men of bloods”
  25. Psalm 139:24 Literally “a way of an idol”
  26. Psalm 140:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one
  27. Psalm 140:1 The several uses of the singular “man” in this psalm are probably collective
  28. Psalm 140:4 Literally “push my steps”
  29. Psalm 140:5 Literally “hand”
  30. Psalm 140:8 Hebrew “his”
  31. Psalm 140:11 Literally “man of tongue”
  32. Psalm 140:12 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
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