Psalm 96-102

Revised Standard Version

⁷ Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
⁸ Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering, and come into his courts!
⁹ Worship the Lord in holy array;
    tremble before him, all the earth!

¹⁰ Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!
    Yea, the world is established, it shall never be moved;
    he will judge the peoples with equity.”
¹¹ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
¹²     let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy
¹³     before the Lord, for he comes,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
    and the peoples with his truth.

⁶ The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
    and all the peoples behold his glory.
⁷ All worshipers of images are put to shame,
    who make their boast in worthless idols;
    all gods bow down before him.
⁸ Zion hears and is glad,
    and the daughters of Judah rejoice,
    because of thy judgments, O God.
⁹ For thou, O Lord, art most high over all the earth;
    thou art exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰ The Lord loves those who hate evil;^[a]
    he preserves the lives of his saints;
    he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
¹¹ Light dawns^[b] for the righteous,
    and joy for the upright in heart.
¹² Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
    and give thanks to his holy name!

⁴ Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
    break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
⁵ Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
    with the lyre and the sound of melody!
⁶ With trumpets and the sound of the horn
    make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!

⁷ Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    the world and those who dwell in it!
⁸ Let the floods clap their hands;
    let the hills sing for joy together
⁹ before the Lord, for he comes
    to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
    and the peoples with equity.

⁶ Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
    Samuel also was among those who called on his name.
    They cried to the Lord, and he answered them.
⁷ He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;
    they kept his testimonies,
    and the statutes that he gave them.

⁸ O Lord our God, thou didst answer them;
    thou wast a forgiving God to them,
    but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
⁹ Extol the Lord our God,
    and worship at his holy mountain;
    for the Lord our God is holy!

³ Know that the Lord is God!
    It is he that made us, and we are his;^[e]
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise!
    Give thanks to him, bless his name!

⁵ For the Lord is good;
    his steadfast love endures for ever,
    and his faithfulness to all generations.

I will walk with integrity of heart
    within my house;
³ I will not set before my eyes
    anything that is base.

I hate the work of those who fall away;
    it shall not cleave to me.
⁴ Perverseness of heart shall be far from me;
    I will know nothing of evil.

⁵ Him who slanders his neighbor secretly
    I will destroy.
The man of haughty looks and arrogant heart
    I will not endure.

⁶ I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,
    that they may dwell with me;
he who walks in the way that is blameless
    shall minster to me.

⁷ No man who practices deceit
    shall dwell in my house;
no man who utters lies
    shall continue in my presence.

⁸ Morning by morning I will destroy
    all the wicked in the land,
cutting off all the evildoers
    from the city of the Lord.

³ For my days pass away like smoke,
    and my bones burn like a furnace.
⁴ My heart is smitten like grass, and withered;
    I forget to eat my bread.
⁵ Because of my loud groaning
    my bones cleave to my flesh.
⁶ I am like a vulture^[f] of the wilderness,
    like an owl of the waste places;
⁷ I lie awake,
    I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.
⁸ All the day my enemies taunt me,
    those who deride me use my name for a curse.
⁹ For I eat ashes like bread,
    and mingle tears with my drink,
¹⁰ because of thy indignation and anger;
    for thou hast taken me up and thrown me away.
¹¹ My days are like an evening shadow;
    I wither away like grass.

¹² But thou, O Lord, art enthroned for ever;
    thy name endures to all generations.
¹³ Thou wilt arise and have pity on Zion;
    it is the time to favor her;
    the appointed time has come.
¹⁴ For thy servants hold her stones dear,
    and have pity on her dust.
¹⁵ The nations will fear the name of the Lord,
    and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
¹⁶ For the Lord will build up Zion,
    he will appear in his glory;
¹⁷ he will regard the prayer of the destitute,
    and will not despise their supplication.

¹⁸ Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
    so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:
¹⁹ that he looked down from his holy height,
    from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
²⁰ to hear the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free those who were doomed to die;
²¹ that men may declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
    and in Jerusalem his praise,
²² when peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

²³ He has broken my strength in midcourse;
    he has shortened my days.
²⁴ “O my God,” I say, “take me not hence
    in the midst of my days,
thou whose years endure
    throughout all generations!”

²⁵ Of old thou didst lay the foundation of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
²⁶ They will perish, but thou dost endure;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
Thou changest them like raiment, and they pass away;
²⁷     but thou art the same, and thy years have no end.
²⁸ The children of thy servants shall dwell secure;
    their posterity shall be established before thee.