Add parallel Print Page Options

A Promise to Rule Well

A song of David.

101 I will sing of love and fairness.
    Lord, I will sing praises to you.
I will be careful to live an innocent life.
    When will you come to me?

I will live an innocent life in my house.
    I will not look at anything wicked.
I hate those who turn against you.
    They will not be found near me.
Let those who want to do wrong stay away from me.
    I will have nothing to do with evil.
If anyone secretly says things against his neighbor,
    I will stop him.
I will not allow people
    to be proud and look down on others.

I will look for trustworthy people
    so I can live with them in the land.
Only those who live innocent lives
    will be my servants.
No one who is dishonest will live in my house.
    No liars will stay around me.
Every morning I will destroy
    the wicked in the land.
I will rid the Lord’s city
    of people who do evil.

Psalm 101

Of David. A psalm.

I will sing of your love(A) and justice;
    to you, Lord, I will sing praise.
I will be careful to lead a blameless life(B)
    when will you come to me?

I will conduct the affairs(C) of my house
    with a blameless heart.
I will not look with approval
    on anything that is vile.(D)

I hate what faithless people do;(E)
    I will have no part in it.
The perverse of heart(F) shall be far from me;
    I will have nothing to do with what is evil.

Whoever slanders their neighbor(G) in secret,
    I will put to silence;
whoever has haughty eyes(H) and a proud heart,
    I will not tolerate.

My eyes will be on the faithful in the land,
    that they may dwell with me;
the one whose walk is blameless(I)
    will minister to me.

No one who practices deceit
    will dwell in my house;
no one who speaks falsely
    will stand in my presence.

Every morning(J) I will put to silence
    all the wicked(K) in the land;
I will cut off every evildoer(L)
    from the city of the Lord.(M)

The Psalmist’s Profession of Uprightness.

A Psalm of David.

101 I will (A)sing of lovingkindness and [a]justice,
To You, O Lord, I will sing praises.
I will [b](B)give heed to the [c]blameless way.
When will You come to me?
I will walk within my house in the [d](C)integrity of my heart.
I will set no (D)worthless thing before my eyes;
I hate the [e]work of those who (E)fall away;
It shall not fasten its grip on me.
A (F)perverse heart shall depart from me;
I will know no evil.
Whoever secretly (G)slanders his neighbor, him I will [f]destroy;
No one who has a (H)haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.

My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me;
He who walks in a [g](I)blameless way is the one who will minister to me.
He who (J)practices deceit shall not dwell within my house;
He who speaks falsehood (K)shall not [h]maintain his position before me.
(L)Every morning I will [i](M)destroy all the wicked of the land,
So as to (N)cut off from the (O)city of the Lord all those who do iniquity.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 101:1 Or judgment
  2. Psalm 101:2 Or behave prudently in
  3. Psalm 101:2 Or way of integrity
  4. Psalm 101:2 Or blamelessness
  5. Psalm 101:3 Or practice of apostasy
  6. Psalm 101:5 Or silence
  7. Psalm 101:6 Or way of integrity
  8. Psalm 101:7 Lit be established before my eyes
  9. Psalm 101:8 Or silence