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Psalm 68

Praise and Thanksgiving

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm. A Song.

Let God rise up; let his enemies be scattered;
    let those who hate him flee before him.(A)
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;
    as wax melts before the fire,
    let the wicked perish before God.(B)
But let the righteous be joyful;
    let them exult before God;
    let them be jubilant with joy.(C)

Sing to God; sing praises to his name;
    lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds[a]
his name is the Lord
    be exultant before him.(D)

Father of orphans and protector of widows
    is God in his holy habitation.(E)
God gives the desolate a home to live in;
    he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
    but the rebellious live in a parched land.(F)

O God, when you went out before your people,
    when you marched through the wilderness, Selah(G)
the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain
    at the presence of God, the God of Sinai,
    at the presence of God, the God of Israel.(H)
Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad;
    you restored your heritage when it languished;(I)
10 your flock found a dwelling in it;
    in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.(J)

11 The Lord gives the command;
    great is the company of those[b] who bore the tidings:
12     “The kings of the armies, they flee, they flee!”
The women at home divide the spoil,(K)
13     though they stay among the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
    its pinions with green gold.(L)
14 When the Almighty[c] scattered kings there,
    snow fell on Zalmon.(M)

15 O mighty mountain, mountain of Bashan;
    O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
16 Why do you look with envy, O many-peaked mountain,
    at the mount that God desired for his abode,
    where the Lord will reside forever?(N)

17 With mighty chariotry, twice ten thousand,
    thousands upon thousands,
    the Lord came from Sinai into the holy place.[d](O)
18 You ascended the high mount,
    leading captives in your train
    and receiving gifts from people,
even from those who rebel against the Lord God’s abiding there.(P)
19 Blessed be the Lord,
    who daily bears us up;
    God is our salvation. Selah(Q)
20 Our God is a God of salvation,
    and to God, the Lord, belongs escape from death.(R)

21 But God will shatter the heads of his enemies,
    the hairy crown of those who walk in their guilty ways.(S)
22 The Lord said,
    “I will bring them back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,(T)
23 so that you may bathe[e] your feet in blood,
    so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the foe.”(U)

24 Your solemn processions are seen,[f] O God,
    the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—(V)
25 the singers in front, the musicians last,
    between them young women playing tambourines:(W)
26 “Bless God in the great congregation,
    the Lord, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”(X)
27 There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
    the princes of Judah in a body,
    the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.(Y)

28 Summon your might, O God;
    show your strength, O God, as you have done for us before.
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem,
    kings bear gifts to you.(Z)
30 Rebuke the wild animals that live among the reeds,
    the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample[g] under foot those who lust after tribute;
    scatter the peoples who delight in war.[h](AA)
31 Let bronze be brought from Egypt;
    let Cush hasten to stretch out its hands to God.(AB)

32 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;
    sing praises to the Lord, Selah
33 O rider in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
    listen, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.(AC)
34 Ascribe power to God,
    whose majesty is over Israel
    and whose power is in the skies.(AD)
35 Awesome is God in his[i] sanctuary,
    the God of Israel;
    he gives power and strength to his people.

Blessed be God!(AE)

Footnotes

  1. 68.4 Or cast up a highway for him who rides through the deserts
  2. 68.11 Or company of the women
  3. 68.14 Traditional rendering of Heb Shaddai
  4. 68.17 Cn: Heb The Lord among them Sinai in the holy (place)
  5. 68.23 Gk Syr Tg: Heb shatter
  6. 68.24 Or have been seen
  7. 68.30 Cn: Heb Trampling
  8. 68.30 Meaning of Heb of 68.30 is uncertain
  9. 68.35 Gk: Heb from your

68 Unto the end, for them that shall be changed; for David.

SAVE me, O God: for the waters are come in even unto my soul.

I stick fast in the mire of the deep: and there is no sure standing. I am come into the depth of the sea: and a tempest hath overwhelmed me.

I have laboured with crying; my jaws are become hoarse: my eyes have failed, whilst I hope in my God.

They are multiplied above the hairs of my head, who hate me without cause. My enemies are grown strong who have wrongfully persecuted me: then did I pay that which I took not away.

O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my offences are not hidden from thee:

Let not them be ashamed for me, who look for thee, O Lord, the Lord of hosts. Let them not be confounded on my account, who seek thee, O God of Israel.

Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.

I am become a stranger to my brethren, and an alien to the sons of my mother.

10 For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up: and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

11 And I covered my soul in fasting: and it was made a reproach to me.

12 And I made haircloth my garment: and I became a byword to them.

13 They that sat in the gate spoke against me: and they that drank wine made me their song.

14 But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord; for the time of thy good pleasure, O God. In the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

15 Draw me out of the mire, that I may not stick fast: deliver me from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

16 Let not the tempest of water drown me, nor the deep swallow me up: and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

17 Hear me, O Lord, for thy mercy is kind; look upon me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.

18 And turn not away thy face from thy servant: for I am in trouble, hear me speedily.

19 Attend to my soul, and deliver it: save me because of my enemies.

20 Thou knowest my reproach, and my confusion, and my shame.

21 In thy sight are all they that afflict me; my heart hath expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none: and for one that would comfort me, and I found none.

22 And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

23 Let their table become as a snare before them, and a recompense, and a stumblingblock.

24 Let their eyes be darkened that they see not; and their back bend thou down always.

25 Pour out thy indignation upon them: and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.

26 Let their habitation be made desolate: and let there be none to dwell in their tabernacles.

27 Because they have persecuted him whom thou hast smitten; and they have added to the grief of my wounds.

28 Add thou iniquity upon their iniquity: and let them not come into thy justice.

29 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; and with the just let them not be written.

30 But I am poor and sorrowful: thy salvation, O God, hath set me up.

31 I will praise the name of God with a canticle: and I will magnify him with praise.

32 And it shall please God better than a young calf, that bringeth forth horns and hoofs.

33 Let the poor see and rejoice: seek ye God, and your soul shall live.

34 For the Lord hath heard the poor: and hath not despised his prisoners.

35 Let the heavens and the earth praise him; the sea, and every thing that creepeth therein.

36 For God will save Sion, and the cities of Juda shall be built up. And they shall dwell there, and acquire it by inheritance.

37 And the seed of his servants shall possess it; and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

68 Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.

As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.

Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name Jah, and rejoice before him.

A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah:

The earth shook, the heavens also dropped at the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.

10 Thy congregation hath dwelt therein: thou, O God, hast prepared of thy goodness for the poor.

11 The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.

12 Kings of armies did flee apace: and she that tarried at home divided the spoil.

13 Though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold.

14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Salmon.

15 The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; an high hill as the hill of Bashan.

16 Why leap ye, ye high hills? this is the hill which God desireth to dwell in; yea, the Lord will dwell in it for ever.

17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.

18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.

19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

20 He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death.

21 But God shall wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses.

22 The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea:

23 That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in the same.

24 They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.

25 The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.

26 Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain of Israel.

27 There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.

28 Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.

29 Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee.

30 Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war.

31 Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.

32 Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah:

33 To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.

34 Ascribe ye strength unto God: his excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds.

35 O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.