Psalm 72-73 New American Standard Bible

The Reign of the Righteous King.

A Psalm of Solomon.

72 Give the king ^(A)Your judgments, God,
And ^(B)Your righteousness to the king’s son.
²^[a]May ^[b]he ^(C)judge Your people with righteousness
And ^[c]^(D)Your afflicted with justice.
³^[d]May the mountains bring ^[e]^(E)peace to the people,
And the hills, in righteousness.
⁴^[f]May he ^(F)vindicate the ^[g]afflicted of the people,
Save the children of the needy,
And crush the oppressor.

⁵^[h]May they fear You ^(G)while the sun shines,
And ^[i]as long as the moon shines, throughout all generations.
⁶^[j]May he come down ^(H)like rain upon the mown grass,
Like ^(I)showers that water the earth.
⁷^[k]May the ^(J)righteous flourish in his days,
As well as an ^(K)abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.

⁸May he also rule ^(L)from sea to sea,
And from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
⁹^[l]May ^(M)the nomads of the desert ^(N)bow before him,
And his enemies ^(O)lick the dust.
¹⁰^[m]May the kings of ^(P)Tarshish and of the ^[n]^(Q)islands bring gifts;
May the kings of ^(R)Sheba and ^(S)Seba ^(T)offer tributes.
¹¹^[o]And may all ^(U)kings bow down before him,
All ^(V)nations serve him.

¹²For he will ^(W)save the needy when he cries for help,
The ^[p]afflicted also, and him who has no helper.
¹³He will have ^(X)compassion on the poor and needy,
And he will save the ^[q]lives of the needy.
¹⁴He will ^[r]^(Y)rescue their ^[s]life from oppression and violence,
And their blood will be ^(Z)precious in his sight;
¹⁵So may he live, and may the ^(AA)gold of Sheba be given to him;
And ^[t]they are to pray for him continually;
^[u]They are to bless him all day long.

¹⁶May there be abundance of grain on the earth on top of the mountains;
Its fruit will wave like the cedars of ^(AB)Lebanon;
And may those from the city flourish like the ^(AC)vegetation of the earth.
¹⁷May his ^(AD)name endure forever;
May his name produce descendants ^[v]^(AE)as long as the sun shines;
And may people ^(AF)wish blessings on themselves by him;
^(AG)May all nations call him blessed.

¹⁸^(AH)Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who alone ^(AI)works wonders.
¹⁹And blessed be His ^(AJ)glorious name forever;
And may the whole ^(AK)earth be filled with His glory.
^(AL)Amen and Amen.

²⁰The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

BOOK 3

The End of the Wicked Contrasted with That of the Righteous.

A Psalm of Asaph.

73 God certainly is ^(AM)good to Israel,
To those who are ^(AN)pure in heart!
²But as for me, ^(AO)my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps ^[w]had almost slipped.
³For I was ^(AP)envious of the ^[x]arrogant
As I saw the ^(AQ)prosperity of the wicked.
⁴For there are no pains in their death,
And their belly is fat.
⁵They are ^(AR)not ^[y]in trouble like other people,
Nor are they ^(AS)tormented together with the rest of mankind.
⁶Therefore arrogance is ^(AT)their necklace;
The ^(AU)garment of violence covers them.
⁷Their eye ^[z]bulges from ^(AV)fatness;
The imaginations of their heart overflow.
⁸They ^(AW)mock and ^[aa]wickedly speak of oppression;
They ^(AX)speak from on high.
⁹They have ^(AY)set their mouth ^[ab]against the heavens,
And their tongue ^[ac]parades through the earth.

¹⁰Therefore ^[ad]his people return here,
And ^(AZ)abundant waters are drunk by them.
¹¹They say, “^(BA)How does God know?
And is there knowledge ^[ae]with the Most High?”
¹²Behold, ^(BB)these are the wicked;
And always ^(BC)at ease, they have increased in wealth.
¹³Surely ^(BD)in vain I have ^[af]kept my heart pure
And ^(BE)washed my hands in innocence;
¹⁴For I have been stricken ^(BF)all day long,
And ^[ag]^(BG)punished every morning.

¹⁵If I had said, “I will speak this way,”
Behold, I would have betrayed the ^(BH)generation of Your children.
¹⁶When I ^(BI)thought of understanding this,
It was ^[ah]troublesome in my sight
¹⁷Until I entered the ^[ai]^(BJ)sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their ^(BK)end.
¹⁸You indeed put them on ^(BL)slippery ground;
You dropped them into ^[aj]^(BM)ruin.
¹⁹How they are ^[ak]^(BN)destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by ^(BO)sudden terrors!
²⁰Like a ^(BP)dream when one awakes,
Lord, when ^(BQ)stirred, You will ^(BR)despise their image.

²¹When my ^(BS)heart was embittered
And I was ^(BT)pierced ^[al]within,
²²Then I was ^(BU)stupid and ignorant;
I was like an ^(BV)animal ^[am]before You.
²³Nevertheless ^(BW)I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
²⁴You will ^(BX)guide me with Your plan,
And afterward ^(BY)receive me ^[an]to glory.

²⁵^(BZ)Whom do I have in heaven but You?
And with You, I desire nothing on earth.
²⁶My ^(CA)flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the ^[ao]strength of my heart and my ^(CB)portion forever.
²⁷For, behold, ^(CC)those who are far from You will ^(CD)perish;
You have destroyed all those who ^[ap]^(CE)are unfaithful to You.
²⁸But as for me, ^(CF)the nearness of God is good for me;
I have made the Lord ^[aq]God my ^(CG)refuge,
So that I may ^(CH)tell of all Your works.

Footnotes

Psalm 72:2 Or He will judge
Psalm 72:2 Many of the pronouns in this Psalm may be rendered He since the typical reference is to the Messiah
Psalm 72:2 Or Your humble
Psalm 72:3 Or The mountains will bring
Psalm 72:3 Or prosperity
Psalm 72:4 Or He will vindicate
Psalm 72:4 Or humble
Psalm 72:5 Or They will fear
Psalm 72:5 Lit before the moon
Psalm 72:6 Or He will come down
Psalm 72:7 Or The righteous will flourish
Psalm 72:9 Or The nomads...will bow
Psalm 72:10 Or The kings...will bring
Psalm 72:10 Or coastlands
Psalm 72:11 Or All kings will bow down
Psalm 72:12 Or humble
Psalm 72:13 Lit souls
Psalm 72:14 Lit redeem
Psalm 72:14 Lit soul
Psalm 72:15 Lit he is to
Psalm 72:15 Lit He is to
Psalm 72:17 Lit before the sun
Psalm 73:2 Lit were caused to slip
Psalm 73:3 Or boasters
Psalm 73:5 Lit in the trouble of people
Psalm 73:7 Lit goes forth
Psalm 73:8 Or they speak in wickedness; From on high they speak of oppression
Psalm 73:9 Or in
Psalm 73:9 Lit walks
Psalm 73:10 Or His
Psalm 73:11 Lit in
Psalm 73:13 Or cleansed my heart
Psalm 73:14 Lit my punishment
Psalm 73:16 Lit labor, trouble
Psalm 73:17 Lit sanctuaries
Psalm 73:18 Or deception
Psalm 73:19 Lit become a desolation
Psalm 73:21 Lit in my kidneys
Psalm 73:22 Lit with You
Psalm 73:24 Or with honor
Psalm 73:26 Lit rock
Psalm 73:27 Lit go to a whoring from
Psalm 73:28 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord