Psalm 137

By the rivers of Babylon(A) we sat and wept(B)
    when we remembered Zion.(C)
There on the poplars(D)
    we hung our harps,(E)
for there our captors(F) asked us for songs,
    our tormentors demanded(G) songs of joy;
    they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”(H)

How can we sing the songs of the Lord(I)
    while in a foreign land?
If I forget you,(J) Jerusalem,
    may my right hand forget its skill.
May my tongue cling to the roof(K) of my mouth
    if I do not remember(L) you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem(M)
    my highest joy.

Remember, Lord, what the Edomites(N) did
    on the day Jerusalem fell.(O)
“Tear it down,” they cried,
    “tear it down to its foundations!”(P)
Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,(Q)
    happy is the one who repays you
    according to what you have done to us.
Happy is the one who seizes your infants
    and dashes them(R) against the rocks.

Psalm 138

Of David.

I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
    before the “gods”(S) I will sing(T) your praise.
I will bow down toward your holy temple(U)
    and will praise your name(V)
    for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,(W)
for you have so exalted your solemn decree
    that it surpasses your fame.(X)
When I called,(Y) you answered me;(Z)
    you greatly emboldened(AA) me.

May all the kings of the earth(AB) praise you, Lord,
    when they hear what you have decreed.
May they sing(AC) of the ways of the Lord,
    for the glory of the Lord(AD) is great.

Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;(AE)
    though lofty, he sees them(AF) from afar.
Though I walk(AG) in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve my life.(AH)
You stretch out your hand(AI) against the anger of my foes;(AJ)
    with your right hand(AK) you save me.(AL)
The Lord will vindicate(AM) me;
    your love, Lord, endures forever(AN)
    do not abandon(AO) the works of your hands.(AP)

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

You have searched me,(AQ) Lord,
    and you know(AR) me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;(AS)
    you perceive my thoughts(AT) from afar.
You discern my going out(AU) and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.(AV)
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.(AW)
You hem me in(AX) behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,(AY)
    too lofty(AZ) for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee(BA) from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens,(BB) you are there;
    if I make my bed(BC) in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,(BD)
    your right hand(BE) will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark(BF) to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;(BG)
    you knit me together(BH) in my mother’s womb.(BI)
14 I praise you(BJ) because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,(BK)
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made(BL) in the secret place,
    when I was woven together(BM) in the depths of the earth.(BN)
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained(BO) for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a](BP) God!(BQ)
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,(BR)
    they would outnumber the grains of sand(BS)
    when I awake,(BT) I am still with you.

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!(BU)
    Away from me,(BV) you who are bloodthirsty!(BW)
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries(BX) misuse your name.(BY)
21 Do I not hate those(BZ) who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor(CA) those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.(CB)
23 Search me,(CC) God, and know my heart;(CD)
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way(CE) in me,
    and lead me(CF) in the way everlasting.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 139:17 Or How amazing are your thoughts concerning me

137 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.

If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.

Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.

Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.

138 I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.

All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth.

Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord.

Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.

The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

139 O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.

Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.

Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

21 Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.