Psalm 21[a]

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

The king rejoices in your strength, Lord.(A)
    How great is his joy in the victories you give!(B)

You have granted him his heart’s desire(C)
    and have not withheld the request of his lips.[b]
You came to greet him with rich blessings
    and placed a crown of pure gold(D) on his head.(E)
He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—
    length of days, for ever and ever.(F)
Through the victories(G) you gave, his glory is great;
    you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.(H)
Surely you have granted him unending blessings
    and made him glad with the joy(I) of your presence.(J)
For the king trusts in the Lord;(K)
    through the unfailing love(L) of the Most High(M)
    he will not be shaken.(N)

Your hand will lay hold(O) on all your enemies;
    your right hand will seize your foes.
When you appear for battle,
    you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace.
The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,
    and his fire will consume them.(P)
10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
    their posterity from mankind.(Q)
11 Though they plot evil(R) against you
    and devise wicked schemes,(S) they cannot succeed.
12 You will make them turn their backs(T)
    when you aim at them with drawn bow.

13 Be exalted(U) in your strength, Lord;(V)
    we will sing and praise your might.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 21:1 In Hebrew texts 21:1-13 is numbered 21:2-14.
  2. Psalm 21:2 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.

21 The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!

Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.

For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head.

He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever.

His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him.

For thou hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance.

For the king trusteth in the Lord, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.

Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies: thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee.

Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.

10 Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men.

11 For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.

12 Therefore shalt thou make them turn their back, when thou shalt make ready thine arrows upon thy strings against the face of them.

13 Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.

14 Do not be afraid,(A) you worm(B) Jacob,
    little Israel, do not fear,
for I myself will help(C) you,” declares the Lord,
    your Redeemer,(D) the Holy One(E) of Israel.
15 “See, I will make you into a threshing sledge,(F)
    new and sharp, with many teeth.
You will thresh the mountains(G) and crush them,
    and reduce the hills to chaff.(H)
16 You will winnow(I) them, the wind will pick them up,
    and a gale(J) will blow them away.(K)
But you will rejoice(L) in the Lord
    and glory(M) in the Holy One(N) of Israel.

17 “The poor and needy search for water,(O)
    but there is none;
    their tongues are parched with thirst.(P)
But I the Lord will answer(Q) them;
    I, the God of Israel, will not forsake(R) them.
18 I will make rivers flow(S) on barren heights,
    and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert(T) into pools of water,(U)
    and the parched ground into springs.(V)
19 I will put in the desert(W)
    the cedar and the acacia,(X) the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers(Y) in the wasteland,
    the fir and the cypress(Z) together,(AA)
20 so that people may see and know,(AB)
    may consider and understand,(AC)
that the hand(AD) of the Lord has done this,
    that the Holy One(AE) of Israel has created(AF) it.

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14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.

17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:

20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

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Paul the Minister to the Gentiles

14 I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness,(A) filled with knowledge(B) and competent to instruct one another. 15 Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me(C) 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles.(D) He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God,(E) so that the Gentiles might become an offering(F) acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus(G) in my service to God.(H) 18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles(I) to obey God(J) by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and wonders,(K) through the power of the Spirit of God.(L) So from Jerusalem(M) all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.(N) 20 It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel(O) where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.(P) 21 Rather, as it is written:

“Those who were not told about him will see,
    and those who have not heard will understand.”[a](Q)

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 15:21 Isaiah 52:15 (see Septuagint)

14 And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God,

16 That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

17 I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God.

18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,

19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.

20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation:

21 But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand.

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