Psalm 8
New King James Version
The Glory of the Lord in Creation
To the Chief Musician. [a]On the instrument of Gath. A Psalm of David.
8 O Lord, our Lord,
How (A)excellent is Your name in all the earth,
Who have (B)set Your glory above the heavens!
2 (C)Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
You have [b]ordained strength,
Because of Your enemies,
That You may silence (D)the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I (E)consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
4 (F)What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You (G)visit[c] him?
5 For You have made him a little lower than [d]the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
6 (H)You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
(I)You have put all things under his feet,
7 All sheep and oxen—
Even the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea
That pass through the paths of the seas.
9 (J)O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8
Amplified Bible
The Lord’s Glory and Man’s Dignity.
To the Chief Musician; set to [a]a Philistine lute [or perhaps to a particular Hittite tune]. A Psalm of David.
8 O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth!
You have displayed Your splendor above the heavens.
2
Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
That You might silence the enemy and make the revengeful cease.(A)
3
When I see and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have established,
4
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?
5
Yet You have made him a little lower than [b]God,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
6
You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,(B)
7
All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,
8
The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9
O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth!
Footnotes
- Psalm 8:1 Or perhaps to a particular key; meaning uncertain.
- Psalm 8:5 LXX reads angels; Heb Elohim is usually translated “God” or “god.” But it can also mean “gods” (with a lowercase “g”) when it is used with reference to the pagan gods of other nations. See, for instance, Ex 20:3: “You shall have no other gods (Elohim) before Me.” Since there are no capital letters in Hebrew as there are in English, the meaning of Ps 8:5 is ambiguous. It may be saying that humans were created a little lower than God Himself, or it may say that humans were created a little lower than the heavenly beings.
Psalm 8
New International Version
Psalm 8[a]
For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] A psalm of David.
1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name(A) in all the earth!
You have set your glory(B)
in the heavens.(C)
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold(D) against your enemies,
to silence the foe(E) and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,(F)
the work of your fingers,(G)
the moon and the stars,(H)
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[c](I)
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e](J)
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.(K)
6 You made them rulers(L) over the works of your hands;(M)
you put everything under their[g] feet:(N)
7 all flocks and herds,(O)
and the animals of the wild,(P)
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,(Q)
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!(R)
Footnotes
Psalm 8
The Message
8 God, brilliant Lord,
yours is a household name.
2 Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk,
and silence atheist babble.
3-4 I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
Why take a second look our way?
5-8 Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods,
bright with Eden’s dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
repeated to us your Genesis-charge,
Made us stewards of sheep and cattle,
even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
whales singing in the ocean deeps.
9 God, brilliant Lord,
your name echoes around the world.
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