Psalm 101-105

English Standard Version

⁵ Whoever slanders his neighbor ^(K)secretly
    I will ^(L)destroy.
Whoever has a ^(M)haughty look and an ^(N)arrogant heart
    I will not endure.

⁶ I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,
    that they may dwell with me;
he who walks in ^(O)the way that is blameless
    shall minister to me.

⁷ No one who ^(P)practices deceit
    shall dwell in my house;
no one who utters lies
    shall ^(Q)continue before my eyes.

^8 (R)Morning by morning I will destroy
    all the wicked in the land,
^(S)cutting off all ^(T)the evildoers
    from ^(U)the city of the Lord.

³ For my days ^(AE)pass away like smoke,
    and my ^(AF)bones burn like a furnace.
⁴ My heart is ^(AG)struck down like grass and ^(AH)has withered;
    I ^(AI)forget to eat my bread.
⁵ Because of my loud groaning
    my ^(AJ)bones cling to my flesh.
⁶ I am like ^(AK)a desert owl of the wilderness,
    like an owl^[a] of the waste places;
⁷ I ^(AL)lie awake;
    I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
⁸ All the day my enemies taunt me;
    those who ^(AM)deride me ^(AN)use my name for a curse.
⁹ For I eat ashes like bread
    and ^(AO)mingle tears with my drink,
¹⁰ because of your indignation and anger;
    for you have ^(AP)taken me up and ^(AQ)thrown me down.
¹¹ My days are like ^(AR)an evening shadow;
    I ^(AS)wither away like grass.

¹² But you, O Lord, are ^(AT)enthroned forever;
    you ^(AU)are remembered throughout all generations.
¹³ You will ^(AV)arise and have ^(AW)pity on Zion;
    it is the time to favor her;
    ^(AX)the appointed time has come.
¹⁴ For your servants hold her ^(AY)stones dear
    and have pity on her dust.
¹⁵ Nations will ^(AZ)fear the name of the Lord,
    and all ^(BA)the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
¹⁶ For the Lord ^(BB)builds up Zion;
    he ^(BC)appears in his glory;
¹⁷ he ^(BD)regards the prayer of the destitute
    and does not despise their prayer.

¹⁸ Let this be ^(BE)recorded for ^(BF)a generation to come,
    so that ^(BG)a people yet to be created may praise the Lord:
¹⁹ that he ^(BH)looked down from his holy height;
    from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,
²⁰ to hear ^(BI)the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free ^(BJ)those who were doomed to die,
²¹ that they may ^(BK)declare in Zion the name of the Lord,
    and in Jerusalem his praise,
²² when ^(BL)peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

²³ He has broken my strength in midcourse;
    he ^(BM)has shortened my days.
²⁴ “O my God,” ^(BN)I say, “take me not away
    in the midst of my days—
^(BO)you whose years endure
    throughout all generations!”

^25 (BP)Of old you laid the foundation of the earth,
    and ^(BQ)the heavens are the work of your hands.
^26 (BR)They will perish, but ^(BS)you will remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away,
²⁷     but ^(BT)you are the same, and your years have no end.
^28 (BU)The children of your servants ^(BV)shall dwell secure;
    ^(BW)their offspring shall be established before you.

⁶ The Lord works ^(CG)righteousness
    and justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known his ^(CH)ways to Moses,
    his ^(CI)acts to the people of Israel.
⁸ The Lord is ^(CJ)merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
^9 (CK)He will not always chide,
    nor will he ^(CL)keep his anger forever.
¹⁰ He does not deal with us ^(CM)according to our sins,
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For ^(CN)as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his ^(CO)steadfast love toward ^(CP)those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he ^(CQ)remove our transgressions from us.
¹³ As ^(CR)a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion ^(CS)to those who fear him.
¹⁴ For he knows our frame;^[b]
    he ^(CT)remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵ As for man, his days are like ^(CU)grass;
    he flourishes like ^(CV)a flower of the field;
¹⁶ for ^(CW)the wind passes over it, and ^(CX)it is gone,
    and ^(CY)its place knows it no more.
¹⁷ But ^(CZ)the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on ^(DA)those who fear him,
    and his righteousness to ^(DB)children's children,
¹⁸ to those who ^(DC)keep his covenant
    and ^(DD)remember to do his commandments.
¹⁹ The Lord has ^(DE)established his throne in the heavens,
    and his ^(DF)kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Bless the Lord, O you ^(DG)his angels,
    you ^(DH)mighty ones who ^(DI)do his word,
    obeying the voice of his word!
²¹ Bless the Lord, all his ^(DJ)hosts,
    his ^(DK)ministers, who do his will!
^22 (DL)Bless the Lord, all his works,
    in all places of his dominion.
^(DM)Bless the Lord, O my soul!

⁵ He ^(DZ)set the earth on its foundations,
    so that it should never be moved.
⁶ You ^(EA)covered it with the deep as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.
⁷ At ^(EB)your rebuke they fled;
    at ^(EC)the sound of your thunder they ^(ED)took to flight.
⁸ The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
    to the place that you ^(EE)appointed for them.
⁹ You set ^(EF)a boundary that they may not pass,
    so that they ^(EG)might not again cover the earth.

¹⁰ You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
    they flow between the hills;
¹¹ they ^(EH)give drink to every beast of the field;
    the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
¹² Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
    they sing among the branches.
^13 (EI)From your lofty abode you ^(EJ)water the mountains;
    the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

¹⁴ You cause ^(EK)the grass to grow for the livestock
    and ^(EL)plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth ^(EM)food from the earth
¹⁵     and ^(EN)wine to gladden the heart of man,
^(EO)oil to make his face shine
    and bread to ^(EP)strengthen man's heart.

¹⁶ The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
    ^(EQ)the cedars of Lebanon ^(ER)that he planted.
¹⁷ In them the birds build their nests;
    the stork has her home in the fir trees.
¹⁸ The high mountains are for ^(ES)the wild goats;
    the rocks are a refuge for ^(ET)the rock badgers.

¹⁹ He made the moon to mark the ^(EU)seasons;^[c]
    the sun knows its time for setting.
^20 (EV)You make darkness, and it is night,
    when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
^21 (EW)The young lions roar for their prey,
    seeking their food from God.
²² When the sun rises, they steal away
    and lie down in their ^(EX)dens.
^23 (EY)Man goes out to his work
    and to his labor until the evening.

²⁴ O Lord, how manifold are your works!
    In ^(EZ)wisdom have you made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.
²⁵ Here is the sea, great and wide,
    ^(FA)which teems with creatures innumerable,
    living things both small and great.
²⁶ There go the ships,
    and ^(FB)Leviathan, which you formed to ^(FC)play in it.^[d]

²⁷ These ^(FD)all look to you,
    to ^(FE)give them their food in due season.
²⁸ When you give it to them, they gather it up;
    when you ^(FF)open your hand, they are filled with good things.
²⁹ When you ^(FG)hide your face, they are ^(FH)dismayed;
    when you ^(FI)take away their breath, they die
    and ^(FJ)return to their dust.
³⁰ When you ^(FK)send forth your Spirit,^[e] they are created,
    and you ^(FL)renew the face of the ground.

³¹ May the glory of the Lord ^(FM)endure forever;
    may the Lord ^(FN)rejoice in his works,
³² who looks on the earth and it ^(FO)trembles,
    who ^(FP)touches the mountains and they smoke!
³³ I will sing to the Lord ^(FQ)as long as I live;
    I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
³⁴ May my ^(FR)meditation be pleasing to him,
    for I rejoice in the Lord.
³⁵ Let ^(FS)sinners be consumed from the earth,
    and let the wicked be no more!
^(FT)Bless the Lord, O my soul!
^(FU)Praise the Lord!

⁷ He is the Lord our God;
    his ^(GF)judgments are in all the earth.
⁸ He ^(GG)remembers his covenant forever,
    the word that he commanded, for ^(GH)a thousand generations,
^9 (GI)the covenant that he made with Abraham,
    his ^(GJ)sworn promise to Isaac,
¹⁰ which he confirmed to ^(GK)Jacob as a statute,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
¹¹ saying, ^(GL)“To you I will give the land of Canaan
    as ^(GM)your portion for an inheritance.”

¹² When they were ^(GN)few in number,
    of little account, and ^(GO)sojourners in it,
¹³ wandering from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another people,
¹⁴ he ^(GP)allowed no one to oppress them;
    he ^(GQ)rebuked kings on their account,
¹⁵ saying, ^(GR)“Touch not my anointed ones,
    do my prophets no harm!”

¹⁶ When he ^(GS)summoned a famine on the land
    and ^(GT)broke all supply^[f] of bread,
¹⁷ he had ^(GU)sent a man ahead of them,
    Joseph, who was ^(GV)sold as a slave.
¹⁸ His ^(GW)feet were hurt with fetters;
    his neck was put in a collar of iron;
¹⁹ until ^(GX)what he had said came to pass,
    the word of the Lord ^(GY)tested him.
^20 (GZ)The king sent and ^(HA)released him;
    the ruler of the peoples set him free;
²¹ he ^(HB)made him lord of his house
    and ruler of all his possessions,
²² to bind^[g] his princes at his pleasure
    and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³ Then ^(HC)Israel came to Egypt;
    Jacob ^(HD)sojourned in ^(HE)the land of Ham.
²⁴ And the Lord ^(HF)made his people very fruitful
    and made them stronger than their foes.
²⁵ He ^(HG)turned their hearts to hate his people,
    to ^(HH)deal craftily with his servants.

²⁶ He ^(HI)sent Moses, his servant,
    and Aaron, ^(HJ)whom he had chosen.
^27 (HK)They performed his signs among them
    and miracles in ^(HL)the land of Ham.
²⁸ He ^(HM)sent darkness, and made the land dark;
    they ^(HN)did not rebel^[h] against his words.
²⁹ He turned their waters into blood
    and ^(HO)caused their fish to die.
³⁰ Their land swarmed with frogs,
    even in ^(HP)the chambers of their kings.
³¹ He spoke, and there came ^(HQ)swarms of flies,
    ^(HR)and gnats throughout their country.
³² He gave them hail for rain,
    and fiery ^(HS)lightning bolts through their land.
³³ He struck down their vines and fig trees,
    and ^(HT)shattered the trees of their country.
³⁴ He spoke, and the ^(HU)locusts came,
    young locusts without number,
³⁵ which devoured all the vegetation in their land
    and ate up the fruit of their ground.
³⁶ He ^(HV)struck down all the firstborn in their land,
    ^(HW)the firstfruits of all their strength.

³⁷ Then he brought out Israel with ^(HX)silver and gold,
    and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.
^38 (HY)Egypt was glad when they departed,
    for ^(HZ)dread of them had fallen upon it.

³⁹ He ^(IA)spread a cloud for a covering,
    and fire to give light by night.
^40 (IB)They asked, and he ^(IC)brought quail,
    and gave them ^(ID)bread from heaven in abundance.
⁴¹ He opened the rock, and ^(IE)water gushed out;
    it flowed through ^(IF)the desert like a river.
⁴² For he ^(IG)remembered his holy promise,
    and ^(IH)Abraham, his servant.

⁴³ So he brought his people out with joy,
    his ^(II)chosen ones with ^(IJ)singing.
⁴⁴ And he ^(IK)gave them the lands of the nations,
    and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples' toil,
⁴⁵ that they might ^(IL)keep his statutes
    and ^(IM)observe his laws.
^(IN)Praise the Lord!