¹ I was glad when they said to me,
    “Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
² And now here we are,
    standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem.
³ Jerusalem is a well-built city;
    its seamless walls cannot be breached.
⁴ All the tribes of Israel—the Lord’s people—
    make their pilgrimage here.
They come to give thanks to the name of the Lord,
    as the law requires of Israel.
⁵ Here stand the thrones where judgment is given,
    the thrones of the dynasty of David.

⁶ Pray for peace in Jerusalem.
    May all who love this city prosper.
⁷ O Jerusalem, may there be peace within your walls
    and prosperity in your palaces.
⁸ For the sake of my family and friends, I will say,
    “May you have peace.”
⁹ For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
    I will seek what is best for you, O Jerusalem.

¹ What if the Lord had not been on our side?
    Let all Israel repeat:
² What if the Lord had not been on our side
    when people attacked us?
³ They would have swallowed us alive
    in their burning anger.
⁴ The waters would have engulfed us;
    a torrent would have overwhelmed us.
⁵ Yes, the raging waters of their fury
    would have overwhelmed our very lives.

⁶ Praise the Lord,
    who did not let their teeth tear us apart!
⁷ We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap.
    The trap is broken, and we are free!
⁸ Our help is from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

¹ Lord, my heart is not proud;
    my eyes are not haughty.
I don’t concern myself with matters too great
    or too awesome for me to grasp.
² Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself,
    like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.
    Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

³ O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—
    now and always.

¹ How wonderful and pleasant it is
    when brothers live together in harmony!
² For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil
    that was poured over Aaron’s head,
    that ran down his beard
    and onto the border of his robe.
³ Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon
    that falls on the mountains of Zion.
And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing,
    even life everlasting.

¹ I give you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart;
    I will sing your praises before the gods.
² I bow before your holy Temple as I worship.
    I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness;
for your promises are backed
    by all the honor of your name.
³ As soon as I pray, you answer me;
    you encourage me by giving me strength.

⁴ Every king in all the earth will thank you, Lord,
    for all of them will hear your words.
⁵ Yes, they will sing about the Lord’s ways,
    for the glory of the Lord is very great.
⁶ Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble,
    but he keeps his distance from the proud.

⁷ Though I am surrounded by troubles,
    you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.
You reach out your hand,
    and the power of your right hand saves me.
⁸ The Lord will work out his plans for my life—
    for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.
    Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

¹ O Lord, you have examined my heart
    and know everything about me.
² You know when I sit down or stand up.
    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
³ You see me when I travel
    and when I rest at home.
    You know everything I do.
⁴ You know what I am going to say
    even before I say it, Lord.
⁵ You go before me and follow me.
    You place your hand of blessing on my head.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too great for me to understand!

⁷ I can never escape from your Spirit!
    I can never get away from your presence!
⁸ If I go up to heaven, you are there;
    if I go down to the grave,^[a] you are there.
⁹ If I ride the wings of the morning,
    if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    and your strength will support me.
¹¹ I could ask the darkness to hide me
    and the light around me to become night—
¹²     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
    Darkness and light are the same to you.

¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
¹⁶ You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.

¹⁷ How precious are your thoughts about me,^[b] O God.
    They cannot be numbered!
¹⁸ I can’t even count them;
    they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
    you are still with me!

¹⁹ O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
    Get out of my life, you murderers!
²⁰ They blaspheme you;
    your enemies misuse your name.
²¹ O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?
    Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
²² Yes, I hate them with total hatred,
    for your enemies are my enemies.

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴ Point out anything in me that offends you,
    and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

¹ O Lord, rescue me from evil people.
    Protect me from those who are violent,
² those who plot evil in their hearts
    and stir up trouble all day long.
³ Their tongues sting like a snake;
    the venom of a viper drips from their lips. Interlude

⁴ O Lord, keep me out of the hands of the wicked.
    Protect me from those who are violent,
    for they are plotting against me.
⁵ The proud have set a trap to catch me;
    they have stretched out a net;
    they have placed traps all along the way. Interlude

⁶ I said to the Lord, “You are my God!”
    Listen, O Lord, to my cries for mercy!
⁷ O Sovereign Lord, the strong one who rescued me,
    you protected me on the day of battle.
⁸ Lord, do not let evil people have their way.
    Do not let their evil schemes succeed,
    or they will become proud. Interlude

⁹ Let my enemies be destroyed
    by the very evil they have planned for me.
¹⁰ Let burning coals fall down on their heads.
    Let them be thrown into the fire
    or into watery pits from which they can’t escape.
¹¹ Don’t let liars prosper here in our land.
    Cause great disasters to fall on the violent.

¹² But I know the Lord will help those they persecute;
    he will give justice to the poor.
¹³ Surely righteous people are praising your name;
    the godly will live in your presence.