Psalm 49-56

English Standard Version

^5 (G)Why should I fear in ^(H)times of trouble,
    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
⁶ those who ^(I)trust in their wealth
    and boast of the abundance of their riches?
⁷ Truly no man ^(J)can ransom another,
    or ^(K)give to God ^(L)the price of his life,
⁸ for ^(M)the ransom of their life is costly
    and can never suffice,
⁹ that he should live on forever
    and ^(N)never see the pit.

¹⁰ For he sees ^(O)that even the wise die;
    ^(P)the fool and the stupid alike must perish
    and ^(Q)leave their wealth to others.
¹¹ Their ^(R)graves are their homes forever,^[a]
    their dwelling places ^(S)to all generations,
    though they ^(T)called lands by their own names.
¹² Man in his pomp ^(U)will not remain;
    ^(V)he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³ This is the path of those who have ^(W)foolish confidence;
    yet after them people approve of their boasts.^[b] Selah
¹⁴ Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
    death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright ^(X)shall rule over them in the morning.
    ^(Y)Their form shall be consumed ^(Z)in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
¹⁵ But God will ^(AA)ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
    for he will ^(AB)receive me. Selah

¹⁶ Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
    when the glory of his house increases.
^17 (AC)For when he dies he will ^(AD)carry nothing away;
    his glory will not go down after him.
¹⁸ For though, while he lives, he counts himself ^(AE)blessed—
    and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
¹⁹ his soul will ^(AF)go to the generation of his fathers,
    who will never again ^(AG)see light.
^20 (AH)Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

³ Our God comes; he ^(AN)does not keep silence;^[c]
    before him is a devouring ^(AO)fire,
    around him a mighty tempest.
^4 (AP)He calls to the heavens above
    and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
⁵ “Gather to me my faithful ones,
    who made ^(AQ)a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
^6 (AR)The heavens declare his righteousness,
    for ^(AS)God himself is judge! Selah

^7 (AT)“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
    O Israel, I will testify against you.
    ^(AU)I am God, your God.
⁸ Not for your sacrifices ^(AV)do I rebuke you;
    your burnt offerings are continually before me.
⁹ I will not accept a bull from your house
    or goats from your folds.
¹⁰ For every beast of the forest is mine,
    the cattle on a thousand hills.
^11 (AW)I know all the birds of the hills,
    and all that moves in the field is mine.

¹² “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
    ^(AX)for the world and its fullness are mine.
¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?
^14 (AY)Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,^[d]
    and ^(AZ)perform your vows to the Most High,
¹⁵ and ^(BA)call upon me in the day of trouble;
    I will ^(BB)deliver you, and you shall ^(BC)glorify me.”

¹⁶ But to the wicked God says:
    “What right have you to recite my statutes
    or take my covenant on your lips?
^17 (BD)For you hate discipline,
    ^(BE)and you cast my words behind you.
¹⁸ If you see a thief, ^(BF)you are pleased with him,
    ^(BG)and you keep company with adulterers.

¹⁹ “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
    ^(BH)and your tongue frames deceit.
²⁰ You sit and speak against your brother;
    you slander your own mother's son.
²¹ These things you have done, and I ^(BI)have been silent;
    you thought that I^[e] was one like yourself.
But now I ^(BJ)rebuke you and ^(BK)lay the charge before you.

²² “Mark this, then, you who ^(BL)forget God,
    lest I tear you apart, and there be ^(BM)none to deliver!
²³ The one who ^(BN)offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
    to one who ^(BO)orders his way rightly
    I will show the ^(BP)salvation of God!”

^3 (BW)For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
^4 (BX)Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil ^(BY)in your sight,
^(BZ)so that you may be justified in your words
    and blameless in your judgment.
⁵ Behold, ^(CA)I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.
⁶ Behold, you delight in truth in ^(CB)the inward being,
    and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

⁷ Purge me ^(CC)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    ^(CD)wash me, and I shall be ^(CE)whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    ^(CF)let the bones ^(CG)that you have broken rejoice.
^9 (CH)Hide your face from my sins,
    and ^(CI)blot out all my iniquities.
^10 (CJ)Create in me a ^(CK)clean heart, O God,
    and ^(CL)renew a right^[g] spirit within me.
^11 (CM)Cast me not away from your presence,
    and take not ^(CN)your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    and sinners will ^(CO)return to you.
¹⁴ Deliver me from ^(CP)bloodguiltiness, O God,
    O ^(CQ)God of my salvation,
    and ^(CR)my tongue will sing aloud of your ^(CS)righteousness.
¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
^16 (CT)For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
    you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are ^(CU)a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

^18 (CV)Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
    ^(CW)build up the walls of Jerusalem;
¹⁹ then will you delight in ^(CX)right sacrifices,
    in burnt offerings and ^(CY)whole burnt offerings;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

⁵ But God will break you down forever;
    he will snatch and ^(DE)tear you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from ^(DF)the land of the living. Selah
⁶ The righteous shall ^(DG)see and fear,
    and shall ^(DH)laugh at him, saying,
⁷ “See the man who would not make
    God his refuge,
but ^(DI)trusted in the abundance of his riches
    and sought refuge in his own destruction!”^[i]

⁸ But I am like ^(DJ)a green olive tree
    in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
    forever and ever.
⁹ I will thank you forever,
    because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, ^(DK)for it is good,
    in the presence of the ^(DL)godly.

² God looks down from heaven
    on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,^[k]
    who seek after God.

³ They have all fallen away;
    together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
    not even one.

⁴ Have those who work evil no knowledge,
    who eat up my people as they eat bread,
    and do not call upon God?

⁵ There they are, in great terror,
    ^(DO)where there is no terror!
For God ^(DP)scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
    you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

⁶ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When God restores the fortunes of his people,
    let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

^3 (DU)For ^(DV)strangers^[m] have risen against me;
    ruthless men ^(DW)seek my life;
    they do not set God before themselves. Selah

⁴ Behold, ^(DX)God is my helper;
    the Lord is the upholder of my life.
⁵ He will return the evil to my enemies;
    in your ^(DY)faithfulness ^(DZ)put an end to them.

⁶ With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
    I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, ^(EA)for it is good.
⁷ For he has delivered me from every trouble,
    and my eye has ^(EB)looked in triumph on my enemies.

⁴ My heart is in anguish within me;
    ^(EH)the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
⁵ Fear and trembling come upon me,
    and ^(EI)horror ^(EJ)overwhelms me.
⁶ And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest;
^7 (EK)yes, I would wander far away;
    I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
⁸ I would hurry to find a shelter
    from ^(EL)the raging wind and tempest.”

⁹ Destroy, O Lord, ^(EM)divide their tongues;
    for I see ^(EN)violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰ Day and night they go around it
    on its walls,
and ^(EO)iniquity and trouble are within it;
¹¹     ruin is in its midst;
^(EP)oppression and fraud
    do not depart from its marketplace.

¹² For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
    then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who ^(EQ)deals insolently with me—
    then I could hide from him.
^13 (ER)But it is you, a man, my equal,
    my companion, my familiar friend.
¹⁴ We used to take sweet counsel together;
    within God's house we walked in ^(ES)the throng.
¹⁵ Let death steal over them;
    let them go down to Sheol ^(ET)alive;
    for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

¹⁶ But I call to God,
    and the Lord will save me.
^17 (EU)Evening and ^(EV)morning and at ^(EW)noon
    I ^(EX)utter my complaint and moan,
    and he hears my voice.
¹⁸ He redeems my soul in safety
    from the battle that I wage,
    for ^(EY)many are arrayed against me.
¹⁹ God will give ear and humble them,
    he who is ^(EZ)enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not ^(FA)change
    and do not fear God.

²⁰ My companion^{[o] (FB)}stretched out his hand against his friends;
    he violated his covenant.
²¹ His ^(FC)speech was ^(FD)smooth as butter,
    yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
    yet they were ^(FE)drawn swords.

^22 (FF)Cast your burden on the Lord,
    and he will sustain you;
^(FG)he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved.

²³ But you, O God, ^(FH)will cast them down
    into ^(FI)the pit of destruction;
men of ^(FJ)blood and treachery
    shall not ^(FK)live out half their days.
But I will ^(FL)trust in you.

⁵ All day long they injure my cause;^[q]
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.
⁶ They ^(FS)stir up strife, they ^(FT)lurk;
    they ^(FU)watch my steps,
    as they have waited for my life.
⁷ For their crime will they escape?
    ^(FV)In wrath ^(FW)cast down the peoples, O God!

⁸ You have kept count of my tossings;^{[r]
    (FX)}put my tears in your bottle.
    ^(FY)Are they not in your book?
⁹ Then my enemies will turn back
    ^(FZ)in the day when I call.
    This I know, that^{[s] (GA)}God is for me.
¹⁰ In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise,
¹¹ in God I trust; ^(GB)I shall not be afraid.
    What can man do to me?

¹² I must perform my ^(GC)vows to you, O God;
    I will ^(GD)render thank offerings to you.
^13 (GE)For you have delivered my soul from death,
    yes, my feet from falling,
^(GF)that I may walk before God
    ^(GG)in the light of life.