Psalm 50-61
English Standard Version
God Himself Is Judge
A Psalm of (A)Asaph.
50 (B)The Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
(C)from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, (D)the perfection of beauty,
(E)God shines forth.
3 Our God comes; he (F)does not keep silence;[a]
before him is a devouring (G)fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
4 (H)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 (I)a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 (J)The heavens declare his righteousness,
for (K)God himself is judge! Selah
7 (L)“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
(M)I am God, your God.
8 Not for your sacrifices (N)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 (O)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,
(P)for the world and its fullness are mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 (Q)Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,[b]
and (R)perform your vows to the Most High,
15 and (S)call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will (T)deliver you, and you shall (U)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 (V)For you hate discipline,
(W)and you cast my words behind you.
18 If you see a thief, (X)you are pleased with him,
(Y)and you keep company with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
(Z)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 (AA)have been silent;
you thought that I[c] was one like yourself.
But now I (AB)rebuke you and (AC)lay the charge before you.
22 “Mark this, then, you who (AD)forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be (AE)none to deliver!
23 The one who (AF)offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who (AG)orders his way rightly
I will show the (AH)salvation of God!”
Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when (AI)Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (AJ)Have mercy on me,[d] O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your (AK)abundant mercy
(AL)blot out my transgressions.
2 (AM)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and (AN)cleanse me from my sin!
3 (AO)For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 (AP)Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil (AQ)in your sight,
(AR)so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, (AS)I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in (AT)the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me (AU)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
(AV)wash me, and I shall be (AW)whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
(AX)let the bones (AY)that you have broken rejoice.
9 (AZ)Hide your face from my sins,
and (BA)blot out all my iniquities.
10 (BB)Create in me a (BC)clean heart, O God,
and (BD)renew a right[e] spirit within me.
11 (BE)Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not (BF)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 (BG)return to you.
14 Deliver me from (BH)bloodguiltiness, O God,
O (BI)God of my salvation,
and (BJ)my tongue will sing aloud of your (BK)righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 (BL)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 (BM)a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 (BN)Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
(BO)build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in (BP)right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and (BQ)whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
The Steadfast Love of God Endures
To the choirmaster. A Maskil[f] of David, when (BR)Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
2 Your (BS)tongue plots destruction,
like (BT)a sharp razor, you (BU)worker of deceit.
3 You love evil more than good,
and (BV)lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.
5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and (BW)tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from (BX)the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous shall (BY)see and fear,
and shall (BZ)laugh at him, saying,
7 “See the man who would not make
God his refuge,
but (CA)trusted in the abundance of his riches
and sought refuge in his own destruction!”[g]
8 But I am like (CB)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, (CC)for it is good,
in the presence of the (CD)godly.
There Is None Who Does Good
To the choirmaster: according to (CE)Mahalath. A Maskil[h] of David.
53 (CF)The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven
on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,[i]
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,
(CG)where there is no terror!
For God (CH)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.
The Lord Upholds My Life
To the choirmaster: with (CI)stringed instruments. A Maskil[j] of David, (CJ)when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”
54 O God, save me by your (CK)name,
and vindicate me by your might.
2 O God, (CL)hear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 (CM)For (CN)strangers[k] have risen against me;
ruthless men (CO)seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah
4 Behold, (CP)God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
5 He will return the evil to my enemies;
in your (CQ)faithfulness (CR)put an end to them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, (CS)for it is good.
7 For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has (CT)looked in triumph on my enemies.
Cast Your Burden on the Lord
To the choirmaster: with (CU)stringed instruments. A Maskil[l] of David.
55 (CV)Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless (CW)in my complaint and I (CX)moan,
3 because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they (CY)drop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
(CZ)the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me,
and (DA)horror (DB)overwhelms me.
6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7 (DC)yes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hurry to find a shelter
from (DD)the raging wind and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, (DE)divide their tongues;
for I see (DF)violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and (DG)iniquity and trouble are within it;
11 ruin is in its midst;
(DH)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 (DI)deals insolently with me—
then I could hide from him.
13 (DJ)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 (DK)the throng.
15 Let death steal over them;
let them go down to Sheol (DL)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 (DM)Evening and (DN)morning and at (DO)noon
I (DP)utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.
18 He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for (DQ)many are arrayed against me.
19 God will give ear and humble them,
he who is (DR)enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not (DS)change
and do not fear God.
20 My companion[m] (DT)stretched out his hand against his friends;
he violated his covenant.
21 His (DU)speech was (DV)smooth as butter,
yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were (DW)drawn swords.
22 (DX)Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
(DY)he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
23 But you, O God, (DZ)will cast them down
into (EA)the pit of destruction;
men of (EB)blood and treachery
shall not (EC)live out half their days.
But I will (ED)trust in you.
In God I Trust
To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A (EE)Miktam[n] of David, when the (EF)Philistines seized him in Gath.
56 (EG)Be gracious to me, O God, for man (EH)tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
3 When I am afraid,
I (EI)put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; (EJ)I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they injure my cause;[o]
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They (EK)stir up strife, they (EL)lurk;
they (EM)watch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
7 For their crime will they escape?
(EN)In wrath (EO)cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You have kept count of my tossings;[p]
(EP)put my tears in your bottle.
(EQ)Are they not in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
(ER)in the day when I call.
This I know, that[q] (ES)God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; (ET)I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 I must perform my (EU)vows to you, O God;
I will (EV)render thank offerings to you.
13 (EW)For you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
(EX)that I may walk before God
(EY)in the light of life.
Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth
To the choirmaster: according to (EZ)Do Not Destroy. A (FA)Miktam[r] of David, when he fled from Saul, in (FB)the cave.
57 (FC)Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul (FD)takes refuge;
in (FE)the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
(FF)till the storms of destruction pass by.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
to God who (FG)fulfills his purpose for me.
3 (FH)He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame (FI)him who tramples on me. Selah
(FJ)God will send out (FK)his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
4 My soul is in the midst of (FL)lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose (FM)teeth are spears and arrows,
whose (FN)tongues are sharp swords.
5 (FO)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
6 They set (FP)a net for my steps;
my soul was (FQ)bowed down.
They (FR)dug a pit in my way,
but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
7 (FS)My heart is (FT)steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
8 (FU)Awake, (FV)my glory![s]
Awake, (FW)O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your (FX)steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
11 (FY)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
God Who Judges the Earth
To the choirmaster: according to (FZ)Do Not Destroy. A (GA)Miktam[t] of David.
58 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?[u]
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands (GB)deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked are (GC)estranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4 (GD)They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it (GE)does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, (GF)break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 Let them (GG)vanish like water that runs away;
when he (GH)aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8 Let them be like the snail (GI)that dissolves into slime,
like (GJ)the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of (GK)thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he (GL)sweep them away![v]
10 (GM)The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will (GN)bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is (GO)a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who (GP)judges on earth.”
Deliver Me from My Enemies
To the choirmaster: according to (GQ)Do Not Destroy. A (GR)Miktam[w] of David, (GS)when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.
59 (GT)Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
(GU)protect me from those who (GV)rise up against me;
2 deliver me from (GW)those who work evil,
and save me from (GX)bloodthirsty men.
3 For behold, they (GY)lie in wait for my life;
fierce men (GZ)stir up strife against me.
(HA)For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,
4 for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
(HB)Awake, come to meet me, and see!
5 You, (HC)Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah
6 Each evening they (HD)come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
7 There they are, (HE)bellowing with their mouths
with (HF)swords in their lips—
for (HG)“Who,” they think,[x] “will hear us?”
8 But you, O Lord, (HH)laugh at them;
you hold all the nations in derision.
9 O my Strength, I will watch for you,
for you, O God, are (HI)my fortress.
10 (HJ)My God in his steadfast love[y] (HK)will meet me;
God will let me (HL)look in triumph on my enemies.
11 Kill them not, lest my people forget;
make them totter[z] by your power and (HM)bring them down,
O Lord, our (HN)shield!
12 For (HO)the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
13 (HP)consume them in wrath;
consume them till they are no more,
that they may (HQ)know that God rules over Jacob
to (HR)the ends of the earth. Selah
14 (HS)Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
15 They (HT)wander about for food
and growl if they do not get their fill.
16 But I will sing of your strength;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me (HU)a fortress
and (HV)a refuge in (HW)the day of my distress.
17 O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, O God, (HX)are my fortress,
(HY)the God who shows me steadfast love.
He Will Tread Down Our Foes
To the choirmaster: according to (HZ)Shushan Eduth. A (IA)Miktam[aa] of David; (IB)for instruction; when he (IC)strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
60 O God, (ID)you have rejected us, (IE)broken our defenses;
you have been angry; (IF)oh, restore us.
2 You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;
(IG)repair its breaches, for it totters.
3 (IH)You have made your people see hard things;
(II)you have given us (IJ)wine to drink that made us stagger.
4 You have set up (IK)a banner for those who fear you,
that they may flee to it (IL)from the bow.[ab] Selah
5 (IM)That your (IN)beloved ones may be delivered,
give salvation by your right hand and answer us!
6 God has spoken (IO)in his holiness:[ac]
“With exultation (IP)I will divide up (IQ)Shechem
and portion out the Vale of (IR)Succoth.
7 (IS)Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
(IT)Ephraim is (IU)my helmet;
Judah is my (IV)scepter.
8 (IW)Moab is my washbasin;
upon Edom I (IX)cast my shoe;
over (IY)Philistia I shout in triumph.”[ad]
9 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
(IZ)Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Have you not (JA)rejected us, O God?
You (JB)do not go forth, O God, with our armies.
11 Oh, grant us help against the foe,
for (JC)vain is the salvation of man!
12 With God we shall (JD)do valiantly;
it is he who will (JE)tread down our foes.
Lead Me to the Rock
To the choirmaster: with (JF)stringed instruments. Of David.
61 Hear my cry, O God,
(JG)listen to my prayer;
2 from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is (JH)faint.
Lead me to (JI)the rock
that is higher than I,
3 for you have been (JJ)my refuge,
a strong (JK)tower against the enemy.
4 Let me (JL)dwell in your tent forever!
Let me take refuge under (JM)the shelter of your wings! Selah
5 For you, O God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 (JN)Prolong (JO)the life of the king;
may his years endure to all generations!
7 May he be enthroned forever before God;
appoint (JP)steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
8 So will I ever sing praises to your name,
as I (JQ)perform my vows day after day.
Footnotes
- Psalm 50:3 Or May our God come, and not keep silence
- Psalm 50:14 Or Make thanksgiving your sacrifice to God
- Psalm 50:21 Or that the I am
- Psalm 51:1 Or Be gracious to me
- Psalm 51:10 Or steadfast
- Psalm 52:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
- Psalm 52:7 Or in his work of destruction
- Psalm 53:1 Probably musical or liturgical terms
- Psalm 53:2 Or who act wisely
- Psalm 54:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
- Psalm 54:3 Some Hebrew manuscripts and Targum insolent men (compare Psalm 86:14)
- Psalm 55:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
- Psalm 55:20 Hebrew He
- Psalm 56:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
- Psalm 56:5 Or they twist my words
- Psalm 56:8 Or wanderings
- Psalm 56:9 Or because
- Psalm 57:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
- Psalm 57:8 Or my whole being
- Psalm 58:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
- Psalm 58:1 Or you mighty lords (by revocalization; Hebrew in silence)
- Psalm 58:9 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain
- Psalm 59:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
- Psalm 59:7 Hebrew lacks they think
- Psalm 59:10 Or The God who shows me steadfast love
- Psalm 59:11 Or wander
- Psalm 60:1 Probably musical or liturgical terms
- Psalm 60:4 Or that it may be displayed because of truth
- Psalm 60:6 Or sanctuary
- Psalm 60:8 Revocalization (compare Psalm 108:10); Masoretic Text over me, O Philistia, shout in triumph
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Bible Gateway Recommends
