Psalm 66:18-68:25

English Standard Version

¹⁸If I had ^(A)cherished iniquity in my heart,
^(B)the Lord would not have listened.
¹⁹But truly ^(C)God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

²⁰Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!

Make Your Face Shine upon Us

To the choirmaster: with ^(D)stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

67 May God ^(E)be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face to ^(F)shine upon us, Selah
²that ^(G)your way may be known on earth,
    your ^(H)saving power among all nations.
³^(I)Let the peoples praise you, O God;
    let all the peoples praise you!

⁴Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    for you ^(J)judge the peoples with equity
    and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
⁵^(K)Let the peoples praise you, O God;
    let all the peoples praise you!

⁶The earth has ^(L)yielded its increase;
God, our God, shall bless us.
⁷God shall bless us;
let ^(M)all the ends of the earth fear him!

God Shall Scatter His Enemies

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

68 ^(N)God shall arise, his enemies shall be ^(O)scattered;
    and those who hate him shall flee before him!
²As ^(P)smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
    ^(Q)as wax melts before fire,
    so the wicked shall perish before God!
³But ^(R)the righteous shall be glad;
    they shall exult before God;
    they shall be jubilant with joy!

⁴Sing to God, ^(S)sing praises to his name;
    ^(T)lift up a song to him who ^(U)rides through ^(V)the deserts;
his name is ^(W)the Lord;
    exult before him!
⁵^(X)Father of the fatherless and ^(Y)protector of widows
    is God in his holy habitation.
⁶God ^(Z)settles the solitary in a home;
    he ^(AA)leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
    but ^(AB)the rebellious dwell in ^(AC)a parched land.

⁷O God, when you ^(AD)went out before your people,
    ^(AE)when you marched through ^(AF)the wilderness, Selah
⁸^(AG)the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
    before God, the One of Sinai,
    before God,^[a] the God of Israel.
⁹^(AH)Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
    you restored your inheritance as it languished;
¹⁰your flock^[b] found a dwelling in it;
    in your goodness, O God, you ^(AI)provided for the needy.

¹¹The Lord gives ^(AJ)the word;
    ^(AK)the women who announce the news are a great host:
¹²    ^(AL)“The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”
The women at home ^(AM)divide the spoil—
¹³    though you men lie among ^(AN)the sheepfolds—
the wings of a dove covered with silver,
    its pinions with shimmering gold.
¹⁴When the Almighty scatters kings there,
    let snow fall on ^(AO)Zalmon.

¹⁵O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
    O many-peaked^[c] mountain, mountain of Bashan!
¹⁶Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
    at the mount that God ^(AP)desired for his abode,
    yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?
¹⁷^(AQ)The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
    thousands upon thousands;
    the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.
¹⁸^(AR)You ascended on high,
    ^(AS)leading a host of captives in your train
    and ^(AT)receiving gifts among men,
even among ^(AU)the rebellious, ^(AV)that the Lord God may dwell there.

¹⁹Blessed be the Lord,
    who daily ^(AW)bears us up;
    God is our salvation. Selah
²⁰Our God is a God of salvation,
    ^(AX)and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.
²¹^(AY)But God will strike the heads of his enemies,
    the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.
²²The Lord said,
    “I will bring them back ^(AZ)from Bashan,
^(BA)I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
²³that you may ^(BB)strike your feet in their blood,
    that ^(BC)the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”

²⁴Your procession is^[d] seen, O God,
the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—
²⁵^(BD)the singers in front, ^(BE)the musicians last,
between them ^(BF)virgins playing tambourines: