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God's Glory and Human Dignity[a]

O Lord, our Lord,
    your greatness is seen in all the world!
Your praise reaches up to the heavens;
(A)it is sung by children and babies.
You are safe and secure from all your enemies;
    you stop anyone who opposes you.

When I look at the sky, which you have made,
    at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places—
(B)what are human beings, that you think of them;
    mere mortals, that you care for them?

(C)Yet you made them inferior only to yourself;[b]
    you crowned them with glory and honor.
(D)You appointed them rulers over everything you made;
    you placed them over all creation:
    sheep and cattle, and the wild animals too;
    the birds and the fish
    and the creatures in the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,
    your greatness is seen in all the world!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 8:1 HEBREW TITLE: A psalm by David.
  2. Psalm 8:5 yourself; or the gods, or the angels.

Psalm 8[a]

For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] A psalm of David.

Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name(A) in all the earth!

You have set your glory(B)
    in the heavens.(C)
Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold(D) against your enemies,
    to silence the foe(E) and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,(F)
    the work of your fingers,(G)
the moon and the stars,(H)
    which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?[c](I)

You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e](J)
    and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.(K)
You made them rulers(L) over the works of your hands;(M)
    you put everything under their[g] feet:(N)
all flocks and herds,(O)
    and the animals of the wild,(P)
the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,(Q)
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!(R)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 8:1 In Hebrew texts 8:1-9 is numbered 8:2-10.
  2. Psalm 8:1 Title: Probably a musical term
  3. Psalm 8:4 Or what is a human being that you are mindful of him, / a son of man that you care for him?
  4. Psalm 8:5 Or him
  5. Psalm 8:5 Or than God
  6. Psalm 8:5 Or him
  7. Psalm 8:6 Or made him ruler . . . ; / . . . his