Psalm 9
Common English Bible
Psalm 9[a]
For the music leader. According to Muth-labben.[b] A psalm of David.
9 I will thank you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will talk about all your wonderful acts.
2 I will celebrate and rejoice in you;
I will sing praises to your name, Most High.
3 When my enemies turn and retreat,
they fall down and die right in front of you
4 because you have established justice
for me and my claim,
because you rule from the throne,
establishing justice rightly.
5 You’ve denounced the nations,
destroyed the wicked.
You’ve erased their names for all time.
6 Every enemy is wiped out,
like something ruined forever.
You’ve torn down their cities—
even the memory of them is dead.
7 But the Lord rules forever!
He assumes his throne
for the sake of justice.
8 He will establish justice in the world rightly;
he will judge all people fairly.
9 The Lord is a safe place for the oppressed—
a safe place in difficult times.
10 Those who know your name trust you
because you have not abandoned
any who seek you, Lord.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who lives in Zion!
Proclaim his mighty acts among all people!
12 Because the one who avenges bloodshed
remembers those who suffer;
the Lord hasn’t forgotten their cries for help.
13 Have mercy on me, Lord!
Just look how I suffer
because of those who hate me.
But you are the one who brings me back
from the very gates of death
14 so I can declare all your praises,
so I can rejoice in your salvation
in the gates of Daughter Zion.
15 The nations have fallen
into the hole they themselves made!
Their feet are caught
in the very net they themselves hid!
16 The Lord is famous for the justice he has done;
it’s his own doing that the wicked are trapped. Higgayon.[c] Selah
17 Let the wicked go straight to the grave,[d]
the same for every nation that forgets God.
18 Because the poor won’t be forgotten forever,
the hope of those who suffer won’t be lost for all time.
19 Get up, Lord! Don’t let people prevail!
Let the nations be judged before you.
20 Strike them with fear, Lord.
Let the nations know they are only human. Selah
Footnotes
- Psalm 9:1 Ps 9 is an alphabetic acrostic poem (cf Ps 119) in Heb, with successive letters of the alphabet beginning every few lines, with only a few exceptions. Only ten letters are found in Ps 9; the sequence may be continued in Ps 10, suggesting that Pss 9–10 are a single poem.
- Psalm 9:1 Or Almuth labben; Heb uncertain, perhaps a reference to the melody; cf Pss 46:1; 48:14
- Psalm 9:16 Heb uncertain; or recitation (see Pss 1:2; 19:14) or melody (see Ps 92:3).
- Psalm 9:17 Heb Sheol
Psalm 9
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
9 Unto the end, for the hidden things of the Son. A psalm for David.
2 I will give praise to thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: I will relate all thy wonders.
3 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing to thy name, O thou most high.
4 When my enemy shall be turned back: they shall be weakened and perish before thy face.
5 For thou hast maintained my judgment and my cause: thou hast sat on the throne, who judgest justice.
6 Thou hast rebuked the Gentiles, and the wicked one hath perished: thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever.
7 The swords of the enemy have failed unto the end: and their cities thou hast destroyed. Their memory hath perished with a noise.
8 But the Lord remaineth for ever. He hath prepared his throne in judgment:
9 And he shall judge the world in equity, he shall judge the people in justice.
10 And the Lord is become a refuge for the poor: a helper in due time in tribulation.
11 And let them trust in thee who know thy name: for thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee, O Lord.
12 Sing ye to the Lord, who dwelleth in Sion: declare his ways among the Gentiles:
13 For requiring their blood he hath remembered the: he hath not forgotten the cry of the poor.
14 Have mercy on me, O Lord: see my humiliation which I suffer from my enemies.
15 Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death, that I may declare all thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion.
16 I will rejoice in thy salvation: the Gentiles have stuck fast in the destruction which they have prepared. Their foot hath been taken in the very snare which they hid.
17 The Lord shall be known when he executeth judgments: the sinner hath been caught in the works of his own hands.
18 The wicked shall be turned into hell, all the nations that forget God.
19 For the poor man shall not be forgotten to the end: the patience of the poor shall not perish for ever.
20 Arise, O Lord, let not man be strengthened: let the Gentiles be judged in thy sight.
21 Appoint, O Lord, a lawgiver over them: that the Gentiles may know themselves to be but men.
22 Why, O Lord, hast thou retired afar off? why dost thou slight us in our wants, in the time of trouble?
23 Whilst the wicked man is proud, the poor is set on fire: they are caught in the counsels which they devise.
24 For the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul: and the unjust man is blessed.
25 The sinner hath provoked the Lord according to the multitude of his wrath he will not seek him:
26 God is not before his eyes: his ways are filthy at all times. Thy judgments are removed from his sight: he shall rule over all his enemies.
27 For he hath said in his heart: I shall not be moved from generation to generation, and shall be without evil.
28 His mouth is full of cursing, and of bitterness, and of deceit: under his tongue are labour and sorrow.
29 He sitteth in ambush with the rich in private places, that he may kill the innocent.
30 His eyes are upon the poor man: He lieth in wait in secret like a lion in his den. He lieth in ambush that he may catch the poor man: to catch the poor, whilst he draweth him to him.
31 In his net he will bring him down, he will crouch and fall, when he shall have power over the poor.
32 For he hath said in his heart: God hath forgotten, he hath turned away his face not to see to the end.
33 Arise, O Lord God, let thy hand be exalted: forget not the poor.
34 Wherefore hath the wicked provoked God? for he hath said in his heart: He will not require it.
35 Thou seest it, for thou considerest labour and sorrow: that thou mayst deliver them into thy hands. To thee is the poor man left: thou wilt be a helper to the orphan.
36 Break thou the arm of the sinner and of the malignant: his sin shall be sought, and shall not be found.
37 The Lord shall reign to eternity, yea, for ever and ever: ye Gentiles shall perish from his land.
38 The Lord hath heard the desire of the poor: thy ear hath heard the preparation of their heart.
39 To judge for the fatherless and for the humble, that man may no more presume to magnify himself upon earth.
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