Psalm 90
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Fourth Book—Psalms 90–106
Psalm 90[a]
God’s Eternity and Human Frailty
1 A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
I
Lord, you have been our refuge
through all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born,
the earth and the world brought forth,
from eternity to eternity you are God.(A)
3 You turn humanity back into dust,[b]
saying, “Return, you children of Adam!”(B)
4 A thousand years in your eyes
are merely a day gone by,(C)
Before a watch passes in the night,
5 [c]you wash them away;(D)
They sleep,
and in the morning they sprout again like an herb.
6 In the morning it blooms only to pass away;
in the evening it is wilted and withered.[d](E)
II
7 Truly we are consumed by your anger,
filled with terror by your wrath.
8 You have kept our faults before you,
our hidden sins in the light of your face.(F)
9 Our life ebbs away under your wrath;(G)
our years end like a sigh.
10 Seventy is the sum of our years,
or eighty, if we are strong;
Most of them are toil and sorrow;
they pass quickly, and we are gone.
11 Who comprehends the strength of your anger?
Your wrath matches the fear it inspires.
12 Teach us to count our days aright,
that we may gain wisdom of heart.
III
13 Relent, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
14 Fill us at daybreak with your mercy,(H)
that all our days we may sing for joy.
15 Make us glad as many days as you humbled us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.(I)
16 Show your deeds to your servants,
your glory to their children.
17 May the favor of the Lord our God be ours.(J)
Prosper the work of our hands!
Prosper the work of our hands!
Footnotes
- Psalm 90 A communal lament that describes only in general terms the cause of the community’s distress. After confidently invoking God (Ps 90:1), the Psalm turns to a complaint contrasting God’s eternity with the brevity of human life (Ps 90:2–6) and sees in human suffering the punishment for sin (Ps 90:7–12). The Psalm concludes with a plea for God’s intervention (Ps 90:13–17).
- 90:3 Dust: one word of God is enough to return mortals to the dust from which they were created. Human beings were created from earth in Gn 2:7; 3:19.
- 90:5 You wash them away: the Hebrew of Ps 90:4–5 is unclear.
- 90:6 It is wilted and withered: the transitory nature of the grass under the scorching sun was proverbial, cf. Ps 129:6; Is 40:6–8.
Psalm 90
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
BOOK IV
(Psalms 90–106)
Psalm 90
God’s Eternity and Human Frailty
A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.
1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place[a]
in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn us[b] back to dust,
and say, “Turn back, you mortals.”
4 For a thousand years in your sight
are like yesterday when it is past,
or like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep them away; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning;
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
7 For we are consumed by your anger;
by your wrath we are overwhelmed.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your countenance.
9 For all our days pass away under your wrath;
our years come to an end[c] like a sigh.
10 The days of our life are seventy years,
or perhaps eighty, if we are strong;
even then their span[d] is only toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of your anger?
Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.
12 So teach us to count our days
that we may gain a wise heart.
13 Turn, O Lord! How long?
Have compassion on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad as many days as you have afflicted us,
and as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let your work be manifest to your servants,
and your glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and prosper for us the work of our hands—
O prosper the work of our hands!
Footnotes
- Psalm 90:1 Another reading is our refuge
- Psalm 90:3 Heb humankind
- Psalm 90:9 Syr: Heb we bring our years to an end
- Psalm 90:10 Cn Compare Gk Syr Jerome Tg: Heb pride
Psalm 90
Good News Translation
BOOK FOUR(A)
Of God and Human Beings[a]
90 O Lord, you have always been our home.
2 Before you created the hills
or brought the world into being,
you were eternally God,
and will be God forever.
3 You tell us to return to what we were;
you change us back to dust.
4 (B)A thousand years to you are like one day;
they are like yesterday, already gone,
like a short hour in the night.
5 You carry us away like a flood;
we last no longer than a dream.
We are like weeds that sprout in the morning,
6 that grow and burst into bloom,
then dry up and die in the evening.
7 We are destroyed by your anger;
we are terrified by your fury.
8 You place our sins before you,
our secret sins where you can see them.
9 Our life is cut short by your anger;
it fades away like a whisper.
10 (C)Seventy years is all we have—
eighty years, if we are strong;
yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow;
life is soon over, and we are gone.
11 Who has felt the full power of your anger?
Who knows what fear your fury can bring?
12 Teach us how short our life is,
so that we may become wise.
13 How much longer will your anger last?
Have pity, O Lord, on your servants!
14 Fill us each morning with your constant love,
so that we may sing and be glad all our life.
15 Give us now as much happiness as the sadness you gave us
during all our years of misery.
16 Let us, your servants, see your mighty deeds;
let our descendants see your glorious might.
17 Lord our God, may your blessings be with us.
Give us success in all we do!
Footnotes
- Psalm 90:1 HEBREW TITLE: A prayer by Moses, the man of God.
Psalm 90
New American Standard Bible
BOOK 4
God’s Eternity and the Brevity of Human Life.
A Prayer of [a]Moses, the man of God.
90 Lord, You have been our [b](A)dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before (B)the mountains were born
[c]Or You (C)gave birth to the earth and the world,
Even (D)from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
3 You (E)turn mortals back into dust
And say, “Return, you sons of mankind.”
4 For (F)a thousand years in Your sight
Are like (G)yesterday when it passes by,
[d]Or like a (H)watch in the night.
5 You (I)have [e]swept them away like a flood, they [f](J)fall asleep;
In the morning they are like (K)grass that [g]sprouts anew.
6 In the morning it (L)flourishes and [h]sprouts anew;
Toward evening it (M)wilts and (N)withers away.
7 For we have been (O)consumed by Your anger,
And we have been terrified by Your wrath.
8 You have (P)placed our guilty deeds before You,
Our (Q)hidden sins in the light of Your presence.
9 For (R)all our days have dwindled away in Your fury;
We have finished our years like a [i]sigh.
10 As for the days of our [j]life, [k]they contain seventy years,
Or if due to strength, (S)eighty years,
Yet their pride is only (T)trouble and tragedy;
For it quickly passes, and we (U)disappear.
11 Who [l]understands the (V)power of Your anger
And Your fury, according to the (W)fear [m]that is due You?
12 So (X)teach us to number our days,
That we may [n](Y)present to You a heart of wisdom.
13 Do (Z)return, Lord; (AA)how long will it be?
And [o]be (AB)sorry for Your servants.
14 (AC)Satisfy us in the morning with Your graciousness,
That we may (AD)sing for joy and rejoice all our days.
15 (AE)Make us glad [p]according to the days You have afflicted us,
And the (AF)years we have seen [q]evil.
16 Let Your (AG)work appear to Your servants
And Your (AH)majesty [r]to their children.
17 May the (AI)kindness of the Lord our God be upon us;
And [s](AJ)confirm for us the work of our hands;
Yes, [t]confirm the work of our hands.
Footnotes
- Psalm 90 Title Deut 33:1
- Psalm 90:1 Or hiding place; some ancient mss place of refuge
- Psalm 90:2 Or And
- Psalm 90:4 Or And
- Psalm 90:5 Or flooded
- Psalm 90:5 Lit become asleep
- Psalm 90:5 Or passes away
- Psalm 90:6 Or passes away
- Psalm 90:9 Or whisper
- Psalm 90:10 Lit years
- Psalm 90:10 Lit in them are
- Psalm 90:11 Or knows
- Psalm 90:11 Lit of You
- Psalm 90:12 Lit bring in
- Psalm 90:13 Or repent in regard to
- Psalm 90:15 Or as many days as
- Psalm 90:15 Or trouble
- Psalm 90:16 Or upon
- Psalm 90:17 Or give permanence to
- Psalm 90:17 Or give permanence to
Psalm 90
King James Version
90 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
3 Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
6 In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
7 For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.
8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.
10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
14 O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.
17 And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
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