Psalm 101-105

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

I will walk with integrity of heart
    within my house;^(B)
3 I will not set before my eyes
    anything that is base.

I hate the work of those who fall away;
    it shall not cling to me.^(C)
4 Perverseness of heart shall be far from me;
    I will know nothing of evil.^(D)

⁵ One who secretly slanders a neighbor
    I will destroy.
A haughty look and an arrogant heart
    I will not tolerate.^(E)

⁶ I will look with favor on the faithful in the land,
    so that they may live with me;
whoever walks in the way that is blameless
    shall minister to me.^(F)

⁷ No one who practices deceit
    shall remain in my house;
no one who utters lies
    shall continue in my presence.

⁸ Morning by morning I will destroy
    all the wicked in the land,
cutting off all evildoers
    from the city of the Lord.^(G)

³ For my days pass away like smoke,
    and my bones burn like a furnace.^(J)
4 My heart is stricken and withered like grass;
    I am too wasted to eat my bread.^(K)
5 Because of my loud groaning,
    my bones cling to my skin.^(L)
6 I am like a desert owl^[a] of the wilderness,
    like a little owl of the waste places.^(M)
7 I lie awake;
    I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.^(N)
8 All day long my enemies taunt me;
    those who deride me use my name for a curse.^(O)
9 Indeed, I eat ashes like bread
    and mingle tears with my drink,^(P)
10 because of your indignation and anger,
    for you have lifted me up and thrown me aside.
¹¹ My days are like a lengthening shadow;
    I wither away like grass.^(Q)

¹² But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever;
    your name endures to all generations.^(R)
13 You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,
    for it is time to favor it;
    the appointed time has come.^(S)
14 For your servants hold its stones dear
    and have pity on its dust.
¹⁵ The nations will fear the name of the Lord
    and all the kings of the earth your glory.^(T)
16 For the Lord will build up Zion;
    he will appear in his glory.^(U)
17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute
    and will not despise their prayer.^(V)

¹⁸ Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
    so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:^(W)
19 that he looked down from his holy height,
    from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,^(X)
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners,
    to set free those who were doomed to die,^(Y)
21 so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion
    and his praise in Jerusalem,^(Z)
22 when peoples gather together,
    and kingdoms, to serve the Lord.^(AA)

²³ He has broken my strength in midcourse;
    he has shortened my days.^(AB)
24 “O my God,” I say, “do not take me away
    at the midpoint of my life,
you whose years endure
    throughout all generations.”^(AC)

²⁵ Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.^(AD)
26 They will perish, but you endure;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
You change them like clothing, and they pass away,^(AE)
27     but you are the same, and your years have no end.^(AF)
28 The children of your servants shall live secure;
    their offspring shall be established in your presence.^(AG)

⁶ The Lord works vindication
    and justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
    his acts to the people of Israel.
⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.^(AK)
9 He will not always accuse,
    nor will he keep his anger forever.^(AL)
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins
    nor repay us according to our iniquities.^(AM)
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;^(AN)
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far he removes our transgressions from us.^(AO)
13 As a father has compassion for his children,
    so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.^(AP)
14 For he knows how we were made;
    he remembers that we are dust.^(AQ)

¹⁵ As for mortals, their days are like grass;
    they flourish like a flower of the field;^(AR)
16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
    and its place knows it no more.
¹⁷ But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
    on those who fear him,
    and his righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸ to those who keep his covenant
    and remember to do his commandments.^(AS)

¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,
    and his kingdom rules over all.^(AT)
20 Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his bidding,
    obedient to his spoken word.^(AU)
21 Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
    his ministers who do his will.^(AV)
22 Bless the Lord, all his works,
    in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.

⁵ You set the earth on its foundations,
    so that it shall never be shaken.^(BA)
6 You cover it with the deep as with a garment;
    the waters stood above the mountains.^(BB)
7 At your rebuke they flee;
    at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
⁸ They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys,
    to the place that you appointed for them.^(BC)
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass,
    so that they might not again cover the earth.^(BD)

¹⁰ You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
    they flow between the hills,^(BE)
11 giving drink to every wild animal;
    the wild asses quench their thirst.^(BF)
12 By the streams^[g] the birds of the air have their habitation;
    they sing among the branches.^(BG)
13 From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
    the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.^(BH)

¹⁴ You cause the grass to grow for the cattle
    and plants for people to cultivate,
to bring forth food from the earth^(BI)
15     and wine to gladden the human heart,
oil to make the face shine
    and bread to strengthen the human heart.^(BJ)
16 The trees of the field^[h] are watered abundantly,
    the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
¹⁷ In them the birds build their nests;
    the stork has its home in the fir trees.
¹⁸ The high mountains are for the wild goats;
    the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.^(BK)
19 You have made the moon to mark the seasons;
    the sun knows its time for setting.^(BL)
20 You make darkness, and it is night,
    when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.^(BM)
21 The young lions roar for their prey,
    seeking their food from God.^(BN)
22 When the sun rises, they withdraw
    and lie down in their dens.
²³ People go out to their work
    and to their labor until the evening.^(BO)

²⁴ O Lord, how manifold are your works!
    In wisdom you have made them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.^(BP)
25 There is the sea, great and wide;
    creeping things innumerable are there,
    living things both small and great.
²⁶ There go the ships
    and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.^(BQ)

²⁷ These all look to you
    to give them their food in due season;^(BR)
28 when you give to them, they gather it up;
    when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
²⁹ When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
    when you take away their breath, they die
    and return to their dust.^(BS)
30 When you send forth your spirit,^[i] they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.^(BT)

³¹ May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works—^(BU)
32 who looks on the earth and it trembles,
    who touches the mountains and they smoke.^(BV)
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praise to my God while I have being.^(BW)
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    for I rejoice in the Lord.
³⁵ Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
    and let the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord!^(BX)

⁷ He is the Lord our God;
    his judgments are in all the earth.^(CD)
8 He is mindful of his covenant forever,
    of the word that he commanded for a thousand generations,
⁹ the covenant that he made with Abraham,
    his sworn promise to Isaac,^(CE)
10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
    to Israel as an everlasting covenant,^(CF)
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
    as your portion for an inheritance.”^(CG)

¹² When they were few in number,
    of little account and strangers in it,^(CH)
13 wandering from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another people,
¹⁴ he allowed no one to oppress them;
    he rebuked kings on their account,^(CI)
15 saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones;
    do my prophets no harm.”

¹⁶ When he summoned famine against the land
    and cut off every supply of bread,^[k](CJ)
17 he had sent a man ahead of them,
    Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.^(CK)
18 His feet were hurt with fetters;
    his neck was put in a collar of iron;^(CL)
19 until what he had said came to pass,
    the word of the Lord kept testing him.^(CM)
20 The king sent and released him;
    the ruler of the peoples set him free.^(CN)
21 He made him lord of his house
    and ruler of all his possessions,^(CO)
22 to instruct^[l] his officials at his pleasure
    and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³ Then Israel came to Egypt;
    Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.^(CP)
24 And the Lord made his people very fruitful
    and made them stronger than their foes,^(CQ)
25 whose hearts he then turned to hate his people,
    to deal craftily with his servants.^(CR)

²⁶ He sent his servant Moses
    and Aaron, whom he had chosen.^(CS)
27 They performed his signs among them
    and miracles in the land of Ham.^(CT)
28 He sent darkness and made the land dark;
    they rebelled^[m] against his words.^(CU)
29 He turned their waters into blood
    and caused their fish to die.^(CV)
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
    even in the chambers of their kings.^(CW)
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies
    and gnats throughout their country.^(CX)
32 He gave them hail for rain
    and lightning that flashed through their land.^(CY)
33 He struck their vines and fig trees
    and shattered the trees of their country.
³⁴ He spoke, and the locusts came,
    and young locusts without number;^(CZ)
35 they devoured all the vegetation in their land
    and ate up the fruit of their ground.
³⁶ He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
    the first issue of all their strength.^(DA)

³⁷ Then he brought Israel^[n] out with silver and gold,
    and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.^(DB)
38 Egypt was glad when they departed,
    for dread of them had fallen upon it.^(DC)
39 He spread a cloud for a covering
    and fire to give light by night.^(DD)
40 They asked, and he brought quails
    and gave them food from heaven in abundance.^(DE)
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
    it flowed through the desert like a river.^(DF)
42 For he remembered his holy promise
    and Abraham, his servant.^(DG)

⁴³ So he brought his people out with joy,
    his chosen ones with singing.
⁴⁴ He gave them the lands of the nations,
    and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,^(DH)
45 that they might keep his statutes
    and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord!^(DI)