Psalm 51-57

Revised Standard Version

³ For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is ever before me.
⁴ Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,
    and done that which is evil in thy sight,
so that thou art justified in thy sentence
    and blameless in thy judgment.
⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
    and in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁶ Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being;
    therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸ Fill^[a] me with joy and gladness;
    let the bones which thou hast broken rejoice.
⁹ Hide thy face from my sins,
    and blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God,
    and put a new and right^[b] spirit within me.
¹¹ Cast me not away from thy presence,
    and take not thy holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of thy salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

¹³ Then I will teach transgressors thy ways,
    and sinners will return to thee.
¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodguiltiness,^[c] O God,
    thou God of my salvation,
    and my tongue will sing aloud of thy deliverance.

¹⁵ O Lord, open thou my lips,
    and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
¹⁶ For thou hast no delight in sacrifice;
    were I to give a burnt offering, thou wouldst not be pleased.
¹⁷ The sacrifice acceptable to God^[d] is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

¹⁸ Do good to Zion in thy good pleasure;
    rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,
¹⁹ then wilt thou delight in right sacrifices,
    in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
    then bulls will be offered on thy altar.

⁵ But God will break you down for ever;
    he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from the land of the living.Selah
⁶ The righteous shall see, and fear,
    and shall laugh at him, saying,
⁷ “See the man who would not make
    God his refuge,
but trusted in the abundance of his riches,
    and sought refuge in his wealth!”^[f]

⁸ But I am like a green olive tree
    in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
    for ever and ever.
⁹ I will thank thee for ever,
    because thou hast done it.
I will proclaim^[g] thy name, for it is good,
    in the presence of the godly.

² God looks down from heaven
    upon the sons of men
to see if there are any that are wise,
    that seek after God.

³ They have all fallen away;
    they are all alike depraved;
there is none that does good,
    no, not one.

⁴ Have those who work evil no understanding,
    who eat up my people as they eat bread,
    and do not call upon God?

⁵ There they are, in great terror,
    in terror such as has not been!
For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly;^[h]
    they will be put to shame,^[i] for God has rejected them.

⁶ O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!
    When God restores the fortunes of his people,
    Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.

³ For insolent men^[j] have risen against me,
    ruthless men seek my life;
    they do not set God before them.Selah

⁴ Behold, God is my helper;
    the Lord is the upholder^[k] of my life.
⁵ He will requite my enemies with evil;
    in thy faithfulness put an end to them.

⁶ With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to thee;
    I will give thanks to thy name, O Lord, for it is good.
⁷ For thou hast delivered me from every trouble,
    and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

⁴ My heart is in anguish within me,
    the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
⁵ Fear and trembling come upon me,
    and horror overwhelms me.
⁶ And I say, “O that I had wings like a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest;
⁷ yea, I would wander afar,
    I would lodge in the wilderness,Selah
⁸ I would haste to find me a shelter
    from the raging wind and tempest.”

⁹ Destroy their plans,^[m] O Lord, confuse their tongues;
    for I see violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰ Day and night they go around it
    on its walls;
and mischief and trouble are within it,
¹¹     ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
    do not depart from its market place.

¹² It is not an enemy who taunts me—
    then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
    then I could hide from him.
¹³ But it is you, my equal,
    my companion, my familiar friend.
¹⁴ We used to hold sweet converse together;
    within God’s house we walked in fellowship.
¹⁵ Let death^[n] come upon them;
    let them go down to Sheol alive;
    let them go away in terror into their graves.^[o]

¹⁶ But I call upon God;
    and the Lord will save me.
¹⁷ Evening and morning and at noon
    I utter my complaint and moan,
    and he will hear my voice.
¹⁸ He will deliver my soul in safety
    from the battle that I wage,
    for many are arrayed against me.
¹⁹ God will give ear, and humble them,
    he who is enthroned from of old;
because they keep no law,^[p]
    and do not fear God.Selah

²⁰ My companion stretched out his hand against his friends,
    he violated his covenant.
²¹ His speech was smoother than butter,
    yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
    yet they were drawn swords.

²² Cast your burden^[q] on the Lord,
    and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved.

²³ But thou, O God, wilt cast them down
    into the lowest pit;
men of blood and treachery
    shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in thee.

⁵ All day long they seek to injure my cause;
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.
⁶ They band themselves together, they lurk,
    they watch my steps.
As they have waited for my life,
⁷     so recompense^[r] them for their crime;
    in wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

⁸ Thou hast kept count of my tossings;
    put thou my tears in thy bottle!
    Are they not in thy book?
⁹ Then my enemies will be turned back
    in the day when I call.
    This I know, that^[s] God is for me.
¹⁰ In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise,
¹¹ in God I trust without a fear.
    What can man do to me?

¹² My vows to thee I must perform, O God;
    I will render thank offerings to thee.
¹³ For thou hast delivered my soul from death,
    yea, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before God
    in the light of life.

⁴ I lie in the midst of lions
    that greedily devour^[t] the sons of men;
their teeth are spears and arrows,
    their tongues sharp swords.

⁵ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let thy glory be over all the earth!

⁶ They set a net for my steps;
    my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
    but they have fallen into it themselves.Selah

⁷ My heart is steadfast, O God,
    my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
⁸     Awake, my soul!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
⁹ I will give thanks to thee, O Lord, among the peoples;
    I will sing praises to thee among the nations.
¹⁰ For thy steadfast love is great to the heavens,
    thy faithfulness to the clouds.

¹¹ Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let thy glory be over all the earth!