Psalm 69-89

Tree of Life Version

¹⁴ But as for me, my prayer to You, Adonai, is for a time of favor.
O God, in Your great love, answer me with the truth of Your salvation.
¹⁵ Deliver me from the mire—
    do not let me sink.
Deliver me from those who hate me,
    out of the deep waters.
¹⁶ Do not let floodwaters sweep over me,
nor the deep swallow me up,
nor the Pit shut its mouth over me.
¹⁷ Answer me, Adonai, for good is Your mercy.
With Your great compassion, turn to me.
¹⁸ Hide not Your face from Your servant.
For I am in distress—answer me quickly.
¹⁹ Draw near to my soul and redeem it.
Ransom me because of my foes.
²⁰ You know my reproach, my shame, my disgrace.
All my adversaries are before You.
²¹ Scorn has broken my heart, so I am sick.
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
for comforters, but found none.
²² They put gall in my food,
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.^[c]
23 Let their table before them be a snare,
and what should have been for their well-being,
let it be a trap.
²⁴ Let their eyes be darkened so they cannot see
and their backs be bent forever.^[d]
25 Pour out Your indignation on them.
Let Your fierce anger overtake them.
²⁶ Let their encampment be deserted.
Let none dwell in their tents.
²⁷ For they persecute the one You have smitten,
so they tell of the pain
of those You have wounded.
²⁸ Add guilt to their guilt—
may they not come into Your righteousness.
²⁹ May they be wiped out of the book of life
and not be recorded with the righteous.^[e]

³⁰ But I—I am afflicted and in pain.
Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
³¹ I will praise God’s Name with a song,
and magnify Him with praise.
³² It will please Adonai better than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
³³ The humble will see it and be glad.
You who seek God, let your hearts revive.
³⁴ For Adonai hears the needy
and does not despise His captive people.
³⁵ Let heaven and earth praise Him,
the seas and everything moving in them.
³⁶ For God will save Zion,
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then they will dwell there and possess it.
³⁷ The children of His servants will inherit it
and those who love His Name will dwell there.

⁹ Do not cast me away in the time of old age.
When my strength fails, do not forsake me.
¹⁰ For my enemies speak against me.
Those who watch for my soul conspire together,
¹¹ saying: “God has forsaken him—
Pursue and take him, for no one will deliver.”
¹² O God, be not far from me!
My God, come quickly to help me.
¹³ Let the accusers of my soul
    be disgraced and destroyed.
Let those who seek to harm me
    be covered with scorn and confusion.

¹⁴ But I—I will hope continually
and will praise You more and more.
¹⁵ My mouth will recount Your justice and Your salvation all day,
though I do not know the sum of them.
¹⁶ I come because of the mighty deeds of Adonai my Lord.
I will remember Your righteousness—Yours alone.
¹⁷ God, You taught me from my youth,
and I still keep declaring Your wonders.
¹⁸ So even until I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,
till I tell of Your strong arm to the next generation,
Your might to all who are to come.
¹⁹ For Your righteousness, O God,
    reaches to high heaven.
You have done great things—O God,
who is like You?
²⁰ You made me see many troubles and evils
    —You will revive me again—
from the depths of the earth
    You will bring me up again.
²¹ You will increase my greatness,
and comfort me once again.
²² So I will praise You with the harp for your truth, O my God.
I will sing praises to You with the lyre O Holy One of Israel.
²³ My lips will shout for joy
—when I sing praises to You—
and my soul, which You have redeemed.
²⁴ Also my tongue will tell of Your righteousness all day.
For those who seek my hurt have been put to shame and confusion.

¹² For he rescues the needy crying for help,
also the poor and the one with no helper.
¹³ He will take pity on the poor and needy,
and the souls of the needy he will save.
¹⁴ From oppression and violence he redeems their soul,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
¹⁵ Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given to him.
May he pray for him continually,
    and bless him all day.
¹⁶ Let there be abundance of grain in the land.
Let it sway on the top of the hills,
let its fruit be like Lebanon,
and let people of the city flourish like grass of the field.
¹⁷ May his name endure forever.
May his name increase before the sun,
and may all nations be blessed by him
and call him blessed.

¹⁸ Blessed be Adonai Elohim, God of Israel,
who alone does wonders.
¹⁹ Blessed be His glorious Name forever.
May all the earth be filled with His glory!
Amen and Amen!

¹⁵ If I had said: “I will speak thus,”
surely I would have betrayed a generation of Your children.
¹⁶ But when I tried to make sense of this,
it was troubling in my eyes—
¹⁷ until I entered the Sanctuary of God,
and perceived their end.
¹⁸ Surely You put them in slippery places.
You hurled them down to destruction.
¹⁹ How suddenly they became a ruin—
terminated, consumed by terrors.
²⁰ Like a dream when one awakes,
thus when You arise, my Lord,
    You will despise their form.
²¹ When my heart was embittered
and I was pierced in my heart,
²² I was brutish and ignorant.
I was like a beast before You.
²³ Yet I am continually with You.
You hold my right hand.
²⁴ You guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward You will take me into glory.

²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but You?
On earth there is none I desire besides You.
²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
²⁷ For behold, those far from You will perish.
You put an end to all who like a harlot are unfaithful to You.
²⁸ But for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made my Lord Adonai my refuge.
So I will tell of all Your works.

¹² Yet God is my King of old,
working salvation in the midst of the land.
¹³ You split the sea with Your power.
You smashed the monsters’ heads in the waters.
¹⁴ You crushed the heads of Leviathan,
giving him as food to the desert dwellers.
¹⁵ You opened up spring and brook.
You dried up ever-flowing rivers.
¹⁶ The day is Yours, the night also is Yours.
You provided moon and sun.
¹⁷ You set all the borders of earth.
You made summer and winter.

¹⁸ Remember how the enemy mocked, Adonai,
and how foolish people despised Your Name.
¹⁹ Do not deliver Your turtledove’s soul to the wild beast.
Do not forget the life of Your afflicted ones forever.
²⁰ Look upon the covenant—for haunts of violence
fill the dark places of earth.
²¹ Do not let the oppressed turn back in shame.
But let the poor and needy praise Your Name.
²² Rise up O God, and defend Your cause.
Remember how the fool mocks You all day.
²³ Do not forget the noise of Your foes,
the uproar of those rising up against You,
ascending continually.

³ “When I appoint a set time,
I Myself will judge uprightly.
⁴ When the earth wavers with living on it,
I Myself hold its pillars firm. Selah
⁵ I say to the arrogant, ‘No more boasting!’
And to the wicked,
‘Do not be lifting up your horn.’
⁶ Do not lift your horn up high.
Do not speak with outstretched neck.”

⁷ For exaltation comes
not from the east nor from the west,
nor even from the desert.
⁸ For God is the Judge:
He lowers one and lifts up another.
⁹ For in the hand of Adonai is a cup of foaming wine mixed with spices,
and He pours it out.
Surely all the wicked of the earth will drink,
draining it down to the dregs.^[f]
10 But I—I will declare it forever,
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
¹¹ I will cut off all the horns of the wicked,
but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.

¹¹ Then I said: “It wounds me—
that the right hand of Elyon has changed.”
¹² I will remember the deeds of Adonai.
Yes, I will muse about Your wonders of old.
¹³ I will meditate also on all Your work
and consider Your deeds.”
¹⁴ O God, Your way is holy.
What god is great like God?
¹⁵ You are the God who works wonders.
You have made Your power known among the peoples.
¹⁶ With your arm You redeemed Your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

¹⁷ The waters saw You, O God,
the waters saw You and writhed,
even the depths shook.
¹⁸ The clouds poured out water,
the skies resounded,
Your arrows flashed back and forth.
¹⁹ The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind.
Lightning lit up the world.
The earth trembled and shook.
²⁰ Your way was in the sea,
and Your path in the mighty waters,
but Your footprints were not seen.
²¹ You led Your people like a flock,
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

²¹ When Adonai heard, He was angry.
A fire was kindled against Jacob,
and fury also rose against Israel.
²² For they did not believe in God
or trust in His salvation.
²³ Yet He commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of heaven,
²⁴ and rained down manna upon them to eat,
and gave them grain of heaven.^[h]
25 Man did eat the bread of angels.
He sent them abundant provision.
²⁶ He loosed the east wind in the skies,
and by His power He drove the south wind.
²⁷ He rained meat upon them like dust,
and winged fowl like sand of the seas.
²⁸ And He let it fall amidst their camp,
all around their tents.
²⁹ So they ate and were very full—
for He gave them their desire.
³⁰ No longer a stranger from their desire,
while their food was still in their mouths,
³¹ the anger of God rose against them
    and slew the stoutest of them,
    and struck down young men of Israel.
³² Despite all this they sinned still more,
and did not trust in His wonders.
³³ So He ended their days in futility
and their years in terror.
³⁴ But when He slew them,
then they sought Him, and turned back,
and desired God eagerly.
³⁵ Then they remembered that God was their Rock
and El Elyon their Redeemer.
³⁶ But they flattered Him with their mouth
and kept lying to Him with their tongue.
³⁷ For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
nor were they faithful to His covenant.
³⁸ But He is compassionate,
    forgives iniquity and does not destroy.
Yes, many times He restrains His anger,
    and does not stir up all His wrath.
³⁹ For He remembered that they are but flesh,
a passing breath that never returns.

⁴⁰ How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness,
and grieved Him in the desert!
⁴¹ Again and again they tested God,
and pained the Holy One of Israel.
⁴² They did not remember His hand—
the day He redeemed them from the foe,
⁴³ when He displayed His signs in Egypt
and His wonders in the plain of Zoan.
⁴⁴ He turned their rivers into blood,
so they could not drink from their streams.
⁴⁵ He sent on them flies to devour them,
    and frogs to devastate them,
⁴⁶ and gave their crops to the grasshopper,
    and their labor to the locust.
⁴⁷ He destroyed their vines with hail,
    and their sycamore trees with frost,
⁴⁸ and gave over their cattle to the hail,
    and their flocks to fiery bolts.
⁴⁹ He sent on them the fury of His anger
—wrath and indignation and trouble—
a band of evil angels.
⁵⁰ He cleared a path for His anger.
He spared not their soul from death,
but gave their life over to the plague.
⁵¹ He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
⁵² But He brought His people out like sheep,
and led them in the wilderness like a flock.
⁵³ He led them to safety, so they did not fear,
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
⁵⁴ Then He brought them to His holy territory,
to the mountain His right hand had gotten.
⁵⁵ He drove out nations before them,
and allotted them an inheritance.
He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

⁵⁶ Yet they tested and rebelled against El Elyon,
and did not keep His decrees.
⁵⁷ Like their fathers they turned and were treacherous.
They turned aside like a faulty bow.
⁵⁸ For they provoked Him
    with their high places,
so they aroused His jealousy
    with their graven images.
⁵⁹ God heard and was furious,
and He greatly detested Israel.
⁶⁰ He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,
the tent He pitched among men.
⁶¹ He gave up His strength into captivity,
and His glory into the adversary’s hand.
⁶² He gave His people over to the sword,
when He was angry at His inheritance.
⁶³ Fire consumed their young men,
and their virgins had no wedding songs.
⁶⁴ Their priests fell by the sword,
and their widows could not weep.

⁶⁵ Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
as a warrior shaking off wine.
⁶⁶ He beat back His foes,
putting them to lasting scorn.
⁶⁷ Then He detested Joseph’s tent
and chose not the tribe of Ephraim.
⁶⁸ Instead He chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which He loved.
⁶⁹ He built His Sanctuary like the heights,
like the earth that He established forever.
⁷⁰ He also chose David His servant
and took him from the sheepfolds,
⁷¹ from following nursing ewes.
He brought him to shepherd Jacob His people,
and Israel His inheritance.
⁷² So He shepherded them with the integrity of His heart,
and led them with His skillful hands.

⁵ How long, Adonai, will You be angry?
Forever?
Will Your jealousy keep blazing like fire?
⁶ Pour out Your wrath
    on the nations that do not acknowledge You,
on the kingdoms that do not call on Your name.
⁷ For they have devoured Jacob
and laid waste his country.
⁸ Do not hold against us the sins of our fathers.
May Your mercies come quickly to meet us,
for we are brought very low.
⁹ Help us, God of our salvation—
    for the sake of the glory of Your Name.
Deliver us, and atone for our sins—
    for Your name’s sake.
¹⁰ Why should the nations say:
“Where is their God?”
Before our eyes, let it be known among the nations
that You avenge the shed blood of Your servants.
¹¹ Let the prisoner’s groan come to You.
By Your great arm preserve those who are doomed to die.
¹² Pay back into the midst of our neighbors sevenfold their reproach—
the reproach they hurled at You, my Lord.

¹³ So we, Your people, the flock of Your pasture,
    will praise You forever.
From generation to generation
    we will recount Your praise.

⁵ Adonai-Tzva’ot, how long will You be angry
with the prayer of Your people?
⁶ You have fed them the bread of tears
and made them drink a measure of tears.
⁷ You make us a contention to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock as they please.
⁸ Elohei-Tzva’ot, restore us, and make Your face shine,
and we will be saved.

⁹ You pulled out a vine from Egypt.
You drove out nations and planted it.
¹⁰ You cleared a place for it,
    and it took deep root and filled the land.
¹¹ The mountains were covered by its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
¹² It sent out its branches to the sea,
and its shoots to the river.
¹³ Why have You broken down its fences,
so all who pass by the way pick its fruit?
¹⁴ A boar from the forest ravages it,
whatever moves in the field feeds on it.
¹⁵ Elohei-Tzva’ot, please return!
Look down from heaven and see!
Now take care of this vine—
¹⁶ the shoot Your right hand planted—
the son You strengthened for Yourself.
¹⁷ It is burned with fire, it is cut down.
They perish from the rebuke of Your face.
¹⁸ Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand—
the son of man
    You made strong for Yourself.
¹⁹ Then we will not turn away from You.
Revive us, and we will call on Your Name.
²⁰ Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot, restore us.
Make Your face shine, and we will be saved.

⁷ “I relieved his shoulder of the burden,
his hands were set free from the basket.
⁸ You called out in trouble, and I rescued you.
I answered you from the hiding place of thunder.
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
⁹ Hear, My people, I will admonish you—
if you would listen to Me, O Israel!
¹⁰ Let there be no foreign god among you,
and you shall not worship any alien god.
¹¹ I am Adonai your God,
    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

¹² But My people did not listen to My voice.
Israel was not willing to be Mine.
¹³ So I gave them over
to the stubbornness of their heart,
to walk in their own counsels.
¹⁴ Oh that My people would listen to Me,
that Israel would walk in My ways!
¹⁵ I would soon subdue their enemies,
and turn My hand against their foes.
¹⁶ Those who hate Adonai would cringe before Him—
their time of doom would be forever.
¹⁷ But you would be fed with the finest wheat,
with honey out of a rock would I satisfy you.”

⁸ Arise, O God, judge the earth!
For You possess all the nations.

¹⁰ Do to them as You did to Midian,
to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River,
¹¹ who perished at En-dor—
they became as dung for the ground.
¹² Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb—
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
¹³ who said,
“Let us take possession of the pasturelands of God.”
¹⁴ My God, make them like tumbleweed,
like chaff before the wind.
¹⁵ As a fire burns a forest,
    and as a flame sets mountains ablaze,
¹⁶ so pursue them with Your tempest,
    and terrify them with Your storm.
¹⁷ Cover their faces with shame,
so they may seek Your Name—Adonai.
¹⁸ Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever.
Let them be humiliated and perish.
¹⁹ Let them know that You alone
—whose Name is Adonai—
are El Elyon over all the earth.

⁶ Blessed is one whose strength is in You,
in whose heart are the pilgrim roads.
⁷ Passing through the valley of Baca,
they make it a spring.
The early rain covers it with blessings.
⁸ They go from strength to strength—
every one of them appears before God in Zion.
⁹ Adonai-Tzva’ot, hear my prayer,
give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah

¹⁰ O God, look at our shield,
and look upon the face of Your anointed.
¹¹ For a day in Your courts is better
    than a thousand anywhere else.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the House of my God
    than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
¹² For Adonai Elohim is a sun^[k] and a shield.
Adonai gives grace and glory.
No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
¹³ Adonai-Tzva’ot,
blessed is the one
who trusts in You.

⁹ Let me hear what God Adonai will say.
For He will speak shalom to His people, and to His kedoshim—
but let them not turn back to folly.
¹⁰ Surely His salvation is near those who fear Him,
so that glory may dwell in our land.
¹¹ Lovingkindness and truth meet together.
Righteousness and shalom kiss each other.
¹² Truth will spring up from the earth,
and justice will look down from heaven.
¹³ Yes, Adonai will give what is good,
and our land will yield its produce.
¹⁴ Righteousness is going before Him
and prepares a way for His feet.

⁸ There is none like You among the gods,
my Lord, there are no deeds like Yours.
⁹ All nations You have made will come
and bow down before You, my Lord,
and they will glorify Your Name.
¹⁰ For You are great, and do wonders—
You alone are God.
¹¹ Teach me Your way, Adonai,
    that I may walk in Your truth.
Give me an undivided heart to fear Your Name.
¹² I praise You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and glorify Your Name forever.
¹³ For great is Your lovingkindness toward me.
You have delivered my soul from the lowest part of Sheol.

¹⁴ God, the proud have risen up against me
and a gang of ruthless people have sought my life,
and have not set You before them.
¹⁵ But You, my Lord,
are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, full of love and truth.
¹⁶ Turn to me and be gracious to me.
Give Your strength to Your servant,
and save the son of Your maidservant.
¹⁷ Make me a sign for good,
so that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed.
For You, Adonai, have helped me and comforted me.

¹⁴ But I—I cried out to You, Adonai,
and in the morning my prayer meets You.
¹⁵ Adonai, why do You spurn me?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
¹⁶ From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death.
I suffer Your terrors—I am desperate!
¹⁷ Your fury has swept over me.
Your terrors have cut me off.
¹⁸ Like water they surge around me all day.
They close in on me together.
¹⁹ Friend and loved one You took far from me.
Darkness has become my companion.

⁴ “I have made a covenant with My chosen one.
I have sworn to David My servant:
⁵ ‘Forever I will establish your seed,
and will build your throne from generation to generation.’”^[o] Selah

⁶ The heavens praise Your wonders, Adonai
—Your faithfulness, too—
in the assembly of the kedoshim.
⁷ For who in the skies can compare to Adonai?
Who is like Adonai among the sons of gods?
⁸ God is greatly feared in the council of the holy ones,
and awesome above all around Him.
⁹ Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot, who is like You, mighty Adonai,
with Your faithfulness all around You?
¹⁰ You rule over the swelling of the sea.
When its waves mount up, You still them.
¹¹ You crushed Rahab like a slain one.
You scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.
¹² The heavens are Yours, also Yours the earth
—the world and its fullness—
You have founded them.
¹³ You created the north and the south.
Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at Your Name.
¹⁴ Your arm is mighty,
Your hand is strong,
exalted is Your right hand.^[p]
15 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne.
Lovingkindness and truth go before You.
¹⁶ Blessed are the people who know the joyful shout,^[q]
They walk in the light of Your presence, Adonai.
¹⁷ They rejoice in Your Name all day,
and by Your righteousness they are exalted.
¹⁸ For You are the glory of their strength,
and by Your favor our horn is exalted.
¹⁹ For our shield belongs to Adonai,
and our king to the Holy One of Israel.

²⁰ Then You spoke in vision to Your godly ones, and said:
“I have bestowed help on a warrior.
I have exalted one chosen from among the people.
²¹ I have found David My servant.
With My holy oil I have anointed him.
²² With him My hand will be established.
Surely My arm will strengthen him.
²³ No enemy will exact tribute from him,
no son of wickedness will oppress him.
²⁴ I will crush his adversaries before him,
and strike down those who hate him.
²⁵ My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him,
and by My Name his horn will be exalted.
²⁶ I will also set his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.
²⁷ He will call to Me: ‘You are my Father,^[r]
my God and the rock of my salvation.’
²⁸ I also will set him as firstborn—^[s]
the highest of the kings of earth.^[t][u]
29 I will maintain My love for him forever,
and My covenant with him will be firm.
³⁰ His seed I will establish forever,
and his throne as the days of heaven.

³¹ If his sons forsake My Torah,
and do not walk in My judgments,
³² if they violate My decrees,
and do not keep My mitzvot,
³³ then I will punish their transgression with the rod,
and their iniquity with flogging.
³⁴ But I will not withdraw My lovingkindness from him,
nor will I betray My faithfulness.
³⁵ I will not violate My covenant,
nor alter what My lips have uttered.
³⁶ Once for all I have sworn by My holiness
—surely I will not lie to David—
³⁷ his descendants will endure forever,
and his throne as the sun before Me,
³⁸ and as the moon, established forever,
and a trustworthy witness in the sky.” Selah

³⁹ But You have cast off and spurned,
You have become furious with Your anointed one.
⁴⁰ You have renounced the covenant of Your servant.
You have defiled his crown even to the ground.
⁴¹ You have broken down all his walls.
You reduced his strongholds to ruin.
⁴² All who pass by have plundered him.
He has become a taunt to his neighbors.
⁴³ You exalted the right hand of his foes
and made all his enemies rejoice.
⁴⁴ You turned back the edge of his sword
and have not supported him in battle.
⁴⁵ You brought his splendor to an end,
and cast his throne down to the ground.
⁴⁶ You cut short the days of his youth.
You covered him with shame. Selah
⁴⁷ How long, Adonai, will You hide Yourself?
Forever?
Will Your fury keep burning like fire?
⁴⁸ Remember how short my life span is!
For what futility have You created all the children of men?
⁴⁹ What man can live and not see death?
Can he deliver himself from the clutches of Sheol? Selah
⁵⁰ Where is Your former lovingkindness, my Lord,
    which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?^[v]
51 Remember, my Lord, the mockery against Your servants
    that I bear in my heart from so many peoples.
⁵² How Your enemies have mocked, Adonai,
how they have mocked
the footsteps of Your Anointed One!^[w]

⁵³ Blessed be Adonai forever.
Amen and Amen.