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A King's Promise[a]

101 My song is about loyalty and justice,
    and I sing it to you, O Lord.
My conduct will be faultless.
    When will you come to me?

I will live a pure life in my house
    and will never tolerate evil.
I hate the actions of those who turn away from God;
    I will have nothing to do with them.
I will not be dishonest[b]
    and will have no dealings with evil.[c]
I will get rid of anyone
    who whispers evil things about someone else;
I will not tolerate anyone
    who is proud and arrogant.

I will approve of those who are faithful to God
    and will let them live in my palace.
Those who are completely honest
    will be allowed to serve me.

No liar will live in my palace;
    no hypocrite will remain in my presence.
Day after day I will destroy
    the wicked in our land;
I will expel all who are evil
    from the city of the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 101:1 HEBREW TITLE: A psalm by David.
  2. Psalm 101:4 not be dishonest; or stay away from dishonest people.
  3. Psalm 101:4 evil; or evil people.

Psalm 101

A Sovereign’s Pledge of Integrity and Justice

Of David. A Psalm.

I will sing of loyalty and of justice;
    to you, O Lord, I will sing.(A)
I will study the way that is blameless.
    When shall I attain it?

I will walk with integrity of heart
    within my house;(B)
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)
Perverseness of heart shall be far from me;
    I will know nothing of evil.(D)

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

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)

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

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

101 (0) A psalm of David:

(1) I am singing of grace and justice;
I am singing to you, Adonai.
I will follow the path of integrity;
when will you come to me?
I will run my life with a sincere heart
inside my own house.
I will not allow before my eyes
any shameful thing.
I hate those who act crookedly;
what they do does not attract me.
Deviousness will depart from me;
I will not tolerate evil.
If someone slanders another in secret,
I will cut him off.
Haughty eyes and proud hearts
I cannot abide.

I look to the faithful of the land,
so that they can be my companions;
those who live lives of integrity
can be servants of mine.
No deceitful person can live in my house;
no liar can be my advisor.
Every morning I will destroy
all the wicked of the land,
cutting off all evildoers
from the city of Adonai.

101 1-8 My theme song is God’s love and justice,
    and I’m singing it right to you, God.
I’m finding my way down the road of right living,
    but how long before you show up?
I’m doing the very best I can,
    and I’m doing it at home, where it counts.
I refuse to take a second look
    at corrupting people and degrading things.
I reject made-in-Canaan gods,
    stay clear of contamination.
The crooked in heart keep their distance;
    I refuse to shake hands with those who plan evil.
I put a gag on the gossip
    who bad-mouths his neighbor;
I can’t stand
    arrogance.
But I have my eye on salt-of-the-earth people—
    they’re the ones I want working with me;
Men and women on the straight and narrow—
    these are the ones I want at my side.
But no one who traffics in lies
    gets a job with me; I have no patience with liars.
I’ve rounded up all the wicked like cattle
    and herded them right out of the country.
I purged God’s city
    of all who make a business of evil.

Psalm 101

Of David. A psalm.

I will sing of your love(A) and justice;
    to you, Lord, I will sing praise.
I will be careful to lead a blameless life(B)
    when will you come to me?

I will conduct the affairs(C) of my house
    with a blameless heart.
I will not look with approval
    on anything that is vile.(D)

I hate what faithless people do;(E)
    I will have no part in it.
The perverse of heart(F) shall be far from me;
    I will have nothing to do with what is evil.

Whoever slanders their neighbor(G) in secret,
    I will put to silence;
whoever has haughty eyes(H) and a proud heart,
    I will not tolerate.

My eyes will be on the faithful in the land,
    that they may dwell with me;
the one whose walk is blameless(I)
    will minister to me.

No one who practices deceit
    will dwell in my house;
no one who speaks falsely
    will stand in my presence.

Every morning(J) I will put to silence
    all the wicked(K) in the land;
I will cut off every evildoer(L)
    from the city of the Lord.(M)