Psalm 5[a]

For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David.

Listen(A) to my words, Lord,
    consider my lament.(B)
Hear my cry for help,(C)
    my King and my God,(D)
    for to you I pray.

In the morning,(E) Lord, you hear my voice;
    in the morning I lay my requests before you
    and wait expectantly.(F)
For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
    with you, evil people(G) are not welcome.
The arrogant(H) cannot stand(I)
    in your presence.
You hate(J) all who do wrong;
    you destroy those who tell lies.(K)
The bloodthirsty and deceitful
    you, Lord, detest.
But I, by your great love,
    can come into your house;
in reverence(L) I bow down(M)
    toward your holy temple.(N)

Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness(O)
    because of my enemies—
    make your way straight(P) before me.
Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
    their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;(Q)
    with their tongues they tell lies.(R)
10 Declare them guilty, O God!
    Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,(S)
    for they have rebelled(T) against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
    let them ever sing for joy.(U)
Spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name(V) may rejoice in you.(W)

12 Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;(X)
    you surround them(Y) with your favor as with a shield.(Z)

Psalm 6[b]

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. According to sheminith.[c] A psalm of David.

Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger(AA)
    or discipline me in your wrath.
Have mercy on me,(AB) Lord, for I am faint;(AC)
    heal me,(AD) Lord, for my bones are in agony.(AE)
My soul is in deep anguish.(AF)
    How long,(AG) Lord, how long?

Turn,(AH) Lord, and deliver me;
    save me because of your unfailing love.(AI)
Among the dead no one proclaims your name.
    Who praises you from the grave?(AJ)

I am worn out(AK) from my groaning.(AL)

All night long I flood my bed with weeping(AM)
    and drench my couch with tears.(AN)
My eyes grow weak(AO) with sorrow;
    they fail because of all my foes.

Away from me,(AP) all you who do evil,(AQ)
    for the Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;(AR)
    the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;(AS)
    they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.(AT)

Psalm 7[d]

A shiggaion[e](AU) of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite.

Lord my God, I take refuge(AV) in you;
    save and deliver me(AW) from all who pursue me,(AX)
or they will tear me apart like a lion(AY)
    and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue(AZ) me.

Lord my God, if I have done this
    and there is guilt on my hands(BA)
if I have repaid my ally with evil
    or without cause(BB) have robbed my foe—
then let my enemy pursue and overtake(BC) me;
    let him trample my life to the ground(BD)
    and make me sleep in the dust.[f](BE)

Arise,(BF) Lord, in your anger;
    rise up against the rage of my enemies.(BG)
    Awake,(BH) my God; decree justice.
Let the assembled peoples gather around you,
    while you sit enthroned over them on high.(BI)
    Let the Lord judge(BJ) the peoples.
Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness,(BK)
    according to my integrity,(BL) O Most High.(BM)
Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
    and make the righteous secure—(BN)
you, the righteous God(BO)
    who probes minds and hearts.(BP)

10 My shield[g](BQ) is God Most High,
    who saves the upright in heart.(BR)
11 God is a righteous judge,(BS)
    a God who displays his wrath(BT) every day.
12 If he does not relent,(BU)
    he[h] will sharpen his sword;(BV)
    he will bend and string his bow.(BW)
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;
    he makes ready his flaming arrows.(BX)

14 Whoever is pregnant with evil
    conceives trouble and gives birth(BY) to disillusionment.
15 Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
    falls into the pit(BZ) they have made.(CA)
16 The trouble they cause recoils on them;
    their violence comes down on their own heads.

17 I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness;(CB)
    I will sing the praises(CC) of the name of the Lord Most High.(CD)

Psalm 8[i]

For the director of music. According to gittith.[j] A psalm of David.

Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name(CE) in all the earth!

You have set your glory(CF)
    in the heavens.(CG)
Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold(CH) against your enemies,
    to silence the foe(CI) and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,(CJ)
    the work of your fingers,(CK)
the moon and the stars,(CL)
    which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?[k](CM)

You have made them[l] a little lower than the angels[m](CN)
    and crowned them[n] with glory and honor.(CO)
You made them rulers(CP) over the works of your hands;(CQ)
    you put everything under their[o] feet:(CR)
all flocks and herds,(CS)
    and the animals of the wild,(CT)
the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,(CU)
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!(CV)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 5:1 In Hebrew texts 5:1-12 is numbered 5:2-13.
  2. Psalm 6:1 In Hebrew texts 6:1-10 is numbered 6:2-11.
  3. Psalm 6:1 Title: Probably a musical term
  4. Psalm 7:1 In Hebrew texts 7:1-17 is numbered 7:2-18.
  5. Psalm 7:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
  6. Psalm 7:5 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
  7. Psalm 7:10 Or sovereign
  8. Psalm 7:12 Or If anyone does not repent, / God
  9. Psalm 8:1 In Hebrew texts 8:1-9 is numbered 8:2-10.
  10. Psalm 8:1 Title: Probably a musical term
  11. Psalm 8:4 Or what is a human being that you are mindful of him, / a son of man that you care for him?
  12. Psalm 8:5 Or him
  13. Psalm 8:5 Or than God
  14. Psalm 8:5 Or him
  15. Psalm 8:6 Or made him ruler . . . ; / . . . his

Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation.

Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.

My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.

The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.

But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.

For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.

10 Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.

11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.

12 For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.

Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed.

My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O Lord, how long?

Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake.

For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?

I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.

Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.

Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.

The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.

10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.

O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:

Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

O Lord my God, If I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;

If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)

Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.

Arise, O Lord, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.

So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.

The Lord shall judge the people: judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.

Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.

10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.

11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.

13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.

14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.

15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.

16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

17 I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high.

O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!