Beginning

86 The prayer of David. Lord, bow (down) thine ear, and hear me; for I am needy and poor.

² Keep thou my life, for I am holy; my God, make thou safe thy servant hoping in thee. (Keep thou my life safe, for I am holy; my God, save thou thy servant, who trusteth in thee.)

³ Lord, have thou mercy on me, for I cried all day (long) to thee;

⁴ make thou glad the soul of thy servant; for why, Lord, I have raised my soul to thee (for Lord, I have raised up my soul to thee).

⁵ For thou, Lord, art sweet and mild; and of much mercy to all men inwardly calling thee. (For thou, Lord, art good and forgiving; and hath great love for all who call to thee/and hath great mercy for all who cry to thee.)

⁶ Lord, perceive thou my prayer with ears; and give thou attention to the voice of my beseeching. (Lord, listen thou to my prayer; and give attention to the words of my plea.)

⁷ In the day of my tribulation I cried to thee; for thou heardest me. (In my time of trouble, I cried to thee; for thou shalt answer me.)

⁸ Lord, none among gods is like thee; and none is even to thy works. (Lord, there is no god like thee; and there be no works like thy works/and there be no works equal to thy works.)

⁹ Lord, all folks, whichever thou madest (Lord, all the nations, which thou hast made), shall come, and worship before thee; and they shall glorify thy name.

¹⁰ For thou art full great, and making marvels (For thou art very great, and doing marvellous deeds); thou art God alone.

¹¹ Lord, lead thou me forth in thy way, and I shall enter in thy truth; mine heart be glad, that it dread thy name. (Lord, lead thou me forth in thy way, and I shall walk in thy truth; let my heart be glad, that I fear thy name/that I revere thy name.)

¹² My Lord God, I shall acknowledge to thee in all mine heart; and I shall glorify thy name [into] without end. (My Lord God, I shall praise thee with all my heart; and I shall glorify thy name forever.)

¹³ For thy mercy is great on me; and thou deliveredest my soul from the lower hell. (For thy love is great towards me; and thou hast rescued my soul from the depths of Sheol, or the land of the dead/and thou hast rescued my soul from the grave itself.)

¹⁴ God, wicked men have risen upon me; and the synagogue of mighty men have sought my life; and they have not set forth thee in their sight. (God, the wicked have risen against me; and a company of mighty men have sought my life; and they have no thought of thee.)

¹⁵ And thou, Lord God, doing mercy, and merciful; patient, and of much mercy, and soothfast. (But thou, Lord, art a God who giveth love, and art merciful; yea, thou art patient, and hath great love, and art faithful.)

¹⁶ Behold on me, and have mercy on me, give thou the empire to thy servant; and make thou safe the son of thine handmaid. (Turn to me, and have mercy on me; give thou thy strength to thy servant, and save thou the son of thy servantess.)

¹⁷ Make thou with me a sign in(to) good, that they see, that hate me, and be ashamed (Show thou me a sign of thy goodness, so that those who hate me can see it, and be ashamed); (yea,) for thou, Lord, hast helped me/hast holpen me, and hast comforted me.

87 The psalm of the song of the sons of Korah. The foundaments thereof be in holy hills; (The psalm of the song for the sons of Korah. Its foundations be upon the holy hill/s;)

² (and) the Lord loveth the gates of Zion, more than all the tabernacles of Jacob.

³ Thou city of God, without end; glorious things be said of thee. (Thou city of God; may glorious things be said of thee forever.)

⁴ I shall be mindful of Rahab, and Babylon; knowing me. Lo! aliens, and Tyre, and the people of Ethiopians; they were there. (I shall remember the people of Rahab, and of Babylon; they all know me. Lo! Philistia, and Tyre, and the Ethiopian people; they all were there.)

⁵ Whether a man shall say to Zion, And a man is born therein; and that man, (the) alder Highest, founded it? (And of Zion it shall be said, This person, and that person, were born there; and the Most High himself founded it.)

⁶ The Lord shall tell in the scriptures of (these) peoples; and of these princes, that were therein. (The Lord shall write of these peoples; and of their princes, or their leaders, who all were there.)

⁷ As the dwelling of all that be glad; is in thee. (And they all shall dance; and they shall sing, In Zion is the Source of all our blessings.)

88 The song of the psalm, to the sons of Korah, to victory on Mahalath, for to answer the learning of Heman, (the) Ezrahite. Lord God of mine health; I cried in day and night before thee. (The song of the psalm, for the sons of Korah, to victory on Mahalath, to answer the teaching of Heman, the Ezrahite. Lord God of my salvation; I have cried day and night before thee.)

² My prayer enter before thy sight (Let my prayer come before thee); bow down thine ear to my prayer.

³ For my soul is [full-]filled with evils; and my life nighed to hell. (For my soul is filled full of evils; and my life came near to Sheol, that is, the land of the dead/and my life nighed to the grave.)

⁴ I am guessed with them that go down into the pit; I am made as a man without help,

⁵ and free among dead men. As men wounded sleeping in sepulchres, of which men none (thou) is mindful (of) after; and they be put away from thine hand. (and free among the dead. Like the slain who sleep in tombs, or graves, of whom there is no one thou remembereth any more; yea, they all be cut off from thy help, or thy care.)

⁶ They have put me in the lower pit; in dark places, and in the shadow of death.

⁷ Thy strong vengeance is confirmed on me (Thy fury hath raged against me); and thou hast brought in all thy waves on me.

⁸ Thou hast made far from me my known; they have set me (an) abomination to themselves. I am taken (in), and I went not out; (Thou hast taken all my friends far away from me; thou hast made me an abomination to them. I am enclosed, and I cannot go out;)

⁹ mine eyes were sick for poverty [mine eyes (were) (en)feebled for mis-ease]. Lord, I cried to thee; all day I spreaded abroad mine hands to thee. (my eyes have been weakened from suffering. Lord, I cried to thee; and every day I spread abroad my hands to thee.)

¹⁰ Whether thou shalt do marvels to dead men; either leeches shall raise (them up), and they shall acknowledge to thee? (Shalt thou do marvellous deeds for the dead? or shall physicians raise them up, and then they shall praise thee?)

¹¹ Whether any man in sepulchre shall tell thy mercy; and thy truth in perdition? (Shall any man in the tomb, or in the grave, tell of thy love? or in perdition, tell of thy faithfulness?)

¹² Whether thy marvels shall be known in darknesses; and thy rightfulness in the land of forgetting? (Shall thy marvellous deeds be known in the dark places? or thy righteousness in the land of the forgotten?/in the land of oblivion?)

¹³ And, Lord, I cried to thee; and early my prayer shall before come to thee. (But, Lord, I cried to thee; and every morning my prayer hath come before thee.)

¹⁴ Lord, why puttest thou away my prayer; thou turnest away thy face from me? (Lord, why puttest thou me away? why rejectest me? why turnest thou away thy face from me?)

¹⁵ I am poor, and in travails from my youth; soothly I am enhanced, and I am made low, and troubled. (I am poor, and have had troubles from my youth; truly I am abased, and greatly troubled.)

¹⁶ Thy wraths passed on me; and thy dreads troubled me. (Thy rages have swept over me/Thy anger hath come upon me; and thy terrors have made me afraid.)

¹⁷ They (en)compassed me as water all day; they (en)compassed me (al)together. (They surrounded me like water all day long; they have completely surrounded me.)

¹⁸ Thou madest far from me a friend and neighbour; and my known from wretchedness. (Thou hast taken my friends and my neighbours far away from me; and now wretchedness is my only companion.)

89 The learning of Ethan, (the) Ezrahite. I shall sing [into] without end; the mercies of the Lord. In generation and into generation; I shall tell thy truth with my mouth. (The teaching of Ethan, the Ezrahite. I shall sing of the Lord’s constant love forever. To all generations, I shall tell out thy faithfulness with my mouth.)

² For thou saidest, [Into] Without end mercy shall be builded in heavens; thy truth shall be made ready in those. (For thy love shall last forever; thy faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.)

³ I disposed a testament to my chosen men; I swore to David, my servant, (Thou saidest, I made a covenant with my chosen man; I swore to my servant David,)

⁴ Till into without end I shall make ready thy seed. And I shall build thy seat; in generation, and into generation. (that I shall establish thy children, or thy descendants, forever. And I shall preserve thy throne; for all generations.)

⁵ Lord, heavens shall acknowledge thy marvels; and thy truth in the church of saints. (Lord, the heavens shall praise thy marvellous deeds; and the council of the saints shall praise thy faithfulness.)

⁶ For who in the clouds shall be made even to the Lord; shall be like God among the sons of God? (For who in heaven shall be made equal to the Lord? who shall be like God among the heavenly beings?/who shall be like God in the council of heaven?)

⁷ God, that is glorified in the council of saints; is great, and dreadful over all that be in his compass. (God, thou art feared/thou art revered, in the council of the saints; thou art great, and glorified above all who surround thee.)

⁸ Lord God of virtues, who is like thee? Lord, thou art mighty, and thy truth is in thy compass. (Lord God of hosts, who is like thee? Lord, thou art mighty, and thy faithfulness surroundeth thee.)

⁹ Thou art Lord of the power of the sea; forsooth thou assuagest the stirring of the waves thereof.

¹⁰ Thou madest low the proud, as (those who be) wounded (and slain); in the arm of thy strength thou hast scattered thine enemies. (Thou hast crushed Rahab to death; thou hast scattered thy enemies with thy strong arm, or with thy power.)

¹¹ (The) Heavens be thine, and the earth is thine; thou hast founded the world, and the fullness thereof;

¹² thou madest of nought the north and the sea. Tabor and Hermon shall make full out joy in thy name; (thou madest the north and the south out of nothing. Tabor and Hermon shall make full out joy, or shall rejoice, in thy name.)

¹³ thine arm with power. Thine hand be made steadfast, and thy right hand be enhanced; (Thy arm hath power; let thy hand be made firm, and thy right hand be lifted high.)

¹⁴ rightfulness and doom is the making ready of thy seat. Mercy and truth shall go before thy face; (Righteousness and judgement be the foundations of thy throne; love and faithfulness go forth before thee.)

¹⁵ blessed is the people that know (a) hearty song. Lord, they shall go in the light of thy cheer; (Happy be the people who know a hearty song; Lord, they shall go forth by the light of thy face.)

¹⁶ and in thy name they shall make full out joy all day; and they shall be enhanced in thy rightfulness. (And in thy name, they shall make full out joy, or shall rejoice, all day long; and they shall be exalted, or shall be lifted up, by thy righteousness.)

¹⁷ For thou art the glory of the virtue of them; and in thy good pleasance our horn shall be enhanced. (For thou art the glory of their strength/For thou art the strength in which they have glory; and in thy good favour our horn shall be exalted.)

¹⁸ For our taking up is of the Lord; and of the holy of Israel our king. (For the Lord is our defender; yea, the Holy One of Israel is our King.)

¹⁹ Then thou spakest in revelation to thy saints, and saidest, I have set help in the mighty (man); and I have enhanced the chosen man of my people. (Then thou spokest in revelation to thy saints, and saidest, I have given help to the mighty man; yea, I have exalted, or lifted up, the chosen man of my people.)

²⁰ I found David, my servant; I anointed him with mine holy oil. (I found my servant David; and I anointed him with my holy oil.)

²¹ For mine hand shall help him; and mine arm shall confirm him. (For my hand shall help him; and my arm, or my power, shall strengthen him.)

²² The enemy shall nothing profit in him (The enemy shall not gain any advantage over him); and the son of wickedness shall not lay to/shall not put to, for to harm him.

²³ And I shall slay his enemies from his face; and I shall turn into flight them that hate him. (And I shall kill all his enemies before his face; and I shall turn to flight, or make to flee, those who hate him.)

²⁴ And my truth and mercy shall be with him; and his horn shall be enhanced in my name. (And my faithfulness and love shall be with him; and in my name his horn shall be exalted/his head shall be lifted up on high.)

²⁵ And I shall set his hand in the sea; and his right hand in floods. (And I shall extend his power unto the Mediterranean Sea; and his right hand unto the Euphrates River.)

²⁶ He shall inwardly call me, (saying,) Thou art my father; my God, and the up-taker of mine health. (And he shall say to me, Thou art my father; yea, my God, and my defender, my saviour.)

²⁷ And I shall set him the first begotten son; higher than the kings of earth. (And I shall make him my first-born son; higher than all the kings of the earth.)

²⁸ [Into] Without end I shall keep my mercy to him; and my testament faithful to him. (I shall hold onto my love for him forever; and faithfully keep my covenant with him.)

²⁹ And I shall set his seed into the world of world; and his throne as the days of heaven. (And I shall establish his descendants forever and ever; and his throne for as long as the days of the heavens, that is, for as long as the heavenly bodies endure.)

³⁰ Forsooth if his sons forsake my law; and go not in my dooms. (But if his sons abandon my Law; and do not go in my judgements.)

³¹ If they make unholy my rightfulnesses; and keep not my commandments. (If they break my statutes; and do not obey my commandments.)

³² I shall visit in a rod the wickednesses of them; and in beatings the sins of them. (Then I shall punish their wickednesses with a rod; and their sins with beatings.)

³³ But I shall not scatter my mercy from him; and in my truth I shall not harm him. (But I shall not take away my love from him; and I shall be faithful to him.)

³⁴ Neither I shall make unholy my testament; and I shall not make void those things that come forth of my lips. (Nor shall I break my covenant; and I shall not make void those things which come forth from my lips, that is, I shall not break my promises.)

³⁵ Once I swore in mine holiness, I shall not lie to David; (Once I swore by my holiness, that I would never lie to David;)

³⁶ his seed shall dwell [into] without end. And his throne as [the] sun in my sight, (his children, that is, his descendants, shall live forever. And his throne shall be before me like the sun,)

³⁷ and as a perfect moon without end; and a faithful witness in heaven. (and like the moon, which shall endure forever; yea, like a faithful witness in the heavens.)

³⁸ But thou hast put away, and despised; and hast delayed thy christ. (But thou hast rejected, and despised, and hast raged against thy anointed king.)

³⁹ Thou hast turned away the testament of thy servant; thou madest unholy his saintuary in earth. (Thou hast made void the covenant with thy servant; thou hast defiled his crown, and hast thrown it to the ground.)

⁴⁰ Thou destroyedest all the hedges thereof; thou hast set the steadfastness thereof (into) dread (thou hast brought his strongholds, or his fortresses, into ruin).

⁴¹ All men passing by the way ravished him; he is made (a) shame to his neighbours. (All who pass by him, on the way, rob him; he is shamed by his neighbours.)

⁴² Thou hast enhanced the right hand of men oppressing him; thou hast gladdened all his enemies.

⁴³ Thou hast turned away the help of his sword; and thou helpedest not him in battle (and thou hast not helped him in the battle).

⁴⁴ Thou destroyedest him from cleansing; and thou hast hurled down his seat in earth. (Thou hast destroyed his purity; and thou hast thrown down his throne to the ground.)

⁴⁵ Thou hast made less the days of his time; thou hast beshed him with shame.

⁴⁶ Lord, how long turnest thou away, into the end; shall thine ire burn out as fire? (Lord, how long turnest thou away, forever? shall thy anger always burn like fire?)

⁴⁷ Bethink thou what is my substance; for whether thou hast ordained vainly all the sons of men? (Remember thou what my substance is/how short my time is; hast thou ordained all the sons of men in vain?)

⁴⁸ Who is a man, that shall live, and shall not see death; shall (he) deliver his soul from the hand of hell? (What man shall live, and shall not see death? can he save his soul from the power of Sheol, or the land of the dead?/from the power of the grave?)

⁴⁹ Lord, where be thine eld mercies; as thou hast sworn to David in thy truth? (Lord, where be the former acts, or the earlier proofs, of thy constant love? yea, those promises that thou hast sworn to David in thy faithfulness?)

⁵⁰ Lord, be thou mindful of the shame of thy servants; (of the curses) of many heathen men, which I held together in my bosom. (Lord, remember thy servant’s shame; remember the curses of many of the heathen, which I carried in my heart.)

⁵¹ Which thine enemies, Lord, did shamefully; for they despised the changing of thy christ. (Which thy enemies, Lord, spoke shamefully to me; for they despised the footsteps of thy anointed king/for they despised the successors of thy anointed king.)

⁵² Blessed be the Lord [into] without end (Blessed be the Lord forever); be it done, be it done.