Beginning

¹ I will thank you, Lord, with all my heart.
I will tell about all your wonderful deeds.
² I will be glad and rejoice in you.
I will make music to your name, O Most High.

³ When my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish from your presence,
⁴ for you have upheld my rights and my cause.
You sat on the throne, judging righteously.
⁵ You have rebuked the nations,
and you made the wicked perish.
You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
⁶ As for the enemy, their destruction is complete and final.
You have uprooted cities.
Memory of them has perished with them.

⁷ The Lord is seated forever.
He has established his throne for judgment.
⁸ The Lord himself will judge the world in righteousness.
He will judge the peoples with fairness.
⁹ The Lord will be a refuge for those who have been crushed,
a refuge for times of trouble.
¹⁰ Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

¹¹ Make music for the Lord, who is seated in Zion.
Proclaim his deeds among the peoples.
¹² Yes, he who avenges bloodshed remembers them.
He does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
¹³ Have mercy on me, O Lord.
See my afflictions that are caused by those who hate me,
and raise me up from the gates of death,
¹⁴ so that I may declare all your praise.
In the gates of the Daughter of Zion^[b] I will rejoice in your salvation.

¹⁵ The nations have sunk into the pit they have made.
Their feet are caught in the net that they have hidden.
¹⁶ The Lord makes himself known by the judgment he has carried out.
By the work of his hands the wicked are snared. Interlude for meditation^[c]
17 The wicked return to the grave,
all the nations who forget God.
¹⁸ But he will never forget the needy.
The hope of the afflicted will never perish.
¹⁹ Rise up, O Lord. Do not let man triumph.
Let the nations be judged in your presence.
²⁰ Strike them with fear, O Lord.
Let the nations know they are only human. Interlude

¹ Why, Lord, do you stand so far away?
Why do you hide in times of distress?

² Because of the pride of the wicked, the oppressed burn.^[d]
They are caught in the schemes that the wicked plan.
³ Yes, the wicked man boasts about his heart’s desires.
He blesses the robber. He despises the Lord.^[e]
4 With his nose in the air, the wicked does not seek God.
There is no room at all for God in his thoughts.
⁵ His ways are prosperous all the time.
He is haughty. Your judgments do not concern him.
He snorts at all of his foes.
⁶ He says in his heart, “I will not be shaken.
Through age after age I will have no trouble.”
⁷ Cursing fills his mouth, along with lies and threats.
Trouble and evil lie under his tongue.
⁸ He waits in ambush by the villages.
In hidden places he murders the innocent.
His eyes are spying on the helpless.
⁹ He lies in ambush. He hides like a lion in a thicket.
He lies in ambush to catch the oppressed.
He catches the oppressed by dragging them in his net.
¹⁰ The helpless are crushed. They sink down.
They fall under his strength.
¹¹ He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.
He hides his face. He never sees.”

¹² Rise up, O Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the oppressed.
¹³ Why does the wicked man despise God?
Why does he say in his heart,
“You do not seek justice”?
¹⁴ But you do see. You notice trouble and grief.
You take it into your own hands.
The helpless one abandons himself to you.
For the fatherless you are indeed a helper.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked.
You pursue the wickedness of the evil man
    until you find no more.^[f]

¹⁶ The Lord is King forever and ever.
The nations will perish from his land.
¹⁷ Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted.
You strengthen their hearts,
and your ear pays attention,
¹⁸ to obtain justice for the fatherless and the crushed,
so that the worldly man^[g] may no longer terrify.

¹ In the Lord I take refuge.
How can you say to my soul:
“Flee to your mountain like a bird.
² Look! The wicked bend their bow.
They set their arrow against the string
    to shoot in the darkness at the upright in heart.
³ When the foundations are being torn down,
    what can the righteous do?”

⁴ The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord is on his throne in heaven.
His eyes observe.
He focuses on^[h] the children of Adam.^[i]
5 The Lord is righteous.
He examines the wicked.
He really hates^[j] those who love violence.
⁶ On the wicked he will rain down fiery coals and sulfur.^[k]
A scorching wind will be the cup given to them.
⁷ Indeed, the Lord is righteous. He loves righteousness.
The upright will view his face.

¹ Save us, Lord, for the merciful have disappeared.
The faithful have vanished from among mankind.

⁵ “Because of the destruction of the oppressed,
because of the groaning of the poor,
now I will rise up,” says the Lord.
“I will keep him safe from the one who puffs against him.”^[o]
6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
⁷ You, Lord, will keep them safe.
You will protect them from such people forever.
⁸ The wicked strut around
    when depravity is honored by the children of Adam.

¹ How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I experience worries in my soul,
sorrow in my heart every day?
How long will my enemy tower over me?

³ Look at me. Answer me, O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes
    so I do not sleep in death,
⁴     so my enemy does not say, “I have overcome him,”
    so my foes do not rejoice when I fall.

⁵ But I trust in your mercy.
My heart rejoices in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing to the Lord
    because he has accomplished his purpose for me.

¹ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt. They do disgusting things.
There is no one who does good.
² The Lord looks down from heaven on all the children of Adam
    to see if there is anyone who understands, anyone who seeks God.
³ Every one of them has turned away.
Altogether they have become rotten.
There is no one who does good.
There is not even one.

⁴ Don’t any of these evildoers understand,
those who devour my people as if they were eating bread?
They do not call on the Lord.
⁵ There they are! They are terrified
    because God is present in the circle of the righteous.
⁶ You try to put the plans of the poor to shame,
but the Lord is their refuge.

⁷ Who will provide salvation for Israel from Zion?^[p]
When the Lord restores his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

¹ Lord, who may be a guest in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy mountain?

² One who walks with integrity,
who does what is righteous,
and who speaks the truth in his heart.
³ He has no slander on his tongue.
He does not harm his friend,
and he does not defame his neighbor.
⁴ He despises everyone whom God rejects,
but he honors those who fear the Lord.
When he promises something,
    he does not break his word
    even though it costs him a lot.
⁵ He does not lend his money to get interest,^[q]
and he does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
One who does these things will never be toppled.

¹ Guard me, O God, for I take refuge in you.
² I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord.
I have no good apart from you.”^[s]
3 The holy ones who are in the land are glorious.
All my delight is in them.
⁴ Those who chase after another god will increase their sorrows.
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood.
I will not take up their names on my lips.

⁵ Lord, you are the cup that has been given to me.
You have secured an allotment for me.
⁶ The property lines chosen for me fall in pleasant places.
Yes, a delightful inheritance is mine.
⁷ I will bless the Lord, who guides me.
Even at night my heart^[t] instructs me.
⁸ I have set the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
⁹ Therefore my heart is glad,
and my whole being^[u] rejoices.
Even my flesh will dwell securely
¹⁰     because you will not abandon my life to the grave.
    You will not let your favored one^[v] see decay.
¹¹ You have made known to me the path of life,
    fullness of joy in your presence,
    pleasures at your right hand forever.