Beginning
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he answered me.
2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
5 ¶ Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul has long dwelt with those that hate peace.
7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help comes from the LORD, who made the heavens and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; he that keeps thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil; he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
A Song of degrees of David.
1 ¶ I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
2 Our feet stood within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem, that one which is built as a city that is well united together
4 Because the tribes went up there, the tribes of JAH, the testimony to Israel, to praise the name of the LORD.
5 For there are set thrones of the judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6 ¶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; those that love thee shall be brought into rest.
7 Peace be within thy walls and rest within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9 Because of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek thy good.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ Unto thee I lift up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of slaves look unto the hand of their masters and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until he shall have mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we are exceedingly weary of being held in contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly weary of the scorning of those that are at ease and of the contempt of the proud.
A Song of degrees of David.
1 ¶ If the LORD had not been for us, now may Israel say,
2 If the LORD had not been for us, when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us;
4 then the waters would have overwhelmed us; the flood would have gone over our soul;
5 then the proud waters would have gone over our soul.
6 ¶ Blessed be the LORD, who did not give us as a prey to their teeth.
7 Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare has broken, and we are escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made the heaven and the earth.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ Those that trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed but abides for ever.
2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from now on even for ever.
3 For the rod of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous because the righteous shall not put forth their hands unto iniquity.
4 ¶ Do good, O LORD, unto those that are good and to those that are upright in their hearts.
5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall take them away with the workers of iniquity; and peace shall be upon Israel.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ When the LORD shall turn again the captivity of Zion, we shall be like those that dream.
2 Then our mouth shall be filled with laughter and our tongue with singing; then they shall say among the Gentiles, The LORD has done great things with them.
3 The LORD has done great things with us, of which we shall be glad.
4 ¶ Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.
5 Those that sow with tears shall reap with joy.
6 He that goes forth and weeps, bearing the precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
A Song of degrees for Solomon.
1 ¶ Unless the LORD builds the house, they labour in vain that build it; unless the LORD keeps the city, the watchmen watch in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to come home late, to eat the bread of sorrows, because he shall give his beloved sleep.
3 Behold, sons are a heritage of the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is to be desired.
4 As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the young men.
5 Happy is the man that has filled his quiver with them: he shall not be ashamed when he speaks with the enemies in the gate.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ Blessed is every one that fears the LORD, that walks in his ways.
2 When thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands; happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.
3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thy house; thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that fears the LORD.
5 The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion, and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
6 Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children and peace upon Israel.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say:
2 Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back; they made long their furrows.
4 The LORD is righteous; he has cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
5 ¶ All those that hate Zion shall all be confounded and turned back.
6 They shall be as the grass upon the housetops, which withers before it grows up,
7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand nor he that binds sheaves his bosom.
8 Neither did those who go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you; we bless you in the name of the LORD.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ Out of the depths I cry unto thee, O LORD.
2 Lord, hear my voice; let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
3 If thou, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall endure?
4 Therefore there is forgiveness close to thee, that thou may be feared.
5 ¶ I have waited for the LORD, my soul has waited, and for his word I have waited.
6 My soul has waited for the Lord more than those that watch for the morning: I say, more than those that watch for the morning.
7 Let Israel wait for the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy and plenteous redemption close to him.
8 And he shall ransom Israel from all his sins.
A Song of degrees of David.
1 ¶ LORD, my heart has not become haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither have I walked in grandeur, nor in wonderful things above and beyond that which pertains to me.
2 Rather I have quieted myself and caused my soul to become silent, that I might be as a child that is weaned of his mother, as one who is weaned from my own life.
3 Let Israel wait for the LORD from now on and for ever.
¶ A Song of degrees.
1 LORD, remember David and all his afflictions:
2 How he swore unto the LORD and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob;
3 surely I will not come into the habitation of my house nor go up into my bed,
4 I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I find out a place for the LORD, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.
6 Behold, we heard of her in Ephratah; we found her in the fields of the wood.
7 We will go into his tents; we will worship at his footstool.
8 Arise, O LORD, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength.
9 Thy priests are clothed with righteousness, and thy merciful ones shout for joy.
10 For the love of thy slave David, do not turn away thy face from thine anointed.
11 ¶ The LORD has sworn truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body I will set upon thy throne.
12 If thy sons will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their sons shall also sit upon thy throne for ever.
13 For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired her for his habitation.
14 This shall be my rest for ever; here I will dwell; for I have desired her.
15 I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 I will also clothe her priests with saving health, and her merciful ones shall shout aloud for joy.
17 There will I make the horn of David to bud; I have ordained a lamp for my anointed.
18 His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon himself shall his crown blossom.
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