Chronological
131 The song of degrees to David. Lord, mine heart is not enhanced; neither mine eyes be raised. Neither I went in great things; neither in marvels above me. (The song of degrees for David. Lord, my heart is not exalted, or puffed up; nor be my eyes raised up. And I do not concern myself with great things; nor with marvellous things that be so high above me.)
2 If I feeled not meekly; but [I] enhanced my soul. As a child weaned on his mother; so yielding be in my soul. (I went forth humbly; and I did not exalt my soul. Like a weaned child upon his mother; so is the yielding in my soul.)
3 Israel, hope in the Lord; from this time now and into the world. (Israel, trust in the Lord; from this time now and forever.)
138 [The psalm of David.] Lord, I shall acknowledge to thee in all mine heart; for thou heardest the words of my mouth. My God, I shall sing to thee in the sight of angels; (The song of David. Lord, I shall praise thee with all my heart. My God, I shall sing praises to thee before the angels, or before the gods.)
2 I shall worship to(ward) thine holy temple, and I shall acknowledge to thy name. On thy mercy and thy truth; for thou hast magnified thine holy name above all thing. (I shall worship towards thy holy Temple, and I shall praise thy name; because of thy love, and thy faithfulness; for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all things.)
3 In whatever day I shall inwardly call thee, hear thou me; thou shalt multiply virtue in my soul. (On whatever day I called to thee, thou answeredest me; and thou hast multiplied the strength in my soul/and thou hast made me strong.)
4 Lord, all the kings of earth acknowledge to thee; for they heard all the words of thy mouth. (Lord, all the kings of the earth shall praise thee; for they have heard all the words of thy mouth.)
5 And sing they in the ways of the Lord (And they shall sing of the ways of the Lord); for the glory of the Lord is great.
6 For the Lord is high, and beholdeth meek things; and knoweth afar high things. (For though the Lord is high above, he looketh upon the meek/he careth for the humble; and he knoweth the proud from afar.)
7 If I shall go in the midst of tribulation, thou shalt quicken me; and thou stretchedest forth thine hand on the ire of mine enemies, and thy right hand made me safe. (Yea, though I go in the midst of trouble, or of tribulation, thou keepest me safe/thou keepest me alive; and thou stretchest forth thy hand against the rage of my enemies, and thy right hand savest me.)
8 The Lord shall yield for me, Lord, thy mercy is [into] without end; despise thou not the works of thine hands. (The Lord shall bring to pass his promises to me. O Lord, thy love is forever; so complete thy work.)
139 To victory, the psalm of David. Lord, thou hast proved me, and hast known me; (To victory, the song of David. Lord, thou hast assayed, or tested, me, and thou knowest me;)
2 thou hast known my sitting, and my rising again. Thou hast understood my thoughts from [a]far; (thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up. Thou hast understood my thoughts from afar;)
3 thou hast inquired (of) my path and my cord. And thou hast before-seen all my ways; (thou hast examined my path, and my resting places. And thou hast foreseen all my ways.)
4 for no word is in my tongue. Lo! Lord, thou hast known all things, (Yea, there is no word on my tongue, lo! Lord; but that thou not knowest it first.)
5 the new things and eld; thou hast formed me, and hast set thine hand on me. (Thou art behind me, and before me; and thou hast set thy hand upon me.)
6 Thy knowing is made wonderful of me; it is comforted, and I shall not be able to it. (Thy abundant knowledge is so wonderful to me; yea, it is so very great, and I shall never be able to comprehend it all.)
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit; and whither shall I flee from thy face? (Where shall I go from thy spirit; and where shall I flee from thy presence?)
8 If I shall ascend into heaven, thou art there; if I shall go down into hell, thou art present. (If I shall go up into heaven, thou art there; if I shall go down into Sheol, or into the land of the dead, thou art there also.)
9 If I shall take my feathers full early; and shall dwell in the last parts of the sea. (If I shall take flight early in the morning; or if I shall live on the farthest edge, or the coast, of the sea.)
10 And soothly thither thine hand shall lead me forth; and thy right hand shall hold me. (Even there thy hand shall lead me forth; and thy right hand shall keep me safe.)
11 And I said, In hap darknesses shall defoul me; and the night is my lightening in my delights. (And I said, Perhaps the darkness shall cover me; or the light all around me shall become my night.)
12 For why darknesses shall not be made dark from thee, and the night shall be lightened as the day; as the darknesses thereof, so and the light thereof. (But the darkness shall not be dark for thee, and the night shall be like the daylight; yea, to you, the darkness is no different than the light.)
13 For thou haddest in possession my reins; thou tookest me up from the womb of my mother. (For thou haddest my reins in thy possession/For thou formedest my inner parts; yea, thou madest me in my mother’s womb.)
14 I shall acknowledge to thee, for thou art magnified dreadfully; thy works be wonderful, and my soul shall know (that) full much. (I shall praise thee, for thou art greatly to be feared/for thou hath filled me with awe; thy works be wonderful, and I truly know that.)
15 My bone, which thou madest in private, is not hid from thee; and my substance (formed) in the lower parts of earth. (My bones, which thou madest in secret, be not a mystery to thee; yea, when my substance was formed in the lower parts of the earth.)
16 Thine eyes saw mine unperfect thing, and all men shall be written in thy book; days shall be formed, and no man is in those. (Thine eyes saw my imperfect substance, and all was written in thy Book; but when those days were formed, no man was there.)
17 Forsooth, God, thy friends be made honourable full much to me; the princehood of them is comforted full much. (But, God, how deep be thy thoughts to me; and how many of them there be!)
18 I shall number them, and they shall be multiplied above the gravel; I rose up, and yet I am with thee. (If I tried to count them all up, their number would be more than all the grains of sand. And then I awake; and still I am with thee.)
19 For thou, God, shalt slay sinners; ye men-quellers, bow away from me. (O God, I wish that thou wouldest kill the sinners; ye murderers, go far away from me!)
20 For they say in thought; Take they their cities in vanity. (For out loud they say against thee, We shall take thy name in vain.)
21 Lord, whether I hated not them that hated thee; and I failed, that is, mourned greatly, on (those who be) thine enemies? (Lord, how I hate those who hate thee; and I am greatly grieved by those who be thy enemies!)
22 By perfect hatred I hated them; they were made enemies to me. (Yea, with perfect hatred I hate them; they be made my enemies too.)
23 God, prove thou me, and know thou mine heart; ask thou me, and know thou my paths. (God, assay, or test, thou me, and know thou my heart; ask thou me, and know thou my thoughts.)
24 And see thou, if way of wickedness is in me; and lead thou me forth in [the] everlasting way. (And see thou, if there be found any way of wickedness in me; and then lead thou me forth in the everlasting way.)
143 The psalm of David. Lord, hear thou my prayer, with ears perceive thou my beseeching; in thy truth hear thou me, in thy rightwiseness. (The song of David. Lord, hear thou my prayer, and listen thou to my plea; and answer thou me in thy faithfulness, and in thy righteousness.)
2 And enter thou not into doom with thy servant; for each man living shall not be made just in thy sight. (And enter thou not into the judgement of thy servant; for no one living can be made right, or justified, before thee.)
3 For the enemy pursued my soul; he made low my life in [the] earth. He hath set me in dark places, as the dead men of the world, (For the enemy hath pursued me; and he hath brought me down low to the ground. He hath put me in dark places, like the dead of the world,)
4 and my spirit was anguished on me; mine heart was troubled in me. (and my spirit was anguished within me; and my heart was troubled within me.)
5 I was mindful of eld days, I bethought in all thy works; I bethought in the deeds of thine hands. (I remembered the old days, and I thought about all thy works; yea, I thought about the deeds of thy hands.)
6 I held forth mine hands to thee; my soul (was) as earth without water to thee. (I held out my hands to thee; my soul was like dry ground without water, thirsting for thee.)
7 Lord, hear thou me swiftly; my spirit failed. Turn thou not away thy face from me; and I shall be like them that go down into the pit. (Lord, swiftly answer thou me; for my spirit faileth/for my spirit fainteth. Turn thou not away thy face from me; or I shall be like those who go down into the pit.)
8 Make thou early thy mercy heard to me; for I hoped in thee. Make thou known to me the way in which I shall go; for I raised my soul to thee. (Let me know thy love in the morning; for I put my trust in thee. Let me know which way I should go; for I raise up my soul to thee.)
9 Deliver thou me from mine enemies; Lord, I fled to thee; (Save thou me from my enemies; Lord, I fled to thee/Lord, I flee to thee;)
10 teach thou me to do thy will, for thou art my God. Thy good spirit shall lead me forth into a rightful land; (teach thou me to do thy will, for thou art my God. Thy good spirit shall lead me forth on the right path;)
11 Lord, for thy name thou shalt quicken me in thine equity. Thou shalt lead my soul out of tribulation; (Lord, for the sake of thy name, save me/let me live. And because of thy fairness, lead thou my soul out of trouble, or tribulation;)
12 and in thy mercy thou shalt scatter mine enemies. And thou shalt lose all them, that trouble my soul; for I am thy servant. (and in thy love for me, waste thou my enemies. Yea, destroy thou all those who trouble me; for I am thy servant.)
144 A psalm of David. Blessed be my Lord God, that teacheth mine hands to war; and my fingers to battle. (A song of David. Blessed be the Lord my God, who traineth my hands for war; and my fingers for battle.)
2 My mercy, and my refuge; my taker up, and my deliverer. My defender, and I hoped in him; and thou makest subject my people under me. (My mercy, and my refuge; my defender, and my deliverer. Yea, my defender, and in whom I trust; and thou makest the peoples to be subject under me.)
3 Lord, what is a man, for thou hast made (thyself) known to him; either the son of man, for thou areckonest him of some value? (Lord, what is man, that thou hast taken notice of him?/that thou carest for him? or the son of a man, that thou reckonest, or esteemest, him of some value?)
4 A man is made like vanity; his days pass as shadow. (A person is but like vanity, yea, but a puff of air; his days pass like a shadow.)
5 Lord, bow down thine heavens, and come thou down; touch thou [the] hills, and they shall make smoke.
6 Light thou shining, and thou shalt scatter them (Send thou forth thy lightning, and thou shalt scatter thy enemies); send thou out thine arrows, and thou shalt trouble them.
7 Send out thine hand from on high, ravish me out, and deliver thou me from many waters; and from the hand of alien sons. (Send out thy hand from on high, and take me out of here, that is, rescue me; save thou me from the deep waters, and from the power of foreigners, or of strangers.)
8 The mouth of whom spake vanity (Their mouths spoke lies); and the right hand of them is the right hand of wickedness.
9 God, I shall sing to thee a new song; I shall say psalm to thee in psaltery of ten strings (yea, I shall sing a song to thee to the strains of a ten-stringed lute).
10 Which givest health to kings, which again-boughtest David, thy servant; from the wicked sword ravish thou out me. (Who givest salvation, or deliverance, to kings, and redeemest thy servant David; rescue thou me from the wicked sword.)
11 And deliver thou me from the hand of alien sons; the mouth of which spake vanity, and the right hand of them is the right hand of wickedness. (And save thou me from the power of foreigners, or of strangers; whose mouths spoke lies, and whose right hands be the right hands of wickedness, that is, they always break their oaths, or their pledges.)
12 Whose sons be as new plantings in their youth. The daughters of them be arrayed; adorned about as the likeness of a temple. (May our sons be like plants fully grown in their youth; may our daughters be arrayed, or adorned, like a palace.)
13 The cellars of them be full; bringing out from this vessel into that/from one vessel into another. The sheep of them be with lambs, plenteous in their goings out; (May our cellars be full; and we be able to bring forth from this vessel into that one/and we be able to bring forth from one vessel into another. May our sheep be with lambs; yea, plentiful and innumerable.)
14 their kine be fat. There is no falling of their wall, neither passing over (of it); neither cry is in the streets of them. (May all our kine be fat; and be there no parting in the walls of their wombs, nor any passing over of them. And may there be no cries of distress in all our streets.)
15 They said, The people is blessed, that hath these things; blessed is the people, whose Lord is the God of it. (And so we say, Happy be the people, who have things like we do; happy be the people, whose God is the Lord.)
145 The psalm of David. My God, king, I shall enhance thee; and I shall bless thy name into the world, and into the world of world. (The song of David, to the praising of God. My God and my King, I shall exalt thee; and I shall bless thy name forever and ever.)
2 By all days I shall bless thee; and I shall praise thy name into the world, and into the world of the world. (Every day I shall bless thee; and I shall praise thy name forever and ever.)
3 The Lord is great, and worthy to be praised full much; and none end there is of his greatness. (The Lord is great, and worthy to be greatly praised; and there is no end to his greatness.)
4 Generation and generation shall praise thy works; and they shall pronounce, either tell (a)far, thy power. (One generation shall praise thy works unto the next; and they shall declare, or shall tell of, thy power.)
5 They shall speak (of) the magnificence of the glory of thine holiness; and they shall tell (of all) thy marvels (and they shall declare all thy marvellous deeds).
6 And they shall say (of) the strength of thy fearedful things; and they shall tell (of) thy greatness.
7 They shall bring forth the mind of the abundance of thy sweetness; and they shall tell with full out joying (of) thy rightfulness. (They shall bring forth the remembrance of the abundance of thy goodness; and they shall sing with rejoicing about thy righteousness.)
8 The Lord is a merciful doer and merciful in will (The Lord is a giver of mercy, or of love, and merciful in will); patient, and much merciful.
9 The Lord is sweet in all things; and his merciful doings be above all his works. (The Lord is good to all; and his merciful doings be over, or upon, all his creatures.)
10 Lord, all thy works acknowledge to thee; and thy saints bless thee. (Lord, all thy creatures shall praise thee; and thy saints shall bless thee.)
11 They shall say [of] the glory of thy realm; and they shall speak (of) thy power. (They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom; and they shall tell of thy power.)
12 That they make thy power known to the sons of men (So that they make known thy power to all the people); and the glory of the magnificence of thy realm.
13 Thy realm is the realm of all worlds; and thy lordship is in all generation and into generation (Thy kingdom is a kingdom forever; and thy lordship, or thy rule, is for all generations). The Lord is faithful in all his words; and holy in all his works.
14 The Lord lifteth up all that fall down; and raiseth up all men hurtled down. (The Lord lifteth up all who fall down; and raiseth up all who be hurtled down.)
15 Lord, the eyes of all beasts hope in thee; and thou givest the meat of them in covenable time. (Lord, the eyes of all look with hope to thee; and thou givest them their food at the proper time.)
16 Thou openest thine hand; and thou [ful]fillest each beast with blessing. (Thou openest thy hand; and thou fulfillest each living creature with blessing/with what they need, or desire.)
17 The Lord is just in all his ways; and holy in all his works.
18 The Lord is nigh to all that inwardly call him; to all that inwardly call him in truth. (The Lord is near, or close, to all who call to him; to all who call to him in truth, or with sincerity.)
19 He shall do the will of them, that dread him; and he shall hear the beseeching of them, and he shall make them safe. (He shall fulfill the desires of those who fear him/of those who revere him; he shall hear their pleas, and he shall save them.)
20 The Lord keepeth all men loving him; and he shall lose all sinners. (The Lord keepeth safe all those who love him; but he shall destroy all the sinners.)
21 My mouth shall speak the praising of the Lord; and each man bless his holy name into the world, and into the world of world. (My mouth shall declare the praises of the Lord; let everyone bless his holy name forever and ever.)
2001 by Terence P. Noble