This book contains songs that the Israeli people sang. We call this book

Psalms

Book One

1

The people God is pleased with

1God is pleased with those who do not do what [MET] wicked people advise them to do,

and who do not imitate the behavior of [MET]sinful people,

and who do not join in with people who ◄ridicule/sneer at► God.

2Those whom God is pleased with delight in doing the things that he has instructed/taught us to do.

They read and think about Yahweh’s requirements, day and night.

3They constantly produce/do things that please God

just like fruit trees that have been planted along the banks of a stream produce fruit at the right time every year.

Like trees that never wither,

they succeed in everything that they do.

4But wicked people are not like that!

Wicked people are as worthless as chaff

that is blown away by the wind.

5Therefore, wicked people ◄will not be acquitted/will be condemned► [LIT] when God judges people,

and furthermore, sinful people will not even be present when God gathers righteous people together,

6because he guides and protects righteous people,

but the path that the wicked walk on leads them to where they will be destroyed/punished by God forever.

2

1◄Why do the leaders of nations rage against God?/It is foolish for the nations to be angry with God ► [RHQ].

◄Why do people plan to rebel against God even though it is in vain?/It is useless for people to plan to rebel against God► [RHQ]!

2The kings of the nations prepare to revolt;

the rulers plot together to fight against Yahweh and against his chosen king.

3They shout, “We should free ourselves from their control [MET];

we should not let them rule over us any longer!”

4But Yahweh, the one who sits on his throne in heaven, laughs at them;

he ridicules those rulers.

5Then, because he is angry with them, he rebukes them.

He causes them to be terrified when they realize that he will furiously punish them.

6Yahweh says, “I have installed my king on Zion, my sacred hill in Jerusalem.”

7And his king says, “I will proclaim what Yahweh has decreed.

He said to me, ‘It is as though you are my son;

today I have declared to everyone that it is as though [MET] I am your father.

8Ask me to give you the nations,

so that they belong to you to rule over them permanently,

and I will give them to you.

Even the most remote nations will be yours.

9You will defeat them completely [MET];

you will destroy them like people smash a clay pot with an iron rod [SIM].’”

10So then, you kings and other rulers on the earth, act wisely!

Heed what Yahweh is warning you!

11Serve Yahweh, fervently revering him;

Rejoice about what he has done for you, but tremble before him!

12Bow down humbly before his son!

If you do not do that, Yahweh will be angry,

and he will suddenly get rid of you.

Do not forget that he can very quickly show that he is very angry!

But he is very pleased with all those who request him to protect them [MET].

3

A psalm written by David when he fled from his son Absalom

1Yahweh, I have many enemies [DOU]!

There are many people who oppose/rebel against me.

2Many people are saying about me,

“God will certainly not help him!”

(Think about that!)

3But Yahweh, you are like a shield that protects me [MET].

You greatly honor me, and you encourage me (OR, enable me to triumph over my enemies) [IDM].

4I cry out to you, Yahweh,

and you answer me from Zion, your sacred hill.

(Think about that!)

5At night I lie down and sleep, and I awake in the morning feeling good/refreshed

because you, Yahweh, ◄take care of/protect► me all during the night.

6There may be thousands of enemy soldiers who surround me,

but I am not afraid.

7Yahweh, arise!

My God, come and rescue me again!

You insult my enemies by slapping them on their cheeks;

when you strike them, you break their teeth,

with the result that they cannot hurt anyone [MET].

8Yahweh, you are the one who saves your people from their enemies.

Yahweh, bless your people!

(Think about that!)

4

A psalm written by David for the choir director; a psalm to be accompanied by people playing stringed instruments

1God, answer me when I pray to you.

You are the one who vindicates me;

Rescue me from things that distress me.

Act mercifully toward me, and listen to me while I pray.

2How long will you people cause me to be disgraced instead of honoring me [RHQ]?

You people love to falsely accuse me.

(Think about that!)

3All those who are loyal to Yahweh,

he has chosen them to belong to him.

Yahweh listens to me when I pray to him.

4When you people get angry, do not allow your anger to control you and cause you to sin.

While you lie on your bed,

silently examine what you are thinking g.

(Think about that!)

5Also, offer to Yahweh the proper sacrifices,

and continue trusting in him.

6Some people ask, “Who will allow good things to happen to us?”

But I say, “Yahweh, continue to act kindly toward us.

7You have made me very happy;

I am happier than people who have harvested a great amount of grain and grapes.

8I can lie down at night and sleep soundly

because I know that you, Yahweh, will keep me safe.”

5

A psalm written by David for the choir director; a psalm to be accompanied by playing flutes

1Yahweh, listen to me while I pray!

Pay attention to me when I am groaning because I am suffering very much.

2You are my King and my God.

When I call to you to ask you to help me, listen to me,

because you are the one to whom I pray.

3Listen to me when I pray to you each morning,

and I wait for you to reply.

4You are not a god who is pleased with wicked people;

you do not ◄associate with/invite into your house► those who do what is evil.

5You do not allow those who are very proud to come to you to worship you.

You hate all those who do evil things.

6You get rid of liars,

and you despise those who murder others and those who deceive others.

7Yahweh, because you love me so much and so faithfully,

I come into your temple.

I revere you greatly,

and I bow down to worship you at your sacred temple.

8Yahweh, because you act righteously toward me,

show me what is right for me to do.

Because I have many enemies,

show me clearly what you want me to do.

9My enemies never say what is true;

they just want to destroy others.

The things that they say [MTY] are as foul as an open grave where a corpse is decaying.

They use their tongues to tell lies.

10O God, declare that they are guilty [MTY] and punish them.

Cause them to experience the same disasters/troubles that they plan to cause to happen to others.

Get rid of them because they have committed many sins,

and they have rebelled against you.

11But cause that all those who go to you to be protected will rejoice;

cause them to sing joyfully to you forever.

Protect those who love you [MTY];

they are truly happy because ◄of what you do for them/they belong to you►.

12Yahweh, you always bless those who act righteously;

you protect them like a soldier is protected by his shield [SIM].

6

A psalm written by David for the choir leader, to be accompanied by people playing stringed instruments

1Yahweh, do not punish me when you are angry with me;

Do not even rebuke/scold me when you are angry.

2Yahweh, be kind to me and heal me because I have become weak.

My body [SYN] shakes because I am experiencing much pain.

3Yahweh, I am greatly distressed.

How long ◄must I endure this/will it be before you help me► [RHQ]?

4Yahweh, please come and rescue me.

Save me because you faithfully love me.

5I will not be able to praise you after I die [RHQ];

No one in the place of the dead praises you.

6I am exhausted/groan from my pain.

At night I cry very much, with the result that my bed and my pillow become wet from my tears.

7My tears blur my eyes so much that I cannot see well.

My eyes have become weak because my enemies have caused me to cry constantly.

8You people who do evil things, get away from me!

9Yahweh heard me when I was crying and called out to him to help me,

and he will answer my prayer.

10When that happens, all my enemies will be ashamed,

and they will also be terrified.

They will get away from me and suddenly leave me

because they will be disgraced.

7

A psalm that David sang to Yahweh because of David’s enemy, Cush

1Yahweh my God, I come to you to protect me.

Rescue me, save me from all those who are pursuing me in order to harm me.

2If you do not do that, they will tear me into pieces

like a lion does when it attacks the animals it wants to kill,

and no one will save me from them.

3Yahweh my God, if I have done anything that is wrong,

4if I have done evil to some friend who did good things to me,

or if, for no good reason, I have spared (OR, acted violently toward) those who were my enemies,

5allow my enemies to pursue me and capture me.

Allow them to trample me into the ground

and leave me [SYN] lying dead in the dirt.

(Think about that!)

6But Yahweh, because you are very angry with those who pursue me,

arise and attack/defeat my enemies who are furiously/angrily attacking me

Do to them what is just!

7Gather around you the people of all nations,

and rule them from where you are in heaven [MTY].

8Yahweh, judge the people of all nations!

And, Yahweh, show that I have done nothing that is wrong.

9God, you know what every person is thinking,

and because you are righteous, you always do what is just/right.

So now stop evil people from doing wicked deeds,

and defend all of us who are righteous!

10God, you protect me like a shield protects soldiers [MET];

you protect all those who are righteous in their inner being.

11You judge everyone correctly,

and every day you punish wicked people.

12Whenever your enemies do not ◄repent/change their behavior►,

it is as though [MET] you sharpen your sword and put a string on your bow to get ready to kill them.

13You are preparing your weapons that kill those whom they strike;

the arrows that you will shoot have flaming tips.

14Wicked people tell lies,

and they think that they surely will be able to do [MET] the evil things that they are planning to do

just as surely as a pregnant woman knows that she is going to give birth to a child [MET].

15But when they dig a deep pit to trap others,

they themselves will fall into it.

16They themselves will experience the trouble that they want to cause others to have;

they will hurt themselves by the violent things that they want to do to others.

17I praise Yahweh because he always acts righteously/justly;

I sing to praise Yahweh, the one who is much greater than any other god.

8

A psalm written by David for the choir director, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument

1Yahweh, our Lord, people all over the world know that you [MTY] are very great!

Your glory reaches up higher than the heavens!

2You have taught little children and infants to praise you;

they cause your enemies and those who try to ◄get revenge on/get rid of► you to be silent.

3When I look up at the sky at night,

and see the things that you have made—

the moon and the stars that you have set in place—

4it is amazing to me that [RHQ] you think about people,

that you are concerned about us humans!

5You made the angels in heaven to be only a little more important than we are;

you caused us to be like kings [MET] and you gave us splendor and honor [DOU]!

6You put us in charge of everything that you made;

you gave us authority over all things—

7the sheep and the cattle,

and even the wild animals,

8the birds, the fish,

and everything else that swims in the seas.

9Yahweh, our Lord,

people all over the world know that you [MTY] are very great!

9

A psalm written by David for the choir director, to be sung using the tune ‘The death of my son’

1Yahweh, I will praise you with all of my inner being.

I will tell others about all the wonderful things that you have done.

2I will sing to celebrate what you [MTY], who are much greater than all other gods, have done.

3When my enemies realize that you are very powerful,

they stumble, and then they are killed.

4You sat on your throne to judge people,

and you have judged fairly/justly concerning me.

5You rebuked the people of other nations

and you have gotten rid of the wicked people;

you have erased their names forever.

6Our enemies have disappeared;

you destroyed their cities,

and people do not even remember them anymore.

7But Yahweh rules forever.

He judges people while he sits on his throne to judge people,

8and he will judge all the people in [SYN] the world justly;

he will judge the people of all nations fairly [DOU].

9Yahweh will be a refuge for those who are oppressed;

yes, he will be like a shelter for them when they have trouble.

10Those who know Yahweh [MTY] trust in him;

he never abandons those who come to him ◄for help/to worship him►.

11Yahweh rules from Zion Hill;

praise him while you sing to him.

Tell the people of all the nations the marvelous things that he has done.

12He does not forget to punish those who have murdered others;

and he will not ignore people who are crying because they are suffering.

13Yahweh, be merciful to me!

Look at the ways that my enemies have injured me.

Do not allow me to die because of these injuries.

14I want to live in order that I can praise you at the gates of Jerusalem [MTY]

and to rejoice because you rescued me.

15It is as though the wicked people of many nations have dug a pit for me to fall into [MET],

but they have fallen into that same pit.

It is as if they spread out a net to catch me [MET],

but their feet have been caught in that same net.

16Because of what you have done, people know that you decide matters fairly/justly,

but you allow wicked people to be trapped by the same evil things that they themselves do.

(Think about that!)

17Wicked people will all die and be buried in their graves,

and their spirits will go to be with all those who have ◄forgotten about/rejected► you.

18But you will not forget those who are needy/poor;

what they confidently expect will certainly happen.

19Yahweh, arise and judge the wicked people of the nations;

do not allow them to think that because they are strong they will never be punished.

20Yahweh, teach them to be terrified about you.

Cause them to know that they are merely human beings.

(Think about that!)

10

1Yahweh, ◄why are you far away from us?/it seems that you are far away from us. ► [RHQ]

Why do you not pay attention when we have troubles [RHQ]?

2People who are proud gladly cause poor people to suffer.

So cause what they do to others to happen to them! May they be caught in the same traps that they set to catch others [MET]!

3They brag about the evil things that they want to do.

They praise people who seize from others things that do not belong to them, and they curse you, Yahweh.

4Wicked people are very proud.

As a result, they do not ◄seek help from/are not concerned about► God;

they do not even think that God exists.

5But it seems that they succeed in everything that they do.

They do not think that they will be condemned/punished for their deeds,

and they ◄sneer at/make fun of► their enemies.

6They think, “Nothing bad will happen to us!

We will never have troubles!”

7When they talk [MTY], they are always cursing, lying, and threatening to harm others.

They constantly say [MTY] evil things that show that they are ready to do cruel things to others.

8They hide in villages, ready to ◄ambush/suddenly attack► and kill people who ◄are innocent/have done nothing wrong►.

They constantly search for people who will not be able to ◄resist/defend themselves► when they are attacked.

9They are like [MET] lions that crouch down and hide,

waiting to pounce on their prey.

They are like hunters that catch their prey with a net and then drag it away.

10Just like helpless animals are crushed,

people who cannot defend themselves are killed because wicked people are very strong.

11Wicked people say, “God will not pay any attention to what we do.

His eyes are covered, so he never sees anything.”

12Yahweh God, arise and help us

Punish [IDM] those wicked people!

And do not forget those who are suffering!

13Wicked people revile you [RHQ] continually.

They think, “God will never punish us!”

14But you see the trouble and the distress that they cause.

People who are suffering expect that you will help them;

and you help orphans, also.

15◄Break the arms/Destroy the power► of wicked [DOU] people!

Continue to pursue and punish them for the wicked things that they do, until they stop doing those things.

16Yahweh, you are our king forever,

but wicked nations will disappear from the earth.

17You have listened to afflicted/suffering people when they cry out to you.

You hear them when they pray, and you encourage [IDM] them.

18You show that orphans and oppressed people have not done things that are wrong,

with the result that human beings will not cause people to be terrified anymore.

11

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1I trust that Yahweh will protect [MTY] me.

So do not [RHQ] say to me, “You need to escape/flee to the mountains like birds do,

2because wicked people have hidden in the darkness,

they have pulled back their bowstrings and aimed their arrows

to shoot them at godly/righteous [IDM] people like you.

3When people are not punished for disobeying the laws,

◄what can righteous people do?/there is not much that righteous people can do.►” [RHQ]

4But Yahweh is sitting on his throne in his sacred temple in heaven,

and he [SYN] watches everything that people do.

5Yahweh examines what righteous people do and what wicked people do,

and he hates those who like to perform violent actions to injure others.

6He will send down from the sky flaming coals and burning sulfur,

and send scorching hot winds to punish wicked people.

7Yahweh is righteous and he loves those who act righteously;

righteous people are able to come into his presence.

12

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1Yahweh, help us!

It seems that people who are loyal to you have all vanished.

2Everyone tells lies to other people;

they deceive others by ◄flattering them/saying good things about them that they know are not true►.

3Yahweh, we wish that you would cut off their tongues

so that they cannot continue to boast.

4They say, “By telling lies we will get what we want;

we control what we say [MTY], so no one can tell us what we should not do!”

5But Yahweh replies, “I have seen the violent things that they have done to helpless people;

and I have heard those people groaning,

so I will arise and rescue the people who are wanting me to help them.”

6Yahweh, you always do what you have promised to do;

what you have promised is as precious and pure as silver

that has been heated seven times in a furnace to get rid of all the impure material.

7-8Wicked people strut around proudly,

and people praise them for doing vile/wicked deeds,

but Yahweh, we know that you will protect/rescue us

from those wicked people.

13

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1Yahweh, how long will you continue to forget about me [RHQ]?

Will you hide yourself [SYN] from me forever?

2How long must I endure anguish/worry?

Must I be miserable/sad every day?

How long will my enemies continue to defeat me?

3Yahweh my God, look at me and answer me.

Enable me to become strong again [IDM], and do not allow me to die.

4Do not allow my enemies to boast saying, “We have defeated him!”

Do not allow them to defeat me,

with the result that they will rejoice about it!

5But I trust that you will faithfully love me;

I will rejoice when you rescue me.

6Yahweh, you have done many good things for me,

so I will sing to you.

14

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1Only foolish people say to themselves, “There is no God!”

People who say those things are corrupt/worthless; they do abominable/detestable deeds;

there is not one of them who does what is good/right.

2Yahweh looks down from heaven and sees humans;

he looks to see if anyone is very wise,

with the result that he desires to know God.

3But they are all corrupt/evil;

no one does what is good/right.

4Will those evil people never learn what God will do to punish them [RHQ]?

They act violently toward Yahweh’s people while eating the food that he provides,

and they never pray to Yahweh.

5But some day they will become very terrified

because God helps those who act righteously and will punish those who reject him.

6Those who do evil may prevent helpless people from doing what they plan to do,

but Yahweh protects those helpless people [MET].

7I wish/desire that Yahweh would come from Jerusalem [MTY] and rescue us Israeli people!

Yahweh, when you bless your people again,

all of us Israeli people, who are the descendants of Jacob, will rejoice.

15

A psalm written by David

1Yahweh, who are allowed to enter your Sacred Tent?

Who are allowed to live on your sacred mountain?

2Only those who always do what is right and do not sin may do that.

They always say what is true

3and they do not slander others.

They do not do to others things that are wrong,

and they do not say bad things about others.

4Godly people hate those whom God has rejected,

but they respect those who revere Yahweh.

They do what they have promised to do

even if it causes them trouble to do that.

5They lend money to others without charging interest,

and they never accept bribes in order to lie about people who have not done what is wrong.

Those who do those things will never stop trusting God even if disastrous things happen to them.

16

A psalm written by David

1God, protect me

because I go to you to keep me safe!

2I said to Yahweh, “You are my Lord;

all the good things that I have come from you.”

3Your people who live in this land are wonderful;

I delight to be with them.

4Those who choose to worship other gods will have many things that cause them to be sad.

I will not join them when they make sacrifices to their gods;

I will not even join them when they speak [MTY] the names of their gods.

5Yahweh, you are the one whom I have chosen,

and you give me great blessings.

You protect me and control what happens to me.

6Yahweh has given me a wonderful place in which to live;

I am delighted with all the things that he has given me [MET].

7I will praise Yahweh, the one who teaches/disciplines me;

even at night he you put in my mind what is right for me to do.

8I know that Yahweh is always with me.

He is beside me;

so nothing will ◄perturb me/cause me to be worried►.

9Therefore I am glad and I [MTY, DOU] rejoice;

I can rest securely

10because you, Yahweh, will not allow my soul/spirit to remain in the place where the dead people are;

you will not allow me, your godly one, to stay there.

11You will show me the road that leads to receiving eternal life,

and you will make me joyful when I am with you.

I will have pleasure forever when I am ◄at your right hand/seated next to you►.

17

A psalm written by David

1Yahweh, listen to me while I plead with you to act justly toward me.

Hear me while I call out to you to help me.

Pay attention to what I say while I pray

because I am speaking [MTY] honestly/truthfully.

2You are the one who is able to declare that I ◄am innocent/have not done anything that was wrong►

because you see/know that I am telling the truth.

3You know what I think, even at night;

you have examined what I say and do,

and you know that I have determined to never tell any lies.

4I have not done like others do;

I have always done what is right [IDM],

and I have not acted cruelly toward others.

5I have always done what you told me to do [IDM],

I have ◄never failed to do/always done► [LIT] those things.

6O God, I pray to you because you answer me;

please listen [MTY] to what I am saying.

7Show me that you faithfully love me.

By your great power [MTY] rescue those who ◄run to/trust in► you to protect them from their enemies.

8Protect me as people carefully protect their own eyes;

protect me like birds protect their babies under their wings [MET].

9Do not allow wicked people to attack me;

my enemies surround me, wanting to kill me.

10They never pity [IDM] anyone,

and they are always boasting.

11They have hunted/searched for me and found me.

They surround me, watching for an opportunity to throw me to the ground.

12They are like lions [SIM] that are ready to tear apart the animals that they capture;

they are like young lions that are hiding, waiting to pounce on their prey.

13Yahweh, come and ◄oppose/fight against► my enemies and defeat them!

Use your sword to save me from those wicked people!

14Yahweh, by your power [MTY] rescue me from those people who are interested only in things here in this world.

But you provide plenty of food for those whom you love dearly;

their children also have many things that their grandchildren will inherit.

15Yahweh, because I act righteously, I will some day see you [SYN].

When I awake, I will see you face-to-face, and then I will be happy.

18

A psalm written by God’s servant David. He sang it after Yahweh had rescued him from Saul and his other enemies.

1Yahweh, I love you, the one who enables me to be strong.

2Yahweh is like an overhanging rock [DOU, MET] under which I can hide from my enemies;

he is like a strong fortress, the one who protects me;

he protects me like a shield [MET] protects a soldier;

he is the one to whom I go ◄for refuge/to be protected/safe►,

and he defends me by his great power [IDM].

3I called out to Yahweh, who deserves to be praised,

and he rescued me from my enemies.

4All around me were dangerous situations in which I might be killed [PRS];

it was as though there were huge waves [MET] that almost crashed on me and killed me.

5It was as though the place where dead people are had ropes that were wrapped around me,

or it was as though there was a trap [MET] that would seize and kill me.

6But when I was very distressed, I called out to Yahweh,

and from his temple he heard me.

He listened to me when I cried out for help.

7Then the earth quaked/shook strongly [DOU];

the mountains shook very strongly from their centers [DOU]

because Yahweh was angry.

8It was as though smoke poured out from his nostrils,

and as though burning coals came out of his mouth.

9He opened the sky and came down

with a black cloud under his feet.

10He flew, riding on the back of a creature that had wings,

traveling fast, blown along by the wind.

11Darkness was all around him like a blanket [MET];

dark clouds, full of moisture, covered him [MET].

12Hailstones and flashes of lightning were around him;

hail and burning coals fell from the sky.

13Then Yahweh spoke in a loud voice from the sky,

and his enemies heard his voice that sounded like thunder.

14He shot his arrows at them and caused them to scatter;

His flashes of lightning caused them to become very confused (OR, to run away).

15The bottom of the ocean became visible,

and the foundations of the earth were uncovered,

when Yahweh rebuked his enemies

when he snorted.

16It was as though he reached down from heaven and grabbed me

and pulled me up out of the deep ocean.

17He rescued me from my strong enemies who hated me;

they were very strong,

with the result that I could not defeat them.

18When I ◄was distressed/had troubles►, they attacked me,

but Yahweh defended/protected me.

19He led me to a place where I was safe;

he rescued me because he was pleased with me.

20Yahweh has rewarded me because I do what is right;

he has blessed me because I ◄am innocent/have not done things that are wrong►.

21I have obeyed Yahweh’s laws;

I have not abandoned him.

22My behavior was directed by his rules;

I have not stopped obeying them.

23He knows that I have not done what is wrong;

I have kept myself from sinning.

24So he rewards me because I do what is right;

he knows that I [SYN] have not committed sins.

25Yahweh, you are faithful to those who faithfully do what you tell them to do;

you always do what is good/right to those who do what you want them to do.

26You are kind to those who are kind to others,

but you act wisely toward those who ◄act perversely/do bad things►.

27You save those who are humble,

but you cause those who are proud to be humiliated/ashamed.

28You give light to my soul/spirit;

you take away the darkness of my soul.

29You enable me to be strong,

with the result that I can run and attack a line of enemy soldiers;

with your help I can ◄scale/climb up► the walls that surround my enemies’ cities.

30Everything that Yahweh my God does is perfect.

We can depend on him to do what he promises.

He is like a shield [MET] to protect all those who go to him for refuge.

31Yahweh is [RHQ] the only one who is God;

only he is like an overhanging rock under which we can be safe.

32God is the one who enables me to be strong

and who keeps me safe on the roads that I walk on.

33He enables me to walk swiftly without stumbling,

like a deer walks/runs in the mountains.

34He teaches me how to use a strong/metal bow

in order that I can use it to fight in battles.

35Yahweh, you protect and save me with your shield;

you have made me safe by your power [MTY].

I have become ◄strong/a great king► because you have helped me.

36You havecleared the road for me,

with the result that now I do not slip/stumble.

37I have pursued my enemies and caught them;

I did not stop until I had defeated/killed them all.

38When I strike them, they are not able to get up again;

they lie on the ground, defeated.

39You have enabled me to be strong

in order that I can fight battles and defeat my enemies.

40You caused my enemies to run away (OR, you enabled me to put my foot on my enemies’ necks after I captured them and forced them to lie on the ground);

I have gotten rid of all those who hated me.

41They called out for someone to help them,

but no one saved them.

42I pulverize them,

with the result that they become like [MET] the dust that the wind blows away;

I throw them out like [SIM] people throw dirt out into the streets.

43You enabled me to defeat those who fought against me,

and appointed me to be the ruler of many nations;

people whom I did not know about previously are now slaves in my kingdom.

44When foreigners hear about me,

they ◄cringe/bow low before me► and they obey me.

45They are no longer courageous,

and from their forts where they were hiding they come to me trembling.

46Yahweh is alive!

Praise the one who is like an overhanging rock [MET] under which I am safe

Exalt the God who saves me!

47He enables me to get revenge on my enemies;

he causes me to defeat nations and to rule over them,

48and he rescues me from my enemies.

He has lifted me up high so that violent men could not reach me and harm me.

49So I praise him and I tell the nations the great things that he has done.

50He has enabled me, his king, to powerfully defeat my enemies;

he faithfully loves me, David, the one he has chosen to be king, and he will faithfully love my descendants forever.

19

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1When people look at everything that God has placed in the skies, they can see that he is very great;

they can see the great things that he has created.

2Day after day it is as though the sun proclaims the glory of God,

and night after night it is as though the moon and stars say that they know that God made them.

3They do not really speak;

they do not say any words.

There is no voice from them for anyone to hear.

4But what they declare about God goes throughout the world,

and even people who live in the most distant/remote places on earth can know it.

The sun is in the skies where God placed it [MET];

5it rises each morning like a bridegroom who is happy as he comes out of his bedroom after his wedding.

It is like a strong athlete who is very eager to start running in a race.

6The sun rises at one side of the sky and goes across the sky and sets on the other side,

and nothing can hide from its heat.

7The instructions that Yahweh has given us are perfect;

they ◄revive us/give us new strength►.

We can be sure that the things that Yahweh has told us will never change,

and by learning them people who have not been previously taught/instructed will become wise.

8Yahweh’s laws are fair/just;

when we obey them, we become joyful.

The commands of Yahweh are clear,

and by reading them [PRS] we start to understand how God wants us to behave.

9It is good for people to revere Yahweh;

that is something that they will do forever.

What Yahweh has decided is fair,

and it is always right.

10The things that God has decided are more valuable than gold,

even the finest/purest gold.

They are sweeter than honey

that drips from honeycombs.

11Furthermore, by reading them I learn what things are good to do and what things are evil,

and they promise a great reward

to us who obey them.

12But there is no one who can know all his errors [RHQ];

so Yahweh, forgive me for these things which I do that I do not realize are wrong.

13Keep me from doing things that I know are wrong;

do not let my sinful desires control me.

If you do that, I will no longer be guilty for committing such sins,

and I will not commit the great sin of rebelling terribly against you.

14O Yahweh, you are like an overhanging rock [MET] under which I can be safe; you are the one who protects me.

I hope/desire that the things that I say and what I think will always please you.

20

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1I desire that Yahweh will answer you when you call out to him when you have troubles!

God is the one whom ◄our ancestor Jacob/the Israeli people► worshiped;

I desire that he will protect you [MTY] from being harmed by your enemies.

2I desire/hope that he will reach out from his sacred temple and help you,

and aid you from where he lives on Zion Hill.

3I desire/hope that he will accept all the offerings that you give him to be burned on the altar,

and all your other offerings.

(Think about that!)

4I want him to give to you what you desire,

and that you will be able to accomplish all that you desire to do.

5When we hear that you have defeated your enemies, we will shout joyfully.

We will lift up a banner proclaiming that it is God [MTY] who helps us (inc).

I want Yahweh to do for you all that you request him to do.

6I know now that Yahweh rescues me, the one whom he has chosen to be king.

From his holy place in heaven he will answer me,

and he will save me by his great power [MTY].

7Some kings trust that because they have chariots they will be able to defeat their enemies,

and some trust that their horses will enable them to defeat their enemies,

but we will trust in the power [MTY] of Yahweh our God.

8Some kings will stumble and fall down,

but we will be strong and ◄not be moved/continue standing firm►.

9Yahweh, enable me, your king, to defeat our enemies!

Answer us when we call out to you to help us.

21

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1Yahweh, ◄I, your king am glad/the king is glad► because you have caused me/him to be strong.

◄I rejoice/he rejoices► greatly because you have rescued me/him from my/his enemies.

2You have given me/him the things that I/he [SYN] desired

and you have not refused to do what I requested you to do.

(Think about that!)

3In answer to my/his prayer, you enabled me/him to succeed and prosper.

You placed a gold crown on my/his head.

4I/He asked you to enable me/him to live for a long time,

and that is what you gave me/him, a very long [HYP] life.

5◄I am/He is► greatly honored because you have helped me/him to defeat my/his enemies;

you have made me/him famous.

6You will bless me/him forever,

and you have caused me/him to be joyful in your presence.

7Yahweh, you are God Almighty,

and ◄I trust/the king trusts► in you.

Because you faithfully love me/him,

disastrous things will never happen to me/him.

8You will enable me/him to capture [MTY] all my/his enemies

and all those who hate me/him.

9When you appear, you will throw them into a fiery furnace.

Because you are angry with them, you will get rid of them;

the fire will burn them up.

10You will remove their children from this earth;

their descendants will all disappear.

11They planned to harm you,

but what they plan will never succeed.

12You will cause them to run away [IDM]

by shooting arrows at them.

13Yahweh, show us that you are very strong!

When you do that, while we sing we will praise you because you are very powerful.

22

A psalm written by David for the choir director, to be sung to the tune ‘Doe of the Dawn’

1My God, my God, why have you abandoned/deserted me?

Why do you stay so far from me,

and why do you not hear/help me [RHQ]?

Why do you not hear me when I am groaning?

2My God, every day I call to you during the daytime and during the night,

but you do not answer me, so I am not able to sleep.

3But you are holy.

You sit on your throne as king, and we the people of Israel praise you [PRS].

4Our ancestors trusted in you.

Because they trusted in you, you rescued them.

5When they cried out to you, you saved them.

They trusted in you, and ◄they were not disappointed/you saved them as you said that you would►.

6But you have not rescued me

People despise me and consider that I am not a man;

they think that I am as worthless as a worm!

Everyone [HYP] scorns me and despises me.

7Everyone who sees me [HYP] makes fun of me.

They sneer at me and insult me by shaking their heads at me as though I were an evil man.

They say,

8“He trusts in Yahweh,

so Yahweh should save him!

He says that Yahweh is very pleased with him;

if that is so, Yahweh should rescue him!”

9Why do you not protect me now as you did when I was born?

I was safe even when I was ◄nurssing/drinking milk from my mother’s breasts►.

10It was as though you adopted me right when I was born.

You have ◄been my God/taken care of me► ever since I was born.

11So, ◄do not stay far from/stay close to► [LIT] me now

because enemies who will cause me much trouble are near me,

and there is no one else who can help me.

12My enemies surround me like a herd/group of wild bulls.

Fierce people, like those strong bulls that graze on the hills in Bashan area, encircle me.

13They are like roaring lions that are attacking the animals that they want to kill [MET] and eat;

they rush toward me to kill me;

they are like lions that have their mouths open, ready to tear their victims to pieces [MET].

14I am completely exhausted [MET],

and all my bones are out of their joints/places.

I no longer expect that God will save me;

that expectation is gone completely, like wax that has melted away.

15My strength is all dried up [MET]

like a broken piece of a clay jar that has dried in the sun.

I am so thirsty that my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.

O God, I think that you are about to let me die and become dirt!

16My enemies [MET] surround me like a pack/group of wild dogs.

A group of evil men has encircled me, ready to attack me.

They have already smashed my hands and my feet.

17I am so weak and thin that my bones can be seen and counted.

My enemies stare at me and ◄gloat/are happy► about what has happened to me.

18They looked at the clothes that I was wearing

and gambled to determine which piece each of them would get.

19O Yahweh, do not stay far away from me!

You who are my source of strength,

come quickly and help me!

20Rescue me from those who want to kill me with their swords.

Save me from those who are like wild/fierce dogs [MET].

21Snatch me away from my enemies who are like lions whose jaws are already open, ready to chew me up

Grab me away from those men who are like wild oxen that attack other animals with their horns [MET]!

22But you have saved me, so I will declare to my fellow Israelis how great you [MTY] are.

I will praise you among the group of your people gathered together to worship you.

23You people who have an awesome respect for Yahweh, praise him!

All you who are descended from Jacob, honor Yahweh!

All you Israeli people, revere him!

24He does not despise or ignore those who are suffering;

he does not hide ◄his face/himself► from them.

He has listened to them when they cried out to him for help.

25Yahweh, in the great gathering of your people, I will praise you for what you have done.

In the presence of those who revere you, I will offer the sacrifices that I promised.

26The poor people whom I have invited to the meal will eat as much as they want.

All who come worship Yahweh will praise him.

I pray that God will enable you all to live a long and happy life!

27I pray that people in all nations, even in the remote areas, will think about Yahweh and turn to him,

and that people from all the clans in the world will bow down before him.

28Because Yahweh is the king!

He rules all the nations.

29I desire that all the rich people on the earth will bow before him.

Some day they will die,

but I want them to prostrate themselves on the ground in his presence before they die.

30People ◄in the future generations/who have not been born yet► will also serve Yahweh.

Our descendants will be told about what Yahweh has done.

31People who are not yet born, who will live in future years, will be told how Yahweh rescued his people.

People will tell them, “Yahweh did it!”

23

1Yahweh, you care for me like a shepherd cares for his sheep.

So I have everything that I need.

2You encourage me

and give me peace;

you are like a shepherd

who leads his sheep to places where there is plenty of green grass for them to eat,

and lets them rest beside streams where the water is flowing slowly.

3You renew my strength.

You guide me along the roads that are the right ones for me

in order that I can honor you.

4Even when I am walking through very dangerous dark ravines

where I might be killed,

I will not be afraid of anything

because you are with me.

You protect me like a shepherd protects his sheep.

He uses his club and his walking stick to protect them from being attacked by wild animals.

5You prepare a great feast for me,

in a place where my enemies can see me.

You joyfully receive me, as people joyfully receive the guests they have invited

by pouring olive oil over their heads.

You have given me very many blessings!

6I am certain that you will be good to me

and act mercifully toward me

as long as I live;

and then, O Yahweh, I will live in your home in heaven forever.

24

A psalm written by David

1The earth and everything in it belongs to Yahweh;

all the people in the world belong to him, too,

2because he caused the ground to be above the water,

above the water that was deep below the surface of the earth.

3Who will be allowed to go up on Zion Hill in Jerusalem,

in order to stand and worship in Yahweh’s holy temple?

4Only those whose actions [MTY] and thoughts are pure,

who have not worshiped idols,

and who do not tell lies when they have solemnly promised to tell the truth.

5◄They will be blessed by Yahweh/Yahweh will bless them►.

When God judges them, he, who has saved them, will say that they ◄have done nothing wrong/are without fault►.

6They are the ones who approach God,

they are the ones who may worship God, the one we Israelis worship.

(Think about that!)

7Open up [APO] the temple gates

in order that our glorious king may enter!

8Do you know who the glorious king is?

He is Yahweh, the one who is very strong [DOU];

He is Yahweh, who conquers all his enemies in battles!

9Open up the temple gates

in order that our glorious king may enter!

10Do you know who the glorious king is?

He is Yahweh almighty;

he is our glorious king!

(Think about that!)

25

A psalm written by David

1Yahweh, my God,, I give myself to you.

2I trust in you.

Do not allow my enemies to defeat me,

with the result that I would be ashamed/disgraced.

Do not allow my enemies to defeat/conquer me,

with the result that they would rejoice.

3Do not allow any of those who trust in you to be disappointed/disgraced.

Cause those who ◄act treacherously toward/try to deceive► others to be disappointed/disgraced.

4Yahweh, show me the way that I should ◄conduct my life/live as you want me to►,

teach me how to act in the manner that you want me to act/behave.

5Teach me to conduct my life by obeying your truth

because you are my God, the one who saves me.

All the time I trust in you.

6Yahweh, do not forget how you have acted mercifully to me and have faithfully loved me;

that is the way that you have acted toward me from long ago.

7Forgive me for all the sinful things I did and the ways that I rebelled against you when I was young;

I ask this because you faithfully love your people and do good things for them,

Yahweh, do not forget me!

8Yahweh is good and fair/just;

therefore he shows sinners ◄how they should conduct their lives/how to live as you want them to►.

9He shows humble people what is right for them to do

and teaches them what he wants them to do.

10He always faithfully loves and does what he has promised

to those who keep his agreement with them and who do what he requires.

11Yahweh, forgive me for all my sins, which are many,

in order that I may honor you [MTY].

12To all those who revere you [RHQ],

you show them the ◄right way to conduct their lives/things that they should do►.

13They will always be prosperous,

and their descendants will continue to live in this land.

14Yahweh is a friend of those who have an awesome respect for him,

and he teaches them the agreement that he made with them.

15I always ask [MTY] Yahweh to help me,

and he rescues me from danger [MET].

16Yahweh, pay attention to me and be merciful to me, because I am alone,

and I am very distressed because I am suffering/oppressed.

17Help me to not worry,

and rescue me from my troubles.

18Note that I am distressed and troubled [DOU],

and forgive me for all my sins.

19Also note that I have many enemies,

see that they hate me very much.

20Protect me, and rescue me from them;

do not allow them to defeat me,

with the result that I would be ashamed/disgraced;

I have come to you to ◄get refuge/be safe►.

21Protect me because I do what is good and honest/just [PRS],

and because I trust in you.

22God, rescue us Israeli people from all of our troubles!

26

A psalm written by David

1Yahweh, show that I ◄am innocent/have not done what is wrong►.

I always do what is right;

I have trusted in you and never doubted that you would help me.

2Yahweh, examine what I have done and test me;

thoroughly evaluate what I think [IDM].

3I never forget that you faithfully love me,

I conduct my life according to your truth.

4I do not spend my time with liars

and I stay away from hypocrites.

5I do not like to be with evil people,

and I avoid wicked people.

6Yahweh, I wash my hands to show that I ◄am innocent/have not done what was wrong►.

As I join with others marching around your altar,

7we sing songs to thank you,

and we tell others the wonderful things that you have done.

8Yahweh, I love to be in the temple where you live,

in the place where your glory appears.

9Do not get rid of me like you get rid of sinners;

do not cause me to die like you cause those who murder [MTY] people to die,

10and people who [SYN] are ready to do wicked things

and people who are always taking bribes.

11But as for me, I always try to do what is right.

So be kind to me and rescue me.

12I stand in places where I am safe,

and when all your people gather together, I praise you.

27

A psalm written by David

1Yahweh is the one who gives light to my soul/spirit and the one who saves me,

so I do not [RHQ] need to be afraid of anyone.

Yahweh is the one to whom I go for refuge,

so I will never be afraid.

2When those who do evil come near me to attack me,

they stumble and fall down.

3Even if an army surrounds me,

I [SYN] will not be afraid.

Even if they attack me,

I will trust in God.

4There is one thing that I have requested from Yahweh;

this is the one thing that I desire:

That I may worship in Yahweh’s house/temple every day of my life,

and see that Yahweh is wonderful

and inquire what he wants me to do.

5He will protect me when I have troubles;

he will keep me safe in his Sacred Tent.

He will set me safely ◄on a high rock/in a secure place►.

6Then I will triumph over [IDM] my enemies.

I will shout joyfully as I offer sacrifices in his Sacred Tent,

and I will praise Yahweh as I sing.

7Yahweh, listen to me while I pray.

Be kind to me and answer my prayer.

8I sensed that I heard you say, “Come and worship me [IDM],”

so, Yahweh, I will worship you.

9I am your servant;

Do not be angry with me and turn away from me.

You have always helped me.

You are the one who has saved me,

so do not abandon me now.

10Even if my father and mother desert me,

you will take care of [IDM] me.

11Yahweh, teach me to do what you want me to do,

and lead me on a safe path

because I have many enemies.

12Do not allow my enemies to do to me what they want;

they say many false things about me and threaten to do violent things to me.

13But I know that because I trust in you

you will be good to me as long as I live.

14So trust in Yahweh, all of you!

Be strong and courageous,

and wait expectantly for him to help you!

28

A psalm written by David

1Yahweh, I call out to you;

you are like an overhanging rock under which I can hide.

Do not refuse to answer me,

because if you are silent, I will soon be with those who are in their graves.

2Listen to me when I call out for you to help me,

when I pray, lifting up my hands as I face your sacred temple.

3Do not drag me away with wicked people,

with those who do wicked deeds,

with those who pretend to act peacefully toward others

while in their inner beings, they hate them.

4Punish those people in the way that they deserve for what they have done;

punish them for their evil deeds [DOU].

5Yahweh, they do not pay attention to the wonderful things that you have done and that you have created;

so get rid of them permanently and do not let them appear again!

6Praise Yahweh

because he has heard me when I called out for him to help me!

7Yahweh makes me strong and protects me like a shield [MET];

I trusted in him, and he helped me.

I was glad,

and from my inner being I praised him as I sang to him.

8Yahweh causes us to be strong and protects us;

and he saves me, the one he appointed [MTY] to be king.

9Yahweh, save/rescue your people;

bless those who belong to you.

Take care of them like a shepherd takes care of his sheep [MET];

take care of them forever.

29

A psalm written by David

1You angels in heaven, praise Yahweh!

Praise him because he is very glorious and powerful.

2Proclaim that ◄he/his name► is glorious;

bow down before Yahweh in his holy temple.

3Yahweh’s voice is heard above the oceans;

tYahweh, the glorious God, thunders.

His voice thunders over the huge oceans [DOU].

4His voice is powerful and majestic.

5The sound of Yahweh’s voice breaks great cedar trees,

the cedars that grow in Lebanon.

6He causes the mountains in Lebanon to jump like calves jump,

and causes Hermon Mountain to jump like a young bull jumps.

7Yahweh’s voice causes lightning to flash.

8His voice causes the desert to shake;

he shakes Kadesh Desert in the southern part of Judah.

9Yahweh’s voice shakes the huge oak trees

and strips the leaves from the trees

while the people in the temple shout, “Praise God!”

10Yahweh ruled over the flood that covered the earth;

he is our King who will rule forever.

11Yahweh enables his people to be strong,

and he blesses them by causing things to go well for them.

30

A psalm written by David for the dedication of the temple

1Yahweh, I praise you because you rescued me.

You did not allow me to die,

with the result that my enemies could gloat/rejoice.

2Yahweh, my God, I called out for you to help me when I was ill,

and you healed me.

3You saved/restored me when I was dying [MTY].

I was nearly dead,

but you caused me to get well again.

4All you who belong to Yahweh, sing praise to him!

Think about what God, the holy one, has done, and thank him!

5When he becomes angry, he is angry for only a very short time [HYP],

but he is good to us all of our life.

We may cry during the night,

but the next morning we will be joyful.

6As for me, when I had no troubles, I said to myself,

“No one will defeat me!”

7Yahweh, because you were good to me,

at first you caused me to be safe as though I was inside [MET] a mountain.

But then I became ill, and I thought that you had turned away from me,

and I became afraid.

8Then I called out to you,

and I pleaded for you to help me.

9I said, “Yahweh, ◄what will you gain if I die?/ you won’t gain anything if I die►[MTY].

◄In what way will it benefit you?/it won’t benefit you at all► if I go to the place where the dead people are [RHQ].

Dead people are certainly not able to praise you [RHQ],

and they are not able to tell others that you are trustworthy [RHQ]!

10Yahweh, listen to me, and be merciful to me!

Yahweh, help me!”

11But now you have healed me, and you have caused me to change from being sad to dancing joyfully.

You have taken away the clothes that showed that I was very sad

and you have given me clothes that showed that I was very joyful.

12So I will not be silent;

I will sing out loudly to praise you.

Yahweh, you are my God,

and I will thank you forever.

31

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1Yahweh, I have come to you to be protected;

do not allow me to be defeated, with the result that I am disgraced.

Since you always do what is fair/right,

rescue me!

2Listen to me, and save me right now!

Be like a huge rock under which I can hide [MET]

and like a strong fort in which I will be safe.

3Yes, you are like my huge rock and my fort;

guide me and lead me [DOU] in order that I can honor you [MTY].

4You are the one who protects me,

so keep me from falling into the hidden traps that my enemies have set for me.

5Yahweh, you are a God who can be trusted,

so I put myself into your care

because you rescued me.

6Yahweh, I hate those who worship useless idols,

but I trust in you.

7I will be very glad [DOU] because you faithfully love me.

You see me when I have been afflicted,

and you have known when I have had troubles.

8You have not allowed my enemies to capture me;

instead, you have rescued me from danger.

9But now, Yahweh, be kind to me again

because I am distressed.

Because I cry so much, I cannot see well,

and I am completely exhausted.

10I have become very weak because I am so miserable,

and it is causing my life to become shorter.

I have become weak because of all my troubles;

even my bones are becoming weaker.

11All of my enemies make fun of me,

and even my neighbors despise me.

Even my friends are afraid of me because they think I am being punished by God,

and when they see me on the streets, they run away.

12People have forgotten me like they forget people who are dead.

They think I am as useless as a broken pot.

13I have heard people slandering me,

and they have caused me to become terrified.

My enemies are making plans

in order to kill me.

14But Yahweh, I trust in you.

You are my God.

15My whole life [MTY] is in your hands;

save me from my enemies,

from those who pursue me.

16Be kind to me

and rescue me because you always faithfully love me.

17Yahweh, I call out to you,

so do not allow me to be disgraced.

I desire that wicked people will be disgraced;

I want them to soon die and go down to the place where the dead people are.

18I desire that you will cause people [MTY] who tell lies to be unable to speak.

Do that to people who are proud and those who arrogantly accuse righteous people.

19You have stored up many blessings for those who revere you.

You do those good things for those who go to you to be protected;

everyone sees you doing that.

20You hide people in your presence where it is safe,

and protect them from people who plot to kill them.

You hide them in safe places from their enemies [MTY] who accuse/insult them.

21Praise Yahweh!

When my enemies surrounded the city in which I was living,

he showed me in a wonderful way that he faithfully loves me.

22I was afraid, and I cried out, “I have been separated from Yahweh!”

but you heard me and answered my cry for help.

23You people who belong to Yahweh, love him!

Those who are loyal to him, he protects,

but those who are very proud, he punishes them severely like they deserve to be punished.

24You who confidently expect Yahweh to do great things for you,

be strong, be courageous!

32

A psalm written by David, a psam which will help people to be wise

1Those whom God has forgiven for rebelling against him,

whose stains [MET] of sin have been wiped away,

are truly blessed by God!

2Those whose record of their sins Yahweh has erased,

those who no longer do deceitful things,

are truly blessed by God*!

3When I did not confess my sins,

◄my body/I► was very weak and sick,

and I groaned ◄all day long/continually►.

4Day and night, Yahweh, you [SYN] punished me severely.

My strength drained away like water that ◄evaporates/dries up► on a hot summer day.

(Think about that!)

5Then/Finally I admitted/confessed my sins to you;

I stopped trying to hide them.

(Think about that!)

I said to myself,

“I will confess to Yahweh the wrong things that I have done.”

And when I confessed them, you forgave me,

so now I ◄am no longer guilty/will no longer be punished► for my sins.

6Therefore, the people who are godly should pray to you

when they ◄ realize that they have sinned/have difficulties►.

If they pray to yout, difficulties [MET] will not overwhelm them like a great flood.

7You are like a place where I can hide from my enemies [MET],

you protect me from troubles,

and you ◄enable me/ put people around me who will enable me► to shout, praising you for saving me from my enemies.

(Think about that!)

8Yahweh says, “I will teach you about how you should conduct your life.

I will instruct you and watch over you.

9Do not be stupid like horses and mules that do not have understanding;

they need ◄bits/pieces of metal put in their mouths► and ◄bridles/ropes fastened to their head►

so they will go in the direction you want them to go.”

10Wicked people will have many troubles that will make them sad,

but those who trust in Yahweh will experience him faithfully loving them all the time.

11So, all you righteous people, rejoice about what Yahweh has done for you;

you whose ◄inner beings/lives► are pure, be glad and shout joyfully!

33

1You righteous people should sing joyfully to Yahweh

because that is what he deserves.

2Praise Yahweh as you play songs on the lyre/harp.

Praise him as you play other instruments that have many strings.

3Sing a new song to him;

Play those instruments well, and shout joyfully as you play them!

4Yahweh always does what he says that he will do;

we can trust that everything that he does is right.

5He loves everything that we do that is just and right.

People all over the earth can know that Yahweh faithfully loves us.

6Yahweh created everything in the sky by commanding it.

By what he said [MTY] he created all the stars.

7He gathered all the water into one huge mass

like someone scoops liquid into a container.

8Everyone on the earth should revere Yahweh [DOU].

9When he spoke, the world ◄was created/started to exist►.

Everything started to exist as a result of him commanding it.

10Yahweh frustrates the things that the pagan nations decide to do.

He prevents them from doing the evil things that they plan to do.

11But what Yahweh decides to do will last forever.

What he plans to do will never be changed.

12Yahweh blesses those nations who choose him to be their God;

He is pleased with those whom he has chosen to receive what he has promised.

13Yahweh looks down from heaven and sees all us people;

14from where he rules [MTY], he looks down on all the people who live on the earth.

15He formed our inner beings,

and he sees everything that we do.

16It is not because a king has a great army that he is able to win battles,

and it is not because a soldier is very strong that he is able to defeat his enemy.

17It is foolish to trust that because horses are very strong

that they will able to win a battle and save their riders.

18Do not forget that Yahweh watches over those who revere him,

those who confidently expect him to faithfully love them.

19He saves them [SYN] from dying before they should die

and preserves them when there is a famine.

20We trust that Yahweh will help us;

he protects us like a shield protects a soldier [MET].

21We rejoice because of what he has done for us;

we trust in him because he [MTY] is holy.

22Yahweh, we pray that you will always faithfully love us

while we confidently expect you to do great things for us.

34

A psalm written by David when he pretended to be insane in front of King Abimelech, so that the king would send him away

1I will always thank Yahweh;

I will constantly praise him [MTY].

2I will boast about what Yahweh has done.

All those who are oppressed/discouraged should hear me and rejoice.

3Join with me in telling others that Yahweh is great!

You and I should together proclaim how glorious he is!

4I prayed to Yahweh, and he ◄answered my prayer/did what I asked him to do►;

he rescued me from all those who caused me to be afraid.

5Those who trust [IDM] that he will help them will be joyful;

◄they will never be disappointed/he will always do for them the things that he promises► [LIT].

6I was miserable/helpless, but I called out to Yahweh, and he heard me.

He rescued me from all my troubles.

7An angel from Yahweh guards those who revere him,

and the angel rescues them.

8Find out for yourself, and you will experience that Yahweh is good to you!

He is very pleased with those who ask him to protect them.

9All you who belong to him, revere him!

Those who do that will always have the things that they need [LIT].

10Lions are usually very strong, but sometimes even young lions are hungry and become weak,

but those who trust in Yahweh will ◄have everything/not lack any good thing► [LIT] that they need.

11You ◄who are my students/whom I teach►, come and listen to me,

and I will teach you how to revere Yahweh.

12If [RHQ] any of you wants to enjoy life

and have a good long life,

13do not say anythoing that is evil!

Do not tell lies!

14Turn away from doing evil, and do what is good!

Always try hard to enable people to live peacefully with each other.

15Yahweh [MTY] carefully watches over those who act righteously;

he always responds [MTY] to them when they call to him for help.

16But Yahweh [SYN] ◄is opposed to/turns away from► those who do what is evil.

And after they die, people will forget them completely.

17Yahweh hears righteous people when they call out to him;

he rescues them from all their troubles.

18Yahweh is always ready to help those who are discouraged;

he rescues those who have nothing good to hope for.

19Righteous people may have many troubles,

but Yahweh rescues them from all those troubles.

20Yahweh protects them from being harmed;

when their enemies attack them,

they will not break any bones of those righteous people.

21Wicked people will be killed by their own evil deeds (OR, by people doing to them the same evil things that the wicked do to others) [PRS],

and Yahweh will punish those who oppose righteous people.

22Yahweh will save those who serve him.

He will ◄not condemn/forgive► [LIT] those who trust in him.

35

A psalm written by David

1Yahweh, fight against those who fight against me!

Fight against my enemies when they fight me!

2Be like a shield [DOU] to protect me

and come to help me!

3Lift up your spear [DOU] and throw it at those who pursue me!

Promise me that you will enable me to defeat my enemies.

4Cause those who are trying to kill me to be defeated and disgraced!

Cause those who are planning to do evil things to me to be pushed back and become confused!

5Send your angel to pursue them,

and as a result cause them to disappear like chaff/straw blown away by the wind!

6Cause the path on which they run to be dark and slippery

as your angel pursues them!

7Although I did not do anything wrong to them,

they concealed a deep pit for me to fall into;

they hid a net in which they would catch me.

8Cause them to suddenly experience disaster!

Cause them to be trapped in their own nets!

Cause them to fall into the pits that they have dug for me and disappear!

9Then I will be joyful about what you, Yahweh, have done for me,

I will be glad that you have rescued me.

10With my whole inner being [SYN] I will say,

“There is no one like Yahweh [RHQ]!

No one else can rescue helpless people from powerful people [RHQ].

No one else can rescue weak and needy people from those who want to rob them.”

11People who tell lies stand in court

and falsely accuse me of doing things that I do not know anything about.

12In return for my doing good things for them, they do evil things to me,

with the result that I feel that I am alone.

13When they were ill, I showed that I was sad.

I did not eat any food, and I bowed my head as I prayed for them.

14I mourned and bowed my head as I prayed

as though it was a friend or my mother for whom I was grieving.

15But when I had troubles, they were all happy about it.

They gathered around to make fun of me.

Strangers struck me,

and they would not stop.

16Worthless people ridicule me

and snarl at me.

17Yahweh, how long will you only watch them doing this?

Rescue me from their attacking me;

Save me from being killed by these men who are attacking me

like [MET] lions that are attacking other animals

18Then, when many of your people gather,

I will praise you

and I will thank you in front of all of them.

19Do not allow my enemies, who tell lies about me, defeat me

and then rejoice!

Do not allow those who hate me when there in no reason to hate me

to ◄smirk/smile happily►!

20They do not talk peacefully to people;

instead, they seek ways to tell lies about people who are peaceful.

21They shout at me, to accuse me,

saying, “We saw the wrong things that you did!”

22Yahweh, you have seen these things, so do not be silent!

Do not stay far from me!

23Arise, my God, and plead my case in court,

and successfully defend me!

24Yahweh, my God, because you are righteous,

prove that I am innocent

in order that my enemies will not be able to gloat that I was judged to be guilty.

25Do not allow them to be able to say to themselves,

“Yes, we have gotten rid of him [IDM] just like we desired!”

26Cause those who rejoice about my misfortunes

to be completely defeated and disgraced;

cause those who boast that they are much greater than me

to be disgraced and dishonored!

27But cause those who desire that I be acquitted

to be happy and shout joyfully,

and cause them to continually say, “Yahweh is great!

He is delighted to cause things to go well for those who serve him.”

28Then I will proclaim that you act righteously,

and I will praise you all day long.

36

A psalm written for the choir director by David, a man who served God faithfully

1Wicked people continually desire to sin.

They consider [IDM] that they do not need to revere God.

2Because they are very proud,

they do not think that God will discover their sins and condemn them (OR, they do not think about their sins and hate themselves for it).

3Everything that they say is deceitful and full of lies;

they no longer do what is good

and are no longer wise.

4While they are lying on their beds, they plan to do things to harm others;

they are determined to do things that are not good,

and they never refuse to do what is evil.

5Yahweh, your faithful love for us reaches as high as the heavens,

you faithfully do what you have promised;

it is as though your doing that extends up to the clouds.

6Your righteous behavior is as permanent as the highest mountains [MET],

your acting justly will continue as long as the deepest oceans exist.

You take care of people and you take care of animals.

7God, your faithful love for us is very precious.

You protect us like birds protect their baby birds under their wings [MET].

8You provide for us plenty of food from the abundant supply [IDM] that you have;

your great blessings for us flow like a river.

9You are the one who causes everything to live;

your light is what enables us to see.

10Continue to faithfully love those who have experienced a relationship with you,

and bless those who act righteously/justly.

11Do not allow proud people [SYN] to attack me,

or allow wicked people to chase me away.

12Look where evil people have fallen on the ground, defeated;

they were thrown down, and they will never rise again.

37

A psalm written by David

1Do not be bothered/upset by what wicked people do.

Do not desire to have the things that people who do wrong/evil have,

2because they will soon disappear, like grass withers in the hot sun and dries up.

Just like some green plants come up but die during the hot summer,

evil people will soon die also.

3Trust in Yahweh, and do what is good;

if you do that, you will live safely in the land that he has given you,

and you will live peacefully [MET].

4Be delighted with all that Yahweh does for you;

if you do that, he will give you the things that you desire most.

5Commit to Yahweh all the things that you plan to do;

trust in him,

and he will do whatever is needed to help you.

6He will show as clearly as the sunlight that you ◄are innocent/have done nothing that is wrong►;

he will show as clearly as the sun at noontime [SIM]

that all the things that you have decided are just.

7Be quiet in Yahweh’s presence, and wait patiently for him to do what you want him to do.

Do not be bothered/upset when what evil men do is successful,

when they are able to do the wicked things that they plan.

8Do not be angry about what wicked people do.

Do not want to punish them yourself.

Do not be envious of such people

because you will only harm yourself if you try to envy them.

9Some day Yahweh will get rid of wicked people,

but those who trust in Yahweh will live safely in the land that he has given to them.

10Soon the wicked will disappear.

If you look for them, they will be gone.

11But those who are humble will live safely in their land.

They will happily enjoy living peacefully and having the other good things that Yahweh gives them.

12Wicked people plan to harm righteous/godly people;

they snarl at them [MET] like wild animals.

13But Yahweh laughs at them

because he knows that some day [MTY] he will judge and punish the wicked people.

14Wicked people pull out their swords/daggers

and they put strings on their bows,

ready to kill people who are poor [DOU]

and to slaughter those who live righteously.

15But they will be killed by their own swords/daggers,

and their bows will be broken.

16It is good to be righteous/godly even if you do not have many possessions,

but it is bad to be wicked, even if you are very wealthy,

17because Yahweh will completely take away the strength of wicked people,

but he will ◄sustain/take care of► people who live righteously.

18Every day Yahweh cares about those who have not done any evil things;

the things that Yahweh gives them will last forever.

19They will survive when calamities occur;

when there are famines, they will still have plenty to eat.

20But wicked people will die;

just like the beautiful wild flowers in the fields die under the hot sun and disappear like smoke [MET],

Yahweh will cause his enemies to suddenly disappear.

21The wicked people borrow money, but they are not able to repay it;

righteous/godly people, in contrast, have enough money that they can give generously to others.

22Those whom Yahweh has blessed will live safely in the land that he has given to them,

but he will get rid of those people whom he has cursed.

23Yahweh protects those who do what is pleasing to him,

and he will enable them to walk confidently, wherever they go;

24even if they stumble, they will not fall down,

because Yahweh holds them by his hand.

25I was young previously, and now I am an old man,

but in all those years, I have never seen righteous/godly people being abandoned by Yahweh,

nor have I seen that their children needed to beg for food.

26Righteous/Godly people are generous, and happily lend money to others,

and their children are a blessing to them.

27Turn away from doing evil, and do what is good.

If you do that, you and your descendants will live in your land forever.

28That will happen because Yahweh likes to see people doing what is just,

and he will never forsake righteous/godly people.

He will protect them forever;

but he will get rid of the children of wicked people.

29Righteous/Godly people will own the land that Yahweh promised to give to them,

and they will live there forever.

30Righteous people give wise advice to others,

and they [MTY] say what is just/fair.

31They continually think about God’s laws;

they do not stray from God’s path.

32Those who are evil wait in ambush for righteous people

in order to kill them as they walk by.

33But Yahweh will not abandon righteous people,

and allow ◄them to fall into their enemies’ hands/their enemies harm them►.

And he will not allow righteous people to be condemned

when someone takes them to a judge to be put on trial.

34Be patient and trust that Yahweh will help you,

and ◄walk on his paths/do what he wants you to do►.

If you do that, he will honor you by giving you the land that he promised,

and when he gets rid of the wicked, you will see it happen.

35I have seen that wicked people who ◄act like tyrants/terrify people► sometimes prosper, like trees that grow well in fertile soil,

36when I looked later, they were gone!

I searched for them, but Yahweh had caused them to disappear.

37Notice the people who have not done evil things, those who act righteously:

their descendants will have peace in their inner beings.

38But Yahweh will get rid of the wicked;

he will also get rid of their descendants (OR, as a result, they will not have any descendants).

39Yahweh rescues righteous people;

in times of trouble he protects them [MET].

40Yahweh helps them and saves them;

he rescues them from being attacked/harmed by wicked people

because they go to him to be protected [MET].

38

A psalm written by David, asking God not to forget him

1Yahweh, when you are angry with me,

do not rebuke/scold me and punish me!

2Now it is as though you have shot your arrows at me and wounded me;

you have struck me and knocked me down.

3Because you have been angry with me,

I am suffering great pain.

Because of my sin,

my whole body is diseased.

4All my sins are like a flood that covers my head;

they are like a load that is very heavy, with the result that I cannot carry it.

5Because I have done foolish things,

I have sores that have become worse, and they stink.

6Sometimes I am bent over, and sometimes I lie prostrate;

I am sad/cry all day.

7My body is burning with fever,

and I am very ill.

8I am completely exhausted, and I have no strength.

I am very distressed, and I groan with pain.

9Yahweh, you know that I desire to be healed;

you hear me while I am groaning.

10My heat is pounding heavily, and all my strength is gone.

I am no longer able to see well.

11My friends and neighbors stay away from me because of my sores;

even my own family stays away from me.

12And those who want to kill me set traps to catch me;

those who want to harm me discuss ways to get rid of me;

they plot against me all day.

13Now I act like I’m deaf, and do not listen to what they say.

I act like I cannot talk, so I say nothing to reply to them.

14I act like a man who does not answer when people talk to him,

because he cannot hear anything.

15But Yahweh, I trust in you.

My Lord God, you will answer me.

16I said to you, “Do not cause me to die, with the result that my enemies will rejoice!

Do not cause me to stumble, with the result that they will be very happy!”

17I say that because I am about to fall down,

and I constantly have pain.

18I confess the wrong things that I have done;

I am very sorry for the sins that I have committed.

19My enemies are healthy and strong;

there are many people who hate me for no reason.

20Those who do evil things to me in return for my doing good things to them

oppose me because I try to do what is right.

21Yahweh, do not abandon me!

My God, do not stay far from me!

22Lord, you are the one who saves/rescues me;

Quickly come and help me!

39

A psalm written by David for Jeduthun, the choir director

1I said to myself, “I will be careful not to sin by the things that I say [MTY].

I will not say anything to complain

while wicked people are near to me and can hear me.”

2So I was completely silent [DOU], and I did not even talk about things that were good,

but it was useless, because I began to suffer even more.

3I became very anxious/worried [IDM].

As I thought about my troubles, I became more worried.

Then finally I said [MTY],

4“Yahweh, show/tell me how long I will live.

Tell me when I will die.

Tell me how many years I will live!

5It seems that you have caused me to live only a short time;

◄my lifetime/all the time that I have lived► seems like nothing to you.

The time that all we humans live is as short as [MET] a puff of wind.

(Think about that!)

6Then we disappear like a shadow does.

It seems that all that we do is for nothing/useless.

We sometimes get a lot of money, but we do not know who will get it after we die.

7So now, Yahweh, if I expect [RHQ] to receive blessings from other people, I will be disappointed.

You are the only one from whom I confidently expect to receive blessings.

8Save me from being punished for all the sins that I have committed.

And do not allow foolish people to make fun of me.

9I did not say anything when you punished me,

because I knew that you were the one who caused me to suffer.

10But now, please stop punishing me!

If you do not do that, I am about to die because of the ways that you [SYN] have struck/afflicted me.

11When you rebuke someone and punish him for the sin that he has committed,

you destroy the things that ◄he loves/are precious to him►, like moths’ larva destroy clothing.

Our lives disappear like a puff of wind.

(Think about that!)

12Yahweh, listen to me while I pray;

pay attention to me while I cry out to you.

Help me while I am crying.

I am here on the earth for only a short time,

like all my ancestors.

13Now please leave me alone, and do not punish me anymore

in order that I may smile and be happy for a while before I die. [EUP, DOU]”

40

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1I waited patiently for Yahweh to help me,

and he listened to me [DOU] when I called out to him.

2When I had many troubles, it was as though I was in a deep pit.

But he lifted me up out of the mud and slime of that pit;

he set my feet on a solid rock,

and enabled me to walk ◄safely/without falling►.

3He has given me a new song to sing,

a song to praise him who is our God.

Many people will find out what he has done for me,

and they will revere and trust him.

4Yahweh is pleased with those who trust him,

those who do not trust in idols

or join with those who worship those false gods.

5O Yahweh, my God, you have done many wonderful things!

No one can list all the wonderful things that you have planned for us.

If I tried to tell others about all those wonderful things,

I would not be able to,

because there would be too many for me to mention.

6Various kinds of sacrifices and other offerings are not the only things that delight you.

You have enabled me to understand that very well [IDM].

Animals burned on the altar and other offerings

are not all that you require for sins to be forgiven.

7So I said to you, “Yahweh, here I am,

to do the things that have been written in the scroll that contains your laws,

things that you want me to do.”

8O my God, I delight to do what you desire;

I keep your laws within my inner being.

9Whenever all your people are gathered,

I have told them about how you save us.

Yahweh, you know that I have not been afraid to tell that to them.

10And I have not kept to myself the news that you always act justly/fairly;

when many of your people have gathered together to worship you in the temple,

I have told them that you are faithful to us and save us.

I have ◄not concealed/openly told people► that you faithfully love us and act loyally toward us.

11Yahweh, do not stop being merciful to me.

Because you faithfully love me [PRS] and are loyal to me, always protect me.

12I have many troubles; so many that I cannot count them.

My sins are like a flood that has covered me [PRS, MET];

they are so many that I cannot find my way.

The sins that I have committed are more than the hairs on my head.

I am very discouraged.

13O Yahweh, please save me!

Come quickly to help me!

14Humble those who are happy about my troubles, and cause them to be disgraced and ashamed.

Chase away those who are trying to get rid of me.

15I hope/desire that those who make fun of me

will be dismayed when you defeat them.

16But I hope that all those who go to worship you will be very joyful [DOU].

I want those who love you because you saved them to shout repeatedly,

“Yahweh is great!”

17As for me, I am poor and needy [DOU];

but I know that Yahweh has not forgotten me.

O my God, you are the one who saves and helps me,

so please come quickly and help me!

41

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1Yahweh is pleased with those people who help to provide for the poor;

he will rescue those people when they have troubles.

2Yahweh protects them and allows them to live for a long time.

He enables them to be happy in the land of Israel,

and rescues them from their enemies.

3When they are sick, Yahweh strengthens them,

and he heals them.

4When I was sick, I said, “Yahweh, be merciful to me and heal me;

I know that I am sick because I have sinned against you.”

5My enemies say cruel things about me;

they say, “How soon will he die, and then everyone will forget about him [MTY]? (OR, he will not have any descendants to continue his name).”

6When my enemies come to me, they falsely say that they are concerned about me.

They listen to bad news about ◄me/my health►.

Then they go away and tell everywhere what is happening to me.

7All those who hate me whisper to others about me,

and they hope/desire that very bad things will happen to me.

8They say, “He will soon die because of his being sick;

he will never get up from his bed before he dies.”

9Even my best friend, whom I trusted very much,

who often ate with me,

has ◄betrayed me/put me into my enemies’ hands► [IDM].

10But Yahweh, be merciful to me, and enable me to become healthy again.

When you do that, I will be able to ◄pay back my enemies/get revenge on my enemies/cause my enemies to suffer like they caused me to suffer►.

11If you enable me to do that, with the result that my enemies do not defeat me,

I will know that you are pleased with me.

12I will know that it is because I have done what is right that you have helped me,

and I will know that you will let me be with you forever.

13Praise Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis worship;

Praise him forever!

Amen! I desire that it will be so!

42

Book Two

A psalm written by one of the descendants of Korah for the choir director

1Deer pant, desiring to drink water from a stream when there is a drought (OR, when they are being pursued by hunters.)

In the same way [SIM], God, I need you very much.

2I desire to have fellowship with [MET] you, the all-powerful God.

I wonder, “When will I be able to go back to the temple in Israel

and worship in your presence again?”

3Every day and every night I cry;

it is as though the only thing I have to drink is my tears;

and while I do that, my enemies are continually asking me,

“Why does your god not help you?”

4I am very distressed [IDM] as I remember

when I went with the crowd of people to the temple in Jerusalem,

leading them as we walked along;

we were all shouting joyfully and singing to thank God for what he had done;

we were a large group who were celebrating.

5So I say to myself, “◄Why am I sad and discouraged?/I should not be sad and discouraged!► [RHQ]

I confidently expect God to help me,

and again I will praise him,

my God, the one who saves me.”

6But now, Yahweh, I am very discouraged [IDM],

so I think about you,

even from where the Jordan River gushes out from the bottom of Hermon Mountain and from Mizar Mountain.

7But here, the great sorrow that I feel is like water that you send down [MET];

it is like a waterfall that tumbles down and floods over me.

8Yahweh shows me each day that he faithfully loves me,

and each night I sing to him

and pray to him, the God who causes me to live.

9I say to God, who is like an overhanging rock under which I can hide [MET],

“It seems that you have forgotten me.

I ‘mourn/cry’ constantly because my enemies act cruelly toward me” [RHQ].

10They make fun of me constantly;

they continually ask, “Why does your god not help you?” [RHQ]

And when they insult me like that,

it is like wounds that I feel even in my bones.

11But I think,

“◄Why am I sad and discouraged?/I should not be sad and discouraged!► [RHQ]

I will confidently expect God to help me,

and I will praise him again,

my God, the one who saves me.”

43

(A continuation of psalm 42)

1God, declare that I ◄am innocent/have not done things that are wrong►.

Defend me when ◄ungodly people/people who do not worship you► say things against me,

rescue me from people who deceive and say things about me that are not true.

2You are God, the one who protects me;

◄why have you abandoned me?/it seems that you have abandoned me!► [RHQ]

It does not seem right that [RHQ] I am forced to mourn/cry constantly

because my enemies are cruel to me.

3Shine your light on me and speak your truth to me;

and let them guide me,

and take me back to Zion, your sacred hill at Jerusalem,

and to your temple, where you live.

4When you do that, I will go to your altar,

to worship you, my God, who causes me to be extremely joyful.

There I will praise you, the God whom I worship, while I play my harp.

5So ◄why am I sad and discouraged?/I should not be sad and discouraged!► [RHQ]

I confidently expect God to bless me,

and I will praise him again,

my God, the one who saves me.

44

A psalm written by one of the descendants of Korah for the choir director

1God, we ourselves have heard

what our parents and grandparents told us.

They told us about the miracles

that you performed long ago.

2They told us how you expelled the ungodly people

and enabled us to live in their land.

They told us that you punished those ungodly people

and enabled your own people to prosper [IDM].

3It was not by using their own swords that they conquered the people that lived in that land,

and it was not by their own power that they were victorious;

it was only by your power [MTY, DOU] that they did those things;

and they were sure that you were with them,

and that showed that you were pleased with them.

4You are my King and my God;

it is you who enable us, your people [MTY], to defeat our enemies.

5It is by your power that we knock our enemies down and tramp on them.

6I do not trust that I will be saved

by using my bow and arrows and my sword.

7No, it is you who have rescued us from our enemies,

it is you who have caused those who hate us to become ashamed because they were defeated.

8We have continually boasted about what God has done for us,

and we will thank him [MTY] forever.

(Think about that!)

9But now you have rejected us and caused us to be disgraced;

when our armies march out to fight a battle, you no longer go with them.

10You have caused us to run away from our enemies,

with the result that they captured the things that belonged to us.

11You have allowed us to become like [MET] sheep that were ready to be slaughtered;

you scattered us far away among other nations.

12It is as though [MET] you sold us, your people, to our enemies for a very small price,

and you did not gain much profit from selling us!

13People who live in nations near us make fun of us;

they laugh at us and deride/belittle us.

14They make jokes using the name of our country,

they shake their heads to indicate that they despise us.

15All day I feel disgraced;

from seeing my face, people know that I am ashamed.

16I hear what those who sneer at me and revile me say;

I am ashamed in front of my enemies and those who want to harm me.

17All these things have happened to us

even though we have not forgotten you,

and we are not the ones who disobeyed the agreement you made with our ancestors.

18We have not stopped being loyal to you,

and we have not stopped doing what you want us to do [IDM].

19But it is as though you have allowed us to be helpless among wild animals,

and abandoned us in a deep dark ravine.

20If we had forgotten to worship [MTY] our God,

or if we had spread out our hands to worship a foreign god,

21you certainly would have known that,

because you know even what we secretly think.

22But it is because we belong to you,

that our enemies are constantly killing us.

They act toward us as though we were only sheep to be slaughtered.

23So, Yahweh, arise! Why are you asleep [RHQ]?

Get up! Do not reject us forever!

24Why are you not looking at us?

Why are you forgetting that we are suffering and being oppressed by our enemies?

25We are pushed down to the ground

and we cannot get up.

26Arise, and come and help us!

Rescue us because you faithfully love us!

45

A love song written by one of the descendants of Korah, for the choir director, to be sung to the tune ‘Lilies’

1In my inner being I am stirred by a beautiful message

which will be sung to the king.

The words of this message will be written with a pen by me, a skilled writer.

2O King, you are the most handsome man in the world,

and you always speak [MTY] eloquently,

because God has always blessed you.

3You who are a mighty warrior, put on your sword!

You are glorious and majestic.

4Ride on like a great chief

to defend the truth that you speak

and the fair decisions that you make!

Because you are strong [MTY],

you will do awesome deeds.

5Your arrows are sharp,

and they pierce the hearts of your enemies.

Soldiers of many nations will fall dead at your feet.

6The kingdom [MTY] that God will give to you will remain forever.

You rule [MTY] people justly.

7You love right actions,

and you hate evil actions.

Therefore God, your God, has chosen [MTY] you to be king

and caused you to be happier [MET] than any other king.

8The perfume of various spices is on your robes.

People ◄entertain you/make you happy► in ivory palaces

by playing stringed instruments.

9Among the women who stay near you [EUP] stay are daughters of other kings.

And at your right hand stands your bride, the queen, wearing beautiful ornaments of gold that comes from Ophir.

10Now I will say something to your bride:

Listen to me carefully [DOU]!

Forget the people who live in your home country,

forget your relatives!

11Because you are very beautiful,

the king will desire to sleep with [EUP] you.

He is your master, so you must obey him.

12The people from Tyre city will bring gifts to you;

their rich people will try to persuade you to do favors for them.

13O king, your bride will be entering the palace

wearing beautiful robes made from gold thread.

14While she is wearing a gown that has many colors,

her companions will lead her to you.

She will have many other young women who accompany her.

15They will be very joyful [DOU] as they are led along

to enter your palace.

16Some day, your sons and your grandsons will become kings,

just like your ancestors were.

You will enable them to become rulers in many countries [HYP].

17And as for me, I will enable people in every generation to remember the great things that you [MTY] have done,

and people will praise you forever.

46

A psalm written by one of the descendants of Korah for the choir director

1God is the one who protects us and causes us to be strong;

he is always ready to help us when we have troubles.

2So, even if the earth shakes,

we will not be afraid.

Even if the mountains fall into the middle of the sea,

3and if the water in the sea roars and foams,

and the hills shake violently,

we will not be afraid!

(Think about that!)

4Blessings that come from God are like a river that makes everyone in the city where we worship God joyful.

It is the city where the temple of God, who is greater than any other god, exists.

5God is in this city, and it will never be destroyed;

he will come to help the people in that city at dawn every day.

6Sometimes the people of many nations are terrified;

kingdoms ◄are overthrown/cease to exist►;

God speaks loudly like thunder,

and the earth melts (OR, people everywhere become terrified) [MET].

7But Yahweh, the commander of the armies of heaven, is with us;

the God whom Jacob worshiped (OR, we Israeli people worship) is our refuge.

(Think about that!)

8Come and ◄see/think about► the amazing things that Yahweh has done [DOU]!

9He stops wars all over the world;

he breaks bows and arrows;

he destroys spears;

he burns up shields.

10God says, “Be quiet, and remember that I am God!

I will be honored by the people of all nations.

I will be honored all over the earth.”

11So never forget that Yahweh, the commander of the armies of heaven, is with us;

the God whom Jacob worshiped (OR, we Israeli people worship) is our refuge.

(Think about that!)

47

A psalm written for the choir director by one of the descendants of Korah

1You people all over the world, clap your hands for joy!

Shout joyfully to praise God!

2Yahweh, who is much greater than any other god, is awesome;

he is the king who rules over all the world!

3He enabled us to defeat the armies of the people-groups that lived in Canaan.

4He chose for us this land where we now live;

we Israeli people [MTY], whom he loves, are proud that we own this land.

(Think about that!)

5God has gone up into his temple.

The people shouted joyfully and blew trumpets as Yahweh went up.

6Sing songs to praise our God!

Sing to praise him [DOU]!

Sing to God, our king!

7God is the one who rules over everything in the world;

sing a psalm to him!

8God sits on his sacred throne

as he rules over the people of all ethnic groups.

9The rulers of those people-groups gather as God’s people, the people descended from Abraham, do.

But God has more power than the weapons/shields of all the kings on the earth;

◄he is greatly honored/people honor him► everywhere.

48

A psalm written by one of the descendants of Korah

1Yahweh is great, and he deserves to be greatly praised in the city where he lives,

which is built on Zion, his sacred hill.

2That city, on a high hill, is beautiful;

it is the city where the true God, the great king, lives,

and it causes people all over the world to rejoice when they see it.

3God is in the strong towers there,

and he shows that he protects the people in that city.

4Many kings gathered with their armies to attack that city,

5but when they saw it, they were amazed;

they became terrified, and ran away.

6Because they were very afraid, they trembled

like a woman who is about to give birth to a child;

7they shook like ships sailing from Tarshish are shaken by a strong wind.

8We had heard that this city is glorious,

and now we have seen that it is.

It is the city in which Yahweh, the almighty one, lives.

It is the city which God will preserve/protect forever.

(Think about that!)

9God, here in your temple we think about how you faithfully love us.

10You [MTY] are famous and ◄are praised/people praise you► all over the earth,

because you rule powerfully [MTY] and justly.

11The people who live near Zion Hill should be happy!

The people in all the cities [MTY] in Judah should rejoice

because you judge people fairly.

12You Israeli people should walk around Zion Hill

and count the towers there;

13notice the walls there and examine the forts

in order that you can tell about them to your children.

14Say to them, “This is the city that belngs to our God, the one who lives forever;

he will guide us all of our lives.”

49

A psalm written for the choir director by one of the descendants of Korah

1You people of all ethnic groups, listen!

You people all over the world,

2important people and unimportant people,

rich people and poor people,

everyone, listen to what I am saying,

3because what I am thinking is very sensible,

and what I say will enable you to become wise!

4I think about [MTY] ◄proverbs/wise sayings►,

and while I play my harp, I explain what they mean.

5I am not [RHQ] afraid when I am in trouble/danger,

when I am surrounded by my enemies,

6by evil men who trust that things will always go well for them because they are wealthy,

and who boast about being very rich.

7They may be rich, but no one can pay money

with the result that he would live forever!

No one can pay God enough so that God will allow him to continue to live,

8because that cost is too grreat,

and he will never be able to pay enough

9with the result that he will live forever

and never die and be buried!

10We see that foolish and stupid people die,

but we see that wise people also die;

they all leave their wealth, and others inherit it.

11Those wise people once had houses on land that they owned,

but now their graves are their homes forever,

the place where they will stay for all time!

12Even if people are great, that cannot prevent them from dying;

all people die, the same as animals do.

13That is what happens to those who foolishly trust in what they have accomplished,

to those who are delighted in all that they possess.

(Think about that!)

14They are certain to die just like sheep,

when a shepherd leads them away to be slaughtered. [PRS, MET]

In the morning righteous people will rule over them,

and then those wealthy people will die and their bodies will quickly decay in their graves;

they will be where dead people are, far from their homes.

15But it is certain that God will rescue me

so that I am not kept in the place of the dead.

(Think about that!)

16So, do not be dismayed when someone becomes rich

and the houses where they live become more and more luxurious,

17because when he dies, he will take nothing with him;

his wealth will not go with him.

18While a rich person is alive, he congratulates himself,

and people praise him for being successful,

19but he will die, joining his ancestors,

who will never see daylight again.

20Even if someone is great, that cannot prevent him from dying;

he will die, the same as animals do.

50

A psalm written by Asaph

1God, the all-powerful one, speaks;

he summons all people,

from the east to the west.

2His glory shines from Zion Hill in Jerusalem,

an extremely beautiful city.

3Our God comes to us,

and he is not silent.

A great fire is in front of him,

and a storm is around him.

4He comes to judge his people.

He shouts to the angels in heaven

and to the people on the earth.

5He says, “Summon those who faithfully worship me,

those who made an agreement with me by offering sacrifices to me.”

6The angels in heaven declare,

“God is righteous,

and he is the supreme judge.”

(Think about that!)

7God says, “My people, listen!

You Israeli people, listen,

as I, your God, say what you have done that is wrong.

8I am not rebuking you for making sacrifices to me,

for the offerings that you completely burn on the altar.

9But I do not really need you to sacrifice

the bulls from your barns and the goats from your pens,

10because all the animals in the forest belong to me,

and all the cattle on 1,000 hills also belong to me.

11I own and know all the birds

and all the creatures that move around in the fields.

12So, if I were hungry, I would not tell you to bring me some food,

because everything in the world belongs to me!

13I do not eat the flesh of the bulls that you sacrifice,

and I do not drink the blood of the goats that you offer to me.

14The sacrifice that I really want is that you thank me

and do all that you have promised to do.

15And pray to me when you have troubles.

If you do that, I will rescue you, and then you will praise me.

16But I say this to the wicked people:

◄Why do you/It does not benefit you at all to► [RHQ] recite my commandments

or talk about the agreement that I made with you,

17because you have refused to allow me to discipline you,

and you have rejected what I told you to do.

18Every time that you see a thief, you become his friend,

and you spend much time with those who commit adultery.

19You are always talking [MTY] about doing wicked things,

and you are always trying to deceive people.

20You are always accusing members of your own family of doing wrong,

and slandering them.

21You did all those things, and I did not say anything to you,

so you thought that I was a sinner just like you.

But now I rebuke you and accuse you, right in front of you.

22So, all you who have ignored me, pay attention to this,

because if you do not, I will tear you to pieces,

and there will be no one to rescue you.

23The sacrifice that truly honors me is to thank me for what I have done;

and I will save those who always do the things that I want them to.”

51

A psalm written by David for the choir director, concerning the time when the prophet Nathan rebuked David after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba

1O God, be merciful to me,

because you love me faithfully;

because you are very merciful,

erase the record of the ways that I disobeyed you!

2Make me pure from the wrong things that I have done;

make me clean from the guilt of my sin.

3I say that because I know the ways that I have disobeyed you;

I cannot forget them.

4You, you only, are the one that I have really sinned against,

and you have seen the evil things that I have done.

When you say that I am guilty, you are right/correct,

and when you judge me, you justly say that I deserve to be punished.

5I have been a sinner since the day that I was born;

truly, I have been like that since my mother conceived me.

6What you desire is that I desire what is true

in order that you can teach me how to act wisely.

7Purify me from the guilt of my sins, and after that happens, I will be clean in my inner being;

cleanse me, and then in my inner being I will be ◄whiter than snow/very clean►.

8Allow/Cause me to be joyful [DOU] again;

you have ◄crushed my spirit/completely discouraged me► [MTY];

but now let me rejoice again.

9Do not continue to look at the sins [IDM] that I have committed;

erase the record of the evil things that I have done.

10O God, cause my inner being to be pure.

Put new thoughts within me and make me faithful again.

11Do not send me away from you because of my sin,

and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

12Cause/Allow me to be happy again because of knowing that you have freed me from the guilt of my sin,

and make me willing to obey you.

13If you do that, I will be able to teach other sinners what you want them to do,

and they will repent and begin to obey you.

14O God, you are the one who saves me;

forgive me for being guilty of causing someone who was not my enemy to die.

When you do that, I will sing joyfully about your being very good and righteous.

15O Yahweh, help me to speak

in order that I may praise you.

16You are not pleased only with the sacrifices that people bring to you.

If that were enough to please you, I would bring you sacrifices.

You are not pleased with burnt offerings alone.

17The sacrifice that you really want is for people to be truly humble and sorry for having sinned;

O God, you will not refuse that kind of sacrifice.

18O God, be good to the people who live in Jerusalem [MTY],

and help them to rebuild the city walls.

19When that happens, they will bring you the proper sacrifices,

animals that they will completely burn,

young bulls that they wiill burn on your altar,

and you will be pleased.

52

A psalm written by David for the choir director, when Doeg went to Saul and said, “David has gone to talk with Ahimelech, the Supreme Priest”

1You people think that you are strong

and brag about the sins that you have committed,

while you plan to harm godly people.

2All during the day you plan to get rid of others;

what you say [MTY] injures others like a sharp razor [SIM],

and you are always deceiving others.

3You like doing what is evil more than you like doing what is good,

and you like telling lies more than you like telling the truth.

(Think about that!)

4You who say things [MTY] to deceive people,

you like to say ◄things that hurt people/cruel things►!

5But God will get rid of you forever;

he will grab you and drag you from your home

and take you away from this world where people are alive.

(Think about that!)

6When righteous people see that, they will be awestruck,

and they will laugh at what happened to you, and say,

7“Look what happened to the man who would not ask God to protect him;

he trusted that his great wealth would save him;

he trusted in the money that he got by wickedly taking it from others!”

8But I am secure/safe because I worship in God’s temple;

I am like a strong green olive tree.

I trust in God, who faithfully loves us forever.

9God, I will always thank you for the things that you have done.

As I stand before godly people, I will proclaim that you are good (OR, the many good [MTY] things you have done for us).

53

A psalm written by David for the choir director, to be sung using a tune called ‘Mahalath’

1Only foolish people say to themselves, “There is no God!”

People who say that are corrupt; they commit terrible sins;

there is not one of them who does what is good/right.

2God looks down from heaven and sees humans;

he looks to see if anyone is very wise,

with the result that he seeks to know God.

3But they are all morally corrupt;

no one does what is good/right.

4Will all these evil people never learn what God will do to them?

They act violently toward Yahweh’s people while eating the food that he provides,

and they never pray to Yahweh.

5But some day those people will become terrified,

like they have never been terrified before,

because God will cause those who are separated from him to die,

and he will disrespect them by scattering their bones.

They have rejected God,

so he will cause them to be defeated and completely disgraced.

6I wish/desire that someone from Jerusalem [MTY] would come and rescue the Israeli people!

God, when you bless your people again,

all the Israeli people, all the descendants of Jacob, will rejoice.

54

A psalm written by David for the choir director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; it was written when the people of Ziph went to Saul and told him that David was hiding in their area

1God, by your power [MTY, DOU] save me from my enemies,

and show people that I have not done anything that is wrong!

2God, listen to my prayer;

listen to what I say to you,

3because strangers are trying to attack me;

proud men are wanting to kill me;

men who do not have any ◄respect for/interest in► you.

(Think about that!)

4But God is the one who helps me;

Yahweh defends/protects me from my enemies.

5He will cause the evil things that they want to do to me to happen to them instead;

because he faithfully does what he promises, he will get rid of them.

6Yahweh, I will gladly give an offering to you because I want to,

and I will thank you [MTY], for you are good to me;

7you have rescued me from all my troubles,

and I have seen that you have defeated my enemies.

55

A psalm written by David for the choir director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments

1God, listen to my prayer,

and do not turn away from me while I am pleading with you.

2Listen to me, and answer me,

because I am overwhelmed by all my troubles.

3My enemies cause me to be terrified;

wicked people oppress me.

They cause me to have great troubles;

they are angry with me, and they hate me.

4I am terrified,

and I am very much afraid that I will die.

5I am very fearful and I tremble/shake,

and I am completely terrified.

6I said, “I wish that I had wings like a dove!

If I had wings, I would fly away and find a place to rest.

7I would fly far away

and live in the desert.

(Think about that!)

8I would quickly find a shelter from my enemies

who are like [MET] a strong wind and rainstorm.”

9Lord, confuse my enemies, and cause their plans to fail,

because I see them acting violently and causing strife in the city of Jerusalem.

10During each day and night they march around on top of its walls,

committing crimes and causing trouble.

11They destroy things everywhere.

They oppress and defraud people in the ◄marketplaces/public squares►.

12If it were an enemy who was making fun of me,

I could endure it.

If it were someone who hates me, who despises me,

I could hide from him.

13But it is someone who is just like me, my companion,

someone who was my friend who is doing this to me.

14We previously had many good talks together;

we walked around together in God’s temple.

15I desire/hope that my enemies will die suddenly;

while they are still young, cause them to go down to the place where the dead people are.

They they think evil things.

16But I will ask Yahweh, my God, to help me,

and he will save me.

17Each morning and each noontime and each evening I tell him what I am concerned about, and I moan,

and he hears my voice.

18I have very many enemies,

but he will rescue me and bring me back safely from the battles that I fight.

19God is the one who has ruled everything forever,

and he will listen to me.

He will cause my enemies to be defeated and disgraced,

because they do not change their evil behavior

and they do not reevere God.

(Think about that!)

20My companion, whom I mentioned previously, betrayed his friends

and broke the agreement that he made with them.

21What he said was easy to listen to, like butter is easy to swallow [MET],

but in his inner being he hated people;

his words were soothing like olive oil,

but they hurt people like sharp swords do [MET].

22Put your troubles in Yahweh’s hands,

and he will take care of you;

he will never allow righteous people to experience disasters.

23God, you will cause murderers [MTY] and liars to die before they have lived half as long as they expect to live;

but as for me, I will trust in you.

56

A psalm written by David for the choir director, concerning the time the Philistines seized David in Gath; to be sung using the tune ‘Dove on distant oaks’

1God, be merciful to me because men have harassed me;

all day my enemies pursue me.

2My enemies harass me all day long;

there are many of them who proudly attack me.

3But whenever I am afraid,

I trust in you.

4God, I praise/thank you because you do what you have promised;

I trust in you, and then I am not afraid.

Ordinary humans certainly cannot [RHQ] harm me!

5All day long my enemies claim that I said things that I did not say (OR, try to destroy what I am doing);

they are always thinking of ways to harm me.

6In order to cause trouble for me, they hide

and watch everything that I do,

waiting for an opportunity to kill me [MTY].

7So, God, punish them for the wicked things that they are doing;

show that you are angry by defeating those people!

8You have counted all the times that I have been wandering alone/distressed;

it is as though you have put all my tears in a bottle

in order that you can see how much I have cried.

You have counted my tears and written the number in your book.

9When I call out to you, my God, my enemies will be defeated;

I know that will happen, because you are fighting for me.

10I praise/thank you that you do what you have promised;

Yahweh, I will always praise you for that [DOU].

11I trust in you, and as a result, I will not be afraid.

I know that humans cannot really [RHQ] harm me!

12I will bring to you the offering that I promised;

I will bring an offering to you to thank you,

13because you have rescued me from being killed;

you have kept me from stumbling.

As a result, I will continue to live in your presence in the light that shines on those who are still alive (OR, in the light that enables people to live).

57

A psalm written by David for the choir director, when David went into a cave to escape from Saul; to be sung using the tune ‘Do not destroy’

1God, be merciful to me!

Act mercifully toward me because I come to you to protect me.

I ask you to protect me like little birds are protected under their mother’s wings [MET]

until the storm/danger is ended.

2God, you who are greater than all other gods,

I cry out to you, the one who enables me to do all that you desire.

3You will answer me from heaven and rescue me,

but you will cause those who oppress me to be defeated and disgraced!

(Think about that!)

God will always faithfully love me and ◄will be faithful/will do what he promises►.

4Sometimes I am surrounded by my enemies who are like lions that kill humans;

they are like lions that chew with their teeth animals that they kill;

but my enemies have spears and arrows, not teeth;

and the false things that they say [MTY] hurt people as much as sharp swords hurt people [MET].

5God, show in the heavens that you are very great!

And show your glory to people all over the earth!

6It is as if [MET, HYP] my enemies spread a net to seize me,

and I became very distressed [IDM].

It is as if [MET, HYP] they dug a deep pit along the path where I walk,

but they themselves fell into it!

(Think about that!)

7God, I have complete confidence [DOU] in you.

I will sing to you,

and I will praise you while I sing.

8I will awaken myself;

I will arise before the sun rises

and praise you while I play my harp or my ◄lyre/small harp►.

9Lord, I will thank you among all the people;

and I will sing to praise you among many ethnic groups,

10because your faithful love for us is as great as the distance from the earth to the sky,

and because your ◄faithfulness/faithfully doing what you promise► is as great as the distance up to the clouds [MET].

11God, show in the heavens that you are very great!

And show your glory to people all over the earth!

58

A psalm written by David for the choir director, to be sung using the tune ‘Do not destroy’

1When you mighty men speak, you never say what is right;

you never decide things about people justly [RHQ]!

2No, in your inner beings you think only about doing what is wrong,

and you commit violent crimes in this land of Israel.

3Wicked people do wrong things and tell lies from the time that they are born [DOU].

4God, show in the heavens how great you are!

And show your glory to people all over the earth!

What wicked people say injures people like the venom of a snake [MET];

They refuse to listen to good advice, as though they were cobras that were deaf [MET]!

5As a result, like a snake that does not respond when a charmer plays a flute or when someone sings magic songs,

they do not pay attention when others rebuke them.

6God, as for these enemies who want to attack me like young lions,

break their teeth!

7Cause them to disappear like water disappears in dry ground!

Cause the arrows that they shoot to have no ◄heads/sharp points►!

8Cause them to become like snails that disappear in the slime;

cause them to be like babies that are born dead!

9Get rid of them

as fast as thornbushes are blown away after they are cut (OR, as fast as a fire heats a pot over burning thorns).

10Righteous people will rejoice when they see wicked people being punished as they deserve;

they will wash their feet in the blood of wicked people.

11Then people will say, “It is true that there is a reward for righteous people;

and there is indeed a God who judges people justly here on the earth!”

59

A psalm written by David for the choir director, when Saul, wanting to kill David, sent men to watch David’s house

1God, save me from my enemies!

Protect me from those who want to attack me!

2Rescue me from men who want to do what is wicked,

men who are murderers!

3Look! They are waiting to kill me!

Fierce men have gathered to assault me.

Yahweh, they are doing that even though I have not done what is wrong!

4It is not because I have committed any sin against them

that they run and get ready to attack me.

5Yahweh my God, commander of the armies of heaven, the one we Israelis worship,

arise and punish the ungodly/heathen people of all the nations;

do not be merciful to those wicked people who have ◄acted treacherously toward/secretly planned to harm► us.

(Think about that!)

6They return each evening,

snarling like vicious dogs [SIM] as they prowl around this city.

7They loudly say terrible things;

they say [MTY] many things that injure people like [MET] swords do,

but they think, “No one will [RHQ] hear us!”

8But Yahweh, you laugh at them.

You ◄scoff at/ridicule► the people of the pagan nations.

9God, I have confidence in you because you are very strong;

you are my refuge.

10Because you love me, you will come to save me;

you will allow me to watch while you defeat my enemies.

11But do not kill them immediately

in order that my people will not forget how you punished them!

Instead, Lord, you who are like a shield that protects us [MET],

scatter them by your power, and then defeat them.

12Because what they say [MTY] is sinful,

allow them to be trapped for being proud.

Because they are always cursing and telling lies,

13because you are angry, get rid of them;

destroy them completely

in order that people will know that you rule over us, your Israeli people,

and that you rule over all the earth.

(Think about that!)

14My enemies return each evening,

snarling like vicious dogs as they prowl around this city.

15They roam around, searching for food;

and if they do not find enough, they growl.

16But as for me, I will sing about your power;

every morning I will sing joyfully about your faithfully loving us.

I will sing about how you protected me when I was very distressed.

17God, you are the one who enables me to be strong;

you are my refuge;

you faithfully love me.

60

A psalm written by David for the choir director, a psalm for teaching, to be sung using the tune ‘Lily of the Promise’. David wrote it during the wars in northern Syria, and Joab’s army, after returning from the battle, killed 12,000 of the Edom people-group in Salt Valley

1I prayed, “God, you have rejected us Israelis!

Because you have been angry with us,

you have enabled our enemies to break through our ranks.

Please enable us to be strong again!

2When we were defeated, it was as though [MET] there was a big earthquake in our land that caused the ground to split open.

So now, just as only you can cause the cracks in the land to disappear,

help our army to be strong again,

because it is as though our country is ◄falling apart/being destroyed►.

3You have caused us, your people, to suffer very much;

it is as though you forced us to drink strong wine that caused us to stagger around after we became drunk.

4But you have raised a battle flag for those who revere you

in order that they can gather around it and not be killed by the enemies’ arrows.

(Think about that!)

5Answer our prayers and enable us by your power [MTY] to defeat our enemies

in order that we, the people whom you love, will be saved.”

6Then God answered my prayer and spoke from his temple, saying,

“Because I have conquered your enemies, I will divide up everything in Shechem city,

and I will distribute it among my people the land in Succoth Valley.

7The Gilead region is mine;

the people of the tribe of Manasseh are mine;

the tribe of Ephraim is like my helmet [MET];

and the tribe of Judah is like the ◄scepter/stick that I hold which shows that I am the ruler► [MET];

8but the Moab region is like my washbasin [MET];

I throw my sandal in the Edom area to show that it belongs to me;

I shout triumphantly because I have defeated the people of the Philistia area.”

9Because I want to defeat the people of Edom,

◄who will lead my army triumphantly to their capital city that has strong walls around it?/I want someone to lead my army triumphantly to their capital city that has strong walls around it.►” [RHQ]

10So, God, we desire/hope that [RHQ] you have not truly abandoned us,

and that you will go with us when our armies march out to fight our enemies.

11We need you to help us when we fight against our enemies,

because the help that humans can give us is worthless.

12But with you helping us, we shall win;

you will enable us to defeat our enemies.

61

A psalm written by David for the choir director, to be accompanied by musical instruments

1God, listen to me,

and answer my prayer [DOU]!

2While I am discouraged and far from my home,

I am calling out to you.

Lead me to the place that is like a high rock [MET]

on top of which I will be safe.

3You have been my refuge;

you have been like a strong tower [MET]

in which I am safe from being attacked by my enemies.

4Allow me to live close to your temple all during my life [HYP]!

Allow me to be safe [MET], like a little bird is safe under its mother’s wings.

(Think about that!)

5God, you heard me when I solemnly promised to give offerings to you;

you have given to me the blessings that belong to those who have an awesome respect for you [MTY].

6I am the king of Israel;

please allow me to live and rule for many years,

and allow my descendants to rule also.

7Allow us to rule forever while you observe us;

watch over us while you faithfully love us and do for us what you promised.

8If you do that, I will always sing to praise you [MTY]

while I offer to you each day the sacrifices that I promised to give to you.

62

A psalm written by David for Jeduthun, the choir leader

1God is the only one who can give me peace in my inner being,

and he is the one who saves me from my enemies.

2Only he is like an overhanging rock under which I can be safe [MET];

he will be like a shelter, with the result that I will never be defeated [MET].

3When will you, my enemies, stop attacking me [RHQ]?

I feel that I am as useless against you as a wall that is about to fall over or a broken-down fence [MET].

4My enemies plan to remove me from my important position so that people no longer honor me.

They delight in telling lies.

They bless people by what they say [MTY],

but in their inner beings they curse those people.

(Think about that!)

5God is the only one who gives me peace in my inner being;

he is the one whom I confidently expect to help me.

6Only he is like an overhanging rock under which I can be safe [MET];

he is like a shelter, and as a result I will never be defeated.

7God is the one who saves me and honors me.

He is like an overhanging strong rock under which I can find shelter [MET].

8You my people, always trust in him.

Tell him all your troubles,

because he is ◄our refuge/the one who protects us► [MET].

(Think about that!)

9People who are considered to be unimportant are as worthless/unreliable as a breath of air;

people who are considered to be important also really ◄amount to nothing/cannot be trusted to help us►.

If you put them all on a scale, it would be as if they weighed less than a puff of air.

10Do not trust in money gained by extorting it from others;

do not try to gain anything by robbing others.

If you become very wealthy, do not trust in [IDM] your money.

11I have heard God say more than once that he is the one who really has power,

12and that he is the one who faithfully loves us.

He rewards every one of us according to the deeds that we do.

63

A psalm written by David when he was in the desert in Judea

1God, you are the God whom I worship.

I greatly desire to be with you

like [SIL] a person in a dry hot desert greatly desires some cool water.

2So, I want to see you in your temple;

I want to see that you are great and glorious.

3Your constantly loving me is ◄worth more/more precious► than my life,

so I [MTY] will always praise you.

4I will praise you all the time that I live;

I will lift up my hands to you while I pray.

5Knowing you satisfies me more than [IDM, MET] my eating a very big feast,

so I will praise you while I sing [MTY] joyful songs.

6While I lie on my bed, I think about you.

I think/meditate about you all during the night,

7because you have always helped me,

and I sing joyfully knowing that I am protected by you

as a little bird is protected under its mother’s wings [MET].

8I cling to you;

and with your hand/power you protect me.

9But those who are trying to kill me

will die and descend into the place of the dead;

10they will be killed in battles [MTY]

and their corpses will be eaten by jackals/wild dogs.

11But I, the king of Israel, will rejoice in what God has done;

and all those who revere and trust God will praise him,

but he will not allow liars to say anything.

64

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1God, listen to me as I tell you the things that I am worried about.

I am afraid of my enemies; so save/rescue me from them.

2Protect me from what wicked men are planning to do to me;

protect me from that gang of men who do what is evil.

3The hostile things they say [MTY] are like [SIM] sharp swords;

their cruel words are like [SIM] arrows.

4Without being afraid, they lie about people and slander people who have not done what is wrong,

like someone who suddenly jumps up from where he is hiding and shoots arrows at his enemy [MET].

5They encourage each other about doing the evil things that they are planning to do;

they talk with each other about where they can set traps to catch people,

and they think, “No one [RHQ] will see what we are doing,

6because we have planned very well the crime that we are going to commit!”

No one can fully understand what people can think and plan!

7But it will be as though God will shoot his arrows at them,

and suddenly they will be wounded.

8Because of what they say [MTY], he will get rid of them,

and then everyone who sees what has happened to them will shake their heads to ridicule them.

9And then everyone will be afraid to sin because of what might happen to them, also;

they will tell others what God has done,

and they themselves will think much about it.

10Righteous people should rejoice because of what Yahweh has done;

they should go to him to ◄find protection/be safe►;

and all those who are godly will praise him.

65

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1God, it is right/appropriate for us to praise you in Jerusalem,

and to do what we have promised you that we would do,

2because you answer our prayers.

People everywhere will come to you

3because of the sins that they have committed.

Our many sins are like a very heavy burden to us,

but you forgive us.

4You are pleased with those whom you have chosen

to live close to your temple.

We are happy with all the blessings that we receive from worshiping in your sacred temple.

5God, when we pray to you, you answer us and save us by doing awesome deeds;

you are the one who rescues us;

people who live in very remote places on the earth, on the other side of the oceans, trust in you.

6By your strength you put the mountains in their places,

showing that you are very powerful.

7You calm the seas when they roar,

and you stop the waves from crashing on the shore;

you also calm people when they ◄make a great uproar/shout angrily together►.

8People who live in very remote/distant places on the earth

◄are awed by/revere► you because of the miracles that you perform;

because of what you do,

people who live far to the west and far to the east shout joyfully.

9You take care of the soil and send rain,

causing many good things to grow;

you fill the streams with water,

and cause grain/crops to grow.

That is what you have determined/said would happen.

10You send plenty of rain on the fields that have been plowed,

and you fill the furrows with water.

With showers you soften the hard clods/lumps of soil,

and you bless the soil by causing young plants to grow.

11Because you bless the soil, there are very good crops at harvest season;

wherever you have gone [MTY], good crops are very abundant [IDM].

12The pastures are full of flocks of sheep and goats;

it is as though the hills are very joyful.

13The meadows are full of sheep and goats,

and the valleys are full of grain;

it is as though they also sing and shout joyfully.

66

A psalm which is a song for the choir director

1Tell everyone on the earth

that they should sing joyfully to praise God!

2They should sing songs that say that God [MTY] is very great,

and they should tell everyone that he is very glorious!

3They should say to God, “The things that you do are awesome!

You are very powerful,

with the result that your enemies ◄cringe/bow down► in front of you.”

4Everyone on the earth should worship God

and sing to praise him

and honor him [MTY].

(Think about that!)

5Come and think about what God has done!

Think about the awesome things that he has done.

6He caused the Red Sea to become dry land,

with the result that our ancestors were able to walk right through it.

There we rejoiced because of what he had done.

7By his great power he rules forever,

and he keeps watching all the nations to see what things they do,

so those nations that want to rebel against him should not be proud.

(Think about that!)

8You people of all nations, praise our God!

Praise him loudly in order that people will hear you as you praise him.

9He has kept us alive,

and he has not allowed us to ◄stumble/be defeated►.

10God, you have tested us;

you have allowed us to experience great difficulties to make our lives become pure

as people put precious metals in a hot fire to burn out what is impure [MET].

11It is as if you allowed us to fall into traps [MET],

and you forced us to endure difficult things which were like putting heavy loads on our backs [MET].

12You allowed our enemies to trample on us;

we experienced difficulties/troubles that were like [MET] walking through fires and floods,

but now you have brought us into a place where we have plenty.

13Yahweh, I will bring to your temple offerings that are to be completely burned on the altar;

I will offer to you what I promised.

14When I was experiencing much trouble, I said that I would bring offerings to you if you rescued me;

and you did rescue me, so I will bring to you what I promised.

15I will bring sheep to be burned on the altar,

and I will also sacrifice bulls and goats,

and when they are burning, you will be pleased when the smoke rises up ◄to you/to the sky►.

(Think about that!)

16All you people who revere God, come and listen,

and I will tell you what he has done for me.

17I called out to him to help me,

and I praised him while I was speaking to him [MTY].

18If I had ignored the sins that I had committed,

the Lord would not have paid any attention to me.

19But because I confessed my sins, God has listened to me

and he paid attention to my prayers.

20I praise God

because he has not ignored my prayers

or stopped faithfully loving me.

67

A psalm for the choir director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments

1God, be merciful to us and bless us;

be kind to us [IDM],

(Think about that!)

2in order that everyone in the world may know what you want them to do,

and the people of all nations may know that you have the power to save them.

3God, I desire that all people-groups will praise you;

I want them all to praise you!

4I desire that the people of all nations will be glad and sing joyfully,

because you judge the people-groups equally/justly,

and you guide all nations in the world.

(Think about that!)

5God, I desire that the people-groups will praise you;

I want them all to praise you!

6Good crops have grown on our land;

God, our God, has blessed us.

7And because God has blessed us,

I desire that all people everywhere [MTY] on the earth will revere him.

68

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1God, arise and scatter your enemies,

and cause those who hate you to run away from you.

2Like wind blows smoke away,

chase your enemies away.

Like wax melts when it is near a fire,

cause wicked people to ◄disappear/be destroyed►.

3But righteous people should be joyful;

they should rejoice when they are in God’s presence;

they should be happy, and be very joyful.

4Sing to God; sing to praise him;

sing a song (OR, make a road) for him who rides on the clouds;

his name is Yahweh; be glad when you are in his presence.

5God, who lives in his sacred temple, is like [MET] a father to those who are orphans,

and he is the one who protects widows.

6For those who have no one to live with, he provides families to live with.

He frees prisoners and enables them to be successful,

but those who rebel against him will be forced to live in a very hot and dry land.

7God, you led your people out of Egypt,

and then you marched with them through the desert.

(Think about that!)

8After you did that, because when you, the God worshiped by us Israeli people, appeared to us at Sinai Mountain,,

the earth shook,

and rain poured down from the sky.

9You caused plenty of rain to fall on your land*,

and so you enabled good crops to grow again on the land that you gave to us Israelis.

10Your people built homes there;

and because you were good to them, you provided food for those who were poor.

11The Lord gave a message,

and many women took that message to other places.

12They proclaimed, “Many kings and their armies are running away from our army!”

When our army brought back to their homes the things that they captured,

the women who were at home divided up those things among themselves and among their families.

13Even those women who were in the pens taking care of the sheep received some of those things;

they got statues of doves whose wings were covered with silver

and whose feathers were covered with pure yellow gold.

14When Almighty God scattered the enemy kings and their armies,

the number of weapons that they abandoned there seemed like there had been a snowstorm on Zalmon (OR, a black) Mountain.

15There is a very high mountain in the Bashan region,

a mountain which has many peaks.

16But the people who live near that mountain should not [RHQ] envy those who live near Zion,

the mountain on which God chose to live!

Yahweh will live there forever!

17After we defeated all our enemies,

it was as though the Lord, surrounded by many thousands of strong chariots, descended from Sinai Mountain

and came into the sacred temple in Jerusalem.

18He ascended the sacred mountain where his temple is,

and took with him many people who had been captured in battles;

and received gifts from the enemies whom he had defeated.

He received gifts even from those who had rebelled against him,

and Yahweh our God will live there in his sacred temple forever.

19Praise the Lord, who helps us carry our heavy loads every day;

he is the one who saves/rescues us.

(Think about that!)

20Our God is the God who saves us;

He is Yahweh, our Lord, the one who ◄allows us to escape/prevents us► from being killed in battles.

21But God will smash the heads of his enemies,

the skulls of those who continue to behave sinfully.

22The Lord said, “I will bring back the corpses of those who were killed in Bashan,

and I will bring back those who sank deep in the ocean and drowned.

23I will do that in order that you may wash your feet in their blood,

and your dogs can also lap up some of your enemies’ blood.”

24God, many people see you march triumphantly into your sacred temple,

celebrating that you have defeated your enemies.

You march like a king does, and a large crowd walks with you.

25The singers are in front, and the people who play stringed instruments are at the rear,

and young women who are beating their tambourines are between them.

26They are all singing, “You Israeli people, praise God when you gather together;

praise Yahweh, all you who are descendants of Jacob!”

27First come the people of the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe,

and following them come the leaders of the tribe of Judah and their group,

and following them come the leaders of the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali.

28God, show people that you are very powerful;

show people the power with which you have helped us previously.

29Show that power from your temple in Jerusalem,

where kings bring gifts to you.

30Rebuke your enemies, such as those in Egypt who are like wild hippopotamuses/animals that live in the reeds;

and powerful nations that are like bulls that are among their calves [MET];

rebuke/trample them until they bow down and give you gifts of silver.

Scatter the people who enjoy making wars.

31Then people will bring gifts of bronze (OR, of cloth) to you from Egypt;

the people in Ethiopia will lift up their hands to praise you.

32You people who are citizens of kingdoms/countries all over the world, sing to God!

Sing praises to the Lord!

(Think about that!)

33Sing to the God, the one who rides acoss the sky,

the sky that he created long ago.

Listen as he shouts with a very powerful voice.

34Proclaim that God is very powerful;

he is the king that rules over Israel,

and in the skies he also shows that he is powerful.

35God is awesome as he comes out of his sacred temple;

he is the God whom we Israeli people worship.

He makes [DOU] his people very powerful.

Praise God!

69

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1O God, save me,

because I am in great danger.

It is as though flood water is up to my neck, and I am about to drown [MET].

2I continue to sink in the deep mud,

and there is no solid ground for me to stand on.

I am in deep water,

and flood waters are swirling around me.

3I am exhausted from calling out for help;

my throat is very dry.

Because I have cried so much as I have waited for God to help me,

my eyes are swollen.

4Those who hate me when there is no reason to hate me

are more than the number of hairs on my head [HYP]!

Those who want to get rid of me are strong,

and they tell lies about me.

They demand that I return to them things that I did not steal!

5O God, ◄you see the sins that I have committed/my sins are not hidden from you►.

You know that I have foolishly disobeyed your laws.

6O Yahweh God, you who are the commander of the armies of heaven,

do not allow the wrong things that I have done

to cause those who trust in you to be disappointed/disillusioned.

O God, you whom we Israeli people worship,

do not allow me to cause your people to be humiliated.

7People have insulted/ridiculed me because I am devoted to you.

They have thoroughly humiliated [IDM] me.

8Even my own older brothers act as if they do not know me;

they treat me like a foreigner.

9Some people have despised your temple;

but my zeal for keeping your temple holy is like a fire burning inside me.

So it is as though those who are insulting you are also insulting me.

10When I have humbled myself and ◄fasted/abstained from eating food►

to show my sadness about the disgraceful things that they have done to your temple,

they just insult me.

11When I put on rough sackcloth to show that I am sad,

they laugh at [IDM] me.

12Even the elders of the city say bad things about me.

The drunkards of the city sing disgusting songs about me.

13But Yahweh, I will continue praying to you.

At the time that you choose, answer me and rescue me

because you faithfully love me.

14Do not allow me to sink anymore in the mud.

Rescue me from those who hate me!

Lift me up out of these deep waters!

15Do not allow flood waters to swirl around me,

do not allow the deep mud to swallow me;

keep me from sinking into the pit of death [MET].

16O Yahweh, answer my prayer and help me

because you are good and love me faithfully.

17Do not ◄hide yourself from/refuse to hear► me;

answer me quickly

because I am in great trouble.

18Come near to me and save me;

rescue me from my enemies.

19You know that I am insulted

and that people cause me to feel ashamed and dishonored;

you know who all my enemies are.

20Their insults have deeply offended me,

and I ◄feel helpless/am in despair►.

I searched for someone who would pity me,

but there was no one.

I wanted someone to encourage/comfort me,

but there were none.

21Instead, they gave me food that tasted like poison,

and when I was thirsty, they gave me sour wine to drink.

22I hope/desire that the feasts [MTY] that they enjoy will ◄become a snare for/bring trouble to► them,

and that those whom they invite to the sacrificial feasts will also be trapped.

23I hope/desire that their eyesight will become dim so that they cannot see anything,

and that their backs/bodies will become weaker and weaker.

24Show them that you are very angry with them!

Because of your great/furious anger, chase after them and catch them.

25Cause their towns to become abandoned/deserted

and that there will be no one left to live in their tents/houses.

26Do this because they persecute those whom you have punished,

◄they talk about the sins of/they want to hurt even more► those whom you have wounded.

27Keep making a record of all their sins,

do not acquit/pardon them for the evil things that they have done.

28Erase their names [SYN] from the book containing the names of those who have eternal life;

do not include them in the list of righteous people.

29As for me, I have pain and am suffering.

O God, protect me and rescue me.

30When God does that, I will sing as I praise God,

and I will honor him by thanking him.

31My doing that will please Yahweh more than sacrificing oxen,

more than offering him full-grown bulls.

32Oppressed/Afflicted people will see that God has rescued me,

and they will be glad.

I want all of you who ask God to help you to be encouraged.

33Yahweh listens to those who are needy;

He does not ignore/forget those who are oppressed/imprisoned.

34I desire that everything will praise God—

everything that is in heaven and on earth, and all the creatures that are in the seas.

35God will rescue the people of Jerusalem from their enemies,

and he will rebuild the towns that are in Judah.

His people will live there and again possess the land.

36The descendants of his people will inherit it,

and those who love him will live there safely.

70

A psalm written by David for the choir director, asking God to help David

1God, please save me!

Yahweh, come quickly to help me!

2Humble those who are happy about my troubles/difficulties, and cause them to be disgraced/ashamed.

Chase away those who are trying to kill me.

3I hope/desire that you will cause them to become dismayed and ashamed

because you have defeated them.

4But I hope/desire that all those who go to worship you will be very joyful [DOU].

I want those who love you because you saved them to shout repeatedly [HYP],

“God is great!”

5As for me, I am poor and needy [DOU];

so God, come quickly to help me!

Yahweh, you are the one who saves and helps me,

so please come quickly!

71

1Yahweh, I have come to you to ◄get refuge/be protected►;

never allow me to become ashamed because of being defeated.

2Because you always do what is right, help me and rescue me;

listen to me, and save me!

3Be like an overhanging rock [MET] under which I can be safe/protected;

be like a strong fortress in which I am safe [DOU].

You continually command (OR, Continually command) your angels to rescue me.

4God, rescue me from wicked people,

from the power of unjust and evil men.

5Yahweh, my Lord, you are the one whom I confidently expect to help me;

I have trusted in you since I was young.

6I have depended on you all my life;

you have taken care of me [IDM] since the day that I was born,

so I will always praise you.

7The manner in which I have conducted my life has been an example to many people,

because they realize that you have been my strong defender.

8I praise you all day long,

and I proclaim that you are glorious/wonderful.

9Now, when I have become an old man, do not reject/abandon me;

do not abandon me now, when I am not strong anymore.

10My enemies say that they want to kill me;

they plan together how they can do that.

11They say about me, “God has abandoned him;

so now we can pursue him and seize him,

because there is no one who will rescue him.”

12God, do not stay far away from me;

hurry to help me!

13Cause those who ◄accuse me/say that I have done things that are wrong► to be defeated and destroyed;

cause those who want to harm me to be shamed and disgraced.

14But as for me, I will continually and confidently expect you to do great things for me,

and I will praise you more and more.

15I will tell people that you do what is right;

all day long I will tell people how you have saved me,

although what you have done is more than I can fully understand.

16Yahweh, my Lord, I will praise you for your mighty deeds;

I will proclaim that only you always act justly.

17God, you have taught me many/those things ever since I was young,

and I still tell people about your wonderful deeds.

18And now, God, when I am old and my hair is gray,

do not abandon me.

Stay with me while I continue to proclaim to my children and grandchildren [HYP] that you are very powerful!

19God, you do many righteous deeds;

it is as though they extend up to the sky.

You have done great things;

there is no one like you [RHQ].

20You have caused me to have many troubles and to suffer much,

but you will cause me to become strong again;

when I am almost dead [HYP], you will keep me alive.

21You will cause me to be greatly honored

and you will encourage/comfort me again.

22I will also praise you while I play my harp;

I will praise you, my God, for faithfully doing what you have promised to do.

I will play hymns to praise you, the holy God whom we Israelis worship.

23I [SYN] will shout joyfully while I play the harp for you;

with my entire inner being I will sing

because you have rescued me.

24All day long I will tell people that you act righteously,

because those who wanted to harm me will have been defeated and disgraced.

72

A psalm written by Solomon.

A prayer for God to bless the king

1O God, enable me, the king whom you appointed in Israel, to rule justly.

Show/Teach me how to judge matters fairly

2in order that I will judge your people fairly,

that I will govern your oppressed people justly.

3I desire that all over the country—even on the hills and mountains [DOU]—

people will live peacefully and righteously.

4Help me, your king, to defend the poor people

and to rescue needy people and to defeat those who oppress them.

5I desire that your people will revere you as long as the moon shines, forever.

6I desire that my rule will be enjoyed by the people [SIM]

like they enjoy rain on growing crops,

like they enjoy showers that fall on the land.

7I hope/desire that people will live righteously during the years that I rule,

and that my people will live peacefully and prosperously as long as the moon shines.

8I hope/desire that the kings of Israel will rule the people

in all the area from one sea in the east to another in the west,

and from the Euphrates River to the most remote/distant places on earth.

9I hope/desire that those who live in the desert will bow down before them,

and that ttheir enemies will throw themselves on the ground in submission to them.

10I hope/desire that the kings of Spain and of the islands in the Mediterranean Sea will bring ◄tribute money/taxes► to the kings of Israel,

and that the kings of Sheba to the south and of Seba to the southwest will bring them gifts.

11I hope/desire that all the other kings in the world will bow before the kings of Israel,

and that people of all nations will serve them.

12They will rescue poor people when they ◄cry out/plead► for help,

and help those who are needy and those who have no one to help them.

13They will pity those who are weak and needy;

he saves the people’s lives.

14Our kings will rescue the people from being oppressed and from being treated cruelly,

because ◄their lives/they► [MTY] are precious to our kings.

15I hope/desire that our kings will live a long time!

I hope/desire that they will be given gold from Sheba.

I desire that people will always pray for our kings

and praise them all the time, every day.

16I hope/desire that the fields will produce plenty of grain everywhere, even on the tops of the hills in the land where they rule,

like the grain that grows on the hills in Lebanon.

I hope/desire that the cities in Israel will be full of people

like the fields are full of grass.

17I desire that the names of our kings will never be forgotten.

I hope/desire that people will remember them as long as the sun shines.

I hope/desire that people of all nations will ask ◄God to bless them/that they will be blessed by God►

just like he has blessed the kings of Israel.

18Praise Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis worship;

he is the only one who does wonderful things.

19Praise him forever!

I desire that ◄his glory will fill the whole world/people all over the world may see that he is very great► [MTY]!

Amen! May it be so!

20That is the end of this group of prayers/songs written by David, the son of Jesse.

73

Book Three

A psalm written by Asaph

1God truly is good to us Israeli people,

to those who totally want to do all that God desires.

2As for me, I almost stopped trusting in God;

it was as though my feet slipped and I stumbled [MET],

3because I envied those who proudly said that they did not need God,

and I saw that they prospered even though they were wicked.

4Those people do not have any pains;

they are always strong and healthy.

5They do not have the troubles/difficulties that other people have;

they do not have problems like others do.

6So they are proud, and their being proud is like a necklace that they show to others,

and they show off their violent actions like people show off their beautiful robes.

7From their inner beings they ◄pour out/do► evil deeds,

and they are always thinking about more evil things to do.

8They scoff at other people, and they talk about doing evil things to them;

they are proud while they plan to oppress others.

9They say evil things about God who is in heaven [MTY],

and they talk boastfully/proudly about things that they have done here on the earth.

10The result is that people listen to what they say and praise them

and do not think that they have done anything that is wrong.

11Wicked people say to themselves, “God will certainly not [RHQ] know what we have done;

people say that he is greater than any other god, but he does not know everything.”

12That is what wicked people are like;

they never worry about anything, and they are always becoming richer.

13So, God, I think it is useless that I have [RHQ] always done what you want me to,

and that I have not sinned.

14All day long I have problems,

and every morning you punish me.

15If I had said the things that the wicked people say,

I would have been sinning against your people.

16And when I tried to think about all this,

it was very difficult for me to understand it.

17But when I went to your temple, you spoke to me,

and I understood what will happen to the wicked people after they die.

18Now I know that you will surely put them in slippery places,

and they will fall down and die.

19They will be destroyed instantly;

they will die in terrible ways.

20They will disappear as quickly as a dream disappears when a person awakes in the morning;

Lord, when you arise, you will ◄cause them to disappear/forget all about them►.

21When I felt sad/bitter,

and brokenhearted,

22I was stupid and ignorant,

and I behaved like an animal toward you.

23But I am always close to you,

and you hold my hand.

24You guide me by teaching me,

and ◄at the end of my life/when I die►, you will receive me and honor me.

25You are in heaven and I belong to you [RHQ],

and there is nothing on this earth that I desire more than that.

26My body and my mind may become very weak,

but God, you continue to enable me to be strong;

I belong to you forever.

27Those who remain far from you will be destroyed;

you will get rid of those who abandon you.

28But as for me, it is wonderful to be near to God

and to be protected by Yahweh,

and to proclaim to others all that he has done for me.

74

A psalm written by Asaph

1God, why have you abandoned/rejected us?

Will you keep rejecting us forever [RHQ]?

Why are you angry with us,

since we are like sheep in your pasture and you are like our shepherd? [MET, RHQ]

2Do not forget your people whom you chose long ago,

the people whom you freed from being slaves in Egypt and caused to become your tribe.

Do not forget Jerusalem, which was ◄your home/where you dwelt► on this earth.

3Walk along and see where everything has been totally ruined;

our enemies have destroyed everything in the sacred temple.

4Your enemies shouted triumphantly in this sacred place;

they erected their banners to show they had defeated us.

5They cut down all the engraved objects in the temple like woodsmen cut down trees.

6Then they smashed all the carved wood with their axes and hammers.

7Then they burned your temple to the ground;

they caused that place where you were worshiped to be unfit for people to worship in.

8They said to themselves, “We will destroy the Israelis completely,”

and they also burned down all the other places where we gathered to worship God.

9All our sacred symbols (OR, miracles) are gone;

there are no prophets now/anymore,

and no one knows how long this situation will continue.

10God, how long will our enemies make fun of you [RHQ]?

Will they insult you [MTY] forever [RHQ]?

11Why do you refuse to help [MTY, RHQ] us?

Why do you keep your hand inside your cloak instead of using it to destroy our enemies [RHQ]?

12God, you have been our king all the time since we came out of Egypt [HYP],

and you have enabled us to defeat our enemies in the land of Israel.

13By your power you caused the Red Sea to divide;

it was as though you smashed the heads of the rulers of Egypt who were like huge sea dragons [MET].

14It was as though you crushed the head of the king of Egypt [MET]

and gave his body to the animals in the desert to eat.

15You caused springs and streams to flow,

and you also dried up rivers that had never dried up previously.

16You created the days and the nights,

and you put the sun and the moon in their places.

17You determined where the oceans end and the land begins,

and you created the summer/hot season and the winter/cold season.

18Yahweh, do not forget that your enemies laugh at you,

and that it is foolish people who despise you [MTY].

19Do not let your helpless people [MET] fall into the hands of their cruel enemies;

do not forget your suffering/persecuted people.

20Do not forget the agreement that you made with us;

remember that there are violent people in every dark place on the earth.

21Do not allow your oppressed people to be disgraced;

help those poor and needy people in order that they will again praise you [MTY].

22God, arise and defend yourself by defending your people!

Do not forget that foolish people laugh at you ◄all day long/continually►!

23Do not forget that your enemies shout angrily at you;

the uproar that they make while they oppose you never stops.

75

A psalm written by Asaph for the choir director, to be sung using the tune ‘Do not destroy’

1We give thanks to you;

our God, we thank you.

You are close to us,

and we proclaim to others the wonderful things that you have done for us.

2You have said, “I have appointed a time when I will judge people,

and I will judge everyone fairly.

3When the earth shakes

and all the creatures on the earth tremble,

I am the one who will ◄keep its foundations steady/prevent it from being destroyed►.

(Think about that!)

4I say to people who ◄boast/talk proudly about themselves►, ‘Stop bragging!’

and I say to wicked people, ‘Do not proudly do things to show how great you are [IDM]!

5Do not be arrogant,

and do not speak so boastfully!’”

6The one who judges people does not come from the east or from the west,

and he does not come from the desert.

7God is the one who judges people;

he says that some have sinned and must be punished, and that others have not done what is wrong.

8It is as though Yahweh holds a cup in his hand;

it is filled with wine that has spices mixed in it to cause those who drink it to become more drunk;

and when Yahweh pours it out, he will force all the wicked people to drink it;

they will drink every drop of it,

which means that he will give them all the punishment that they deserve.

9But as for me, I will never stop saying what the God whom Jacob worshiped has done;

I will never quit singing to praise him.

10He will destroy the power [IDM] of wicked people,

but he will cause righteous people to become more powerful.

76

A psalm written by Asaph for the choir director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments

1People in Judah know God;

the Israeli people honor him [MTY].

2His home is in Jerusalem;

he lives on Zion Hill.

3There he broke the flaming arrows that his enemies shot,

and he also broke their shields and swords and other weapons that they used in battles.

(Think about that!)

4God, you are glorious!

You are like a king as you return from the mountains where you defeated your enemies.

5Their brave soldiers were killed, and then those who killed them took away everything that those soldiers had.

Those enemies died [EUP],

so they were unable to use their weapons anymore!

6When you, the God whom Jacob worshiped, rebuked your enemies,

the result was that their horses and their riders fell down dead.

7But you cause everyone to be afraid.

When you are angry and you punish people, no one can [RHQ] endure it.

8From heaven you proclaimed that you would judge people,

and then everyone on the earth was afraid and did not say anything more,

9when you arose to declare that you would punish wicked people

and rescue all those whom they had oppressed.

(Think about that!)

10When you punish those with whom you are angry, your people will praise you,

and your enemies who ◄survive/are not killed► will worship you on your festival days.

11So give to Yahweh the offerings that you promised to give to him;

all the people of nearby people-groups should also bring gifts to him, the one who is awesome.

12He humbles [IDM] princes,

and even causes great kings to be terrified.

77

A psalm written by Asaph for Jeduthun, the choir director

1I cry out to God;

I cry aloud to him, and he hears me.

2Whenever have trouble, I pray to the Lord;

all during the night I lift up my hands while I pray,

but nothing causes me to be comforted.

3When I think about God, I ◄despair/think that he will never help me►;

when I meditate about him, I am discouraged.

(Think about that!)

4All during the night he prevents me from sleeping;

I am very worried, with the result that I do not know what to say.

5I think about days that have passed;

I remember what happened in previous years.

6I spend the whole night thinking about things;

I meditate, and this is what I ask myself:

7“Will the Lord always reject us?

Will he never again be pleased with us?

8Has he stopped faithfully loving us?

Will he not do for us what he promised to do?

9God promised to be merciful to us; has he forgotten that?

Because he is angry with us, has he decided to not be kind to us?”

(Think about that!)

10Then I said, “What causes me to be very sad is that

it seems that God, who is greater than any other god, is no longer powerful.”

11But then, Yahweh, I recall/remember your great deeds;

I remember the wonderful things that you did in the past.

12I meditate on all that you have done,

and I think about your mighty acts.

13God, everything that you do is holy;

there is certainly no god [RHQ] who is great like you are!

14You are God, the one who performs miracles;

you showed to people of many people-groups that you are powerful.

15By your power [MTY] you rescued your people from Egypt;

you saved those who were descendants of Jacob and his son Joseph.

(Think about that!)

16It was as though the waters of the Red Sea saw you and became very afraid,

and even the deepest part of the water shook.

17Rain poured down from the clouds [PRS];

it thundered very loudly [PRS],

and lightning flashed in all directions.

18Thunder crashed in the whirlwind,

and lightning ◄lit up/flashed across► the entire sky [HYP];

the earth shook violently [DOU].

19Then you walked through the sea

on a path that you made through the deep water,

but your footprints could not be seen.

20You led your people like a shepherd leads his flock of sheep,

while Moses and Aaron were the leaders of your people.

78

A psalm written by Asaph

1My friends, listen to what I am going to teach you;

pay careful attention [IDM] to what I say.

2I am going to give you some sayings that wise people have said.

They will be sayings about things that happened long ago,

things that were difficult to understand [MET],

3things that we have heard and known previously,

things that our parents and grandparents told us.

4We will tell these things to our children [LIT],

and we will also tell to our grandchildren

about Yahweh’s power and the glorious/great things that he has done.

5He gave laws and commandments to the Israeli people,

those who are the descendants of Jacob [DOU],

and he told our ancestors to teach them to their children

6in order that their children would also know them

and then they would teach them to their children.

7In that way, they also would trust in God,

and not forget the things that he has done;

instead, they would obey his commandments.

8They would not be like their ancestors,

who were very stubborn and kept rebelling against God;

they did not continue firmly trusting in God,

and they did not worship only him.

9The soldiers of the tribe of Ephraim had bows and arrows

but they ran away from their enemies on the day that they fought a battle with their enemies.

10They did not do what they had agreed with God that they would do;

they refused to obey his laws.

11They forgot what he had done;

they forgot about the miracles that they had seen him perform.

12While our ancestors were watching,

God performed miracles in the area around Zoan city in Egypt.

13Then he caused the Red Sea to divide,

causing the water on each side to pile up like a wall,

with the result that our ancestors walked through it on dry ground.

14He led them by a bright cloud during the day

and by a fiery light during the night.

15He split rocks open in the desert,

giving to our ancestors plenty of water from deep inside the earth.

16He caused a stream of water to flow from the rock;

the water flowed like a river [DOU].

17But our ancestors continued to sin against God;

in the desert they rebelled against the one who is greater than any other god.

18By demanding that God give them the food that they desired,

they tried to find out if he would always do what they requested him to do.

19They insulted God by saying, “We don’t think he can supply food for us here in this desert!

20It is true that he struck the rock,

with the result that water gushed/flowed out,

but ◄can he also provide bread and meat for us, his people?/we doubt that he can also provide bread and meat for us, his people.►” [RHQ]

21So, when Yahweh heard that, he became very angry,

and he sent a fire to burn up some of his Israeli people. [MTY, DOU]

22He did that because they did not trust in him,

and they did not believe that he would rescue them.

23But God spoke to the sky above them;

he commanded it to open like a door,

24and then food fell down like rain,

food which they named ‘manna’;

God gave them grain from ◄heaven/the sky►.

25So the people ate the food that angels eat,

and God gave to them all the manna that they wanted.

26Later, he caused the wind to blow from the east,

and by his power he also sent wind from the south,

27and the wind brought birds

which were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore.

28God caused those birds to fall dead in the middle of ◄their camp►/the area where the people had put up their tents.

There were dead birds all around their tents.

29So the people cooked the birds and ate the meat and their stomachs were full,

because God had given them what they wanted.

30But before they had eaten all that they wanted,

and while they were still eating it,

31God was still very angry with them,

and he caused their strongest men to die;

he got rid of many of the finest young Israeli men.

32In spite of all that, the people continued to sin;

in spite of all the miracles that God had performed,

they still did not trust that he would take care of them.

33So, he caused their lives to end as quickly as a puff of wind ends;

they died when disasters suddenly struck them.

34When God caused some of them to die,

the others turned to God;

they repented and earnestly asked God to save them.

35They remembered that God is like a huge rock ledge under which they would be safe [MET],

and that he, who was greater than any other god, is the one who protected/rescued them.

36But they tried to deceive God by what they said [MTY];

their words [MTY] were all lies.

37They were not loyal to him;

they disregarded/ignored the agreement that he had made with them.

38But God was merciful to his people.

He forgave them for having sinned

and did not get rid of them.

Many times he refrained from becoming angry with them

and restrained from furiously/severely punishing them [MTY].

39He remembered/considered that they were only humans who die;

they disappear quickly [SIM], like a wind that blows by and then is gone.

40Many times our ancestors rebelled against God in the desert

and caused him to become very sad.

41Many times they did evil things, to find out if they could do those things without God punishing them.

They frequently caused the holy God of Israel to become disgusted/sad.

42They forgot about his great power,

and they ◄forgot/did not think► about the time when he rescued them from their enemies.

43They forgot about when he performed many miracles

in the area near Zoan city in Egypt.

44He caused the Nile River (OR, their sources of water) to become red like blood,

with the result that the people of Egypt had no water to drink.

45He sent among the people of Egypt swarms of flies that bit them,

and he sent frogs that ate up everything.

46He sent locusts to eat their crops

and the other things that grew in their fields.

47He sent hail that destroyed the grapevines,

and sent frost that ruined the figs.

48He sent hail that killed their cattle

and sent lightning that killed their sheep and cows.

49Because God was fiercely angry with the people of Egypt,

he caused them to be very distressed.

The disasters that struck them were like a group of angels that destroyed everything.

50He did not lessen his being angry with them,

and he did not ◄spare their lives/prevent them from dying►;

he sent a ◄plague/serious illness► that killed many of them.

51He also caused all the firstborn sons of the people of Egypt to die.

52Then he led his people out of Egypt like a shepherd leads his sheep [SIM],

and he guided them while they walked through the desert.

53He led them safely, and they were not afraid,

but their enemies were drowned in the sea.

54Later he brought them to Canaan, his sacred land,

to Zion Hill (OR, the hilly area)

and by his power [MTY] he enabled them to conquer the people who were living there.

55He expelled the people-groups while his people were advancing;

he allotted part of the land for each tribe to possess,

and he gave to the Israeli people the houses of those people who had been expelled.

56However, the Israeli people rebelled against God, who is greater than any other god,

and they did many evil things to see if they could do those things without God punishing them,

and they did not obey his commandments.

57Instead, like their ancestors did, they rebelled against God and ◄were not loyal to/did not faithfully obey► him;

they were as unreliable as a crooked arrow that does not go straight [SIM].

58Because they worshiped carved images of their gods on the tops of hills,

they caused God to become angry [DOU].

59He saw what they were doing and became very angry,

so he rejected the Israeli people.

60He no longer appeared to them at Shiloh

in the tent where he had lived among them.

61He allowed their enemies to capture the sacred chest,

which was the symbol of his power and his glory.

62Because he was angry with his people,

he allowed them to be killed [MTY] by their enemies.

63Young men were killed in battles,

with the result that the young women had no one to marry.

64Many priests were killed by their enemies’ swords,

and ◄the people did not allow the priests’ widows/the priests’ widows were not allowed► to mourn.

65Later, it was as though the Lord awoke from sleeping;

he was like a strong man who ◄became stimulated/felt that he was strong► by (OR, became sober after) drinking a lot of wine [SIM].

66He pushed their enemies back

and caused them to be very ashamed for a long time [HYP]

because they had been defeated.

67But he did not set up his tent where the people of the tribe of Ephraim lived;

he did not choose their area to do that.

68Instead he chose the area where the tribe of Judah lived;

he chose Zion Hill, which he loves.

69He decided to have his temple built there, high up, like his home in heaven;

he caused it to be firm,

and intended that his temple would last forever, like the earth.

70He chose David, who served him faithfully,

and took him from the pastures

71where he was taking care of his father’s sheep,

and appointed him to be the leader [MET] of the Israeli people,

the people who belong to God.

72David took care of the Israeli people sincerely and wholeheartedly,

and guided them skillfully/wisely.

79

A psalm written by Asaph

1God, other people-groups have invaded your land.

They have ◄desecrated your temple/caused your temple to be unfit for worship►,

and they have destroyed all the buildings in Jerusalem.

2Instead of burying the corpses of your people whom they killed,

they allowed vultures and wild anmals to eat the flesh of those corpses,

3When they killed your people,

your people’s blood flowed like water through the streets of Jerusalem,

and there was almost no one [HYP] left to bury their corpses.

4The people-groups that live in countries that surround our land insult us;

they laugh at us and deride/belittle us.

5Yahweh, how long will this continue?

Will you be angry with us forever?

Will your being angry destroy us like a burning fire destroys things?

6Instead of being angry with us,

be angry with the people-groups that do not know/worship you!

Be angry with kingdoms whose people do not pray to you,

7because they have killed Israeli people

and they have ruined your country.

8Do not punish us because of the sins that our ancestors committed!

Be merciful to us now/quickly,

because we are very discouraged.

9God, you have saved/rescued us many times,

so help us now;

rescue us and forgive us for having sinned

in order that other people will honor you [MTY].

10It is not right that [RHQ] other people-groups say about us,

“If their God is very powerful, ◄surely he should help them/why does he not help them►?”

Allow us to see you punishing the people of other nations in return for their shedding our blood;

they have killed many of us, your people.

11Listen to your people groaning while they are in prison,

and by your great power free those whom our enemies say that they will certainly execute.

12In return for their having often insulted you,

punish them seven times as much!

13After you do that, we, whom you take care of like a shepherd takes care of his sheep, will continue praising you;

we will continue to praise you forever [HYP].

80

A psalm written by Asaph for the choir director, to be sung using the tune ‘Lilies of the covenant’

1Yahweh, you who lead us like a shepherd leads his flock of sheep,

listen to us Israeli people.

You sit on your throne in the Very Holy Place in the temple, above the carvings of winged creatures.

2Show yourself to the people of the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh!

Show us that you are powerful

and come and rescue us!

3God, cause our nation to be strong like it was before;

be kind to us [IDM] in order that we may be saved from our enemies.

4Yahweh, you who are the commander of the armies of heaven,

how long will you be angry with us, your people, when we pray to you?

5It is as though the only food and drink that you have given us is a cup full of our tears!

6You have allowed the people-groups that surround us to fight with each other to decide which part of our land each of them will take;

our enemies laugh at us.

7God, commander of the armies of heaven,

cause our nation to be strong like it was before!

Be kind to us in order that we may be saved!

8Our ancestors were like a grapevine [MET] that you brought out of Egypt;

you expelled the other people-groups from this land,

and you put your people in their land.

9Like people clear ground to plant a grapevine [MET],

you cleared out the people who were living in this land for us to live in it.

Like the roots of a grapevine go deep down into the ground and spread [MET],

you enabled our ancestors to prosper and start living in towns all over this land.

10Like huge grapevines cover the hills with their shade

and their branches are taller than big cedar trees [MET, HYP],

11your people ruled all of Canaan, from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Euphrates River in the east.

12So why have you abandoned us

and allowed our enemies to tear down our walls [RHQ]?

You are like someone who tears down the fences around his vineyard,

with the result that all the people who pass by can steal the grapes,

13and wild pigs can trample the vines,

and wild animals can also eat the grapes.

14You who are the commander of the armies of heaven, ◄turn to/stop abandoning► us!

Look down from heaven and see what is happening to us!

Come and rescue us who are like [MET] your grapevine,

15who are like the young vine that you [SYN] planted and caused to grow!

16Our enemies have torn down and burned everything in our land;

look at them angrily and get rid of them!

17But strengthen us people whom you have chosen [IDM],

us Israeli people whom you previously caused to be very strong.

18When you do that, we will never turn away from you again;

◄revive us/cause us to be again like we were previously►, and then we will praise/worship you.

19Yahweh, commander of the armies of heaven, restore us;

be kind to us in order that we may be rescued from our enemies!

81

A psalm written by Asaph for the choir director

1Sing songs to praise God, who enables us to be strong when we fight our enemies;

shout joyfully to God, whom we ◄descendants of Jacob/Israeli people► worship!

2Start playing the music, and beat the tambourines,

and play nice music on the harps and ◄lyres/other stringed instruments►.

3Blow the trumpets during the festival to celebrate each new moon

and each time the moon is full and during our other festivals.

4Do that because that is a law for us Israeli people;

God commanded it for us descendants of Jacob.

5He commanded us Israeli people to obey it when he punished the people of Egypt.

I heard someone [MTY] whose voice I did not recognize, saying,

6“After the rulers of Egypt forced you Israelis to work as slaves,

I took those heavy burdens off your backs,

and I enabled you to lay down those heavy baskets of bricks that you were carrying.

7When you were greatly distressed, you called out to me, and I rescued you;

I answered you out of a thundercloud.

Later I tested whether you would trust me to give you water when you were in the desert at Meribah.

(Think about that!)

8You who are my people, listen while I warn you!

I wish that you Israeli people would pay attention to what I say to you!

9You must not have any idols of other gods among you;

you must never bow to worship any of them!

10I am Yahweh, your God;

It was not any of those other gods who brought you out of Egypt,

I am the one who did it!

So ask me what you want me to do for you [MTY], and I will do it.

11But my people would not listen to me [SYN];

they would not obey me.

12So even though they were very stubborn,

I allowed them to do whatever they wanted to do.

13I wish that my people would listen to me,

that the Israeli people would behave as I want them to do.

14If they did that, I would quickly defeat their enemies;

I would strike/punish all of them [DOU].

15Then all those who hate me would ◄cringe before/bow down to► me,

and then I would punish them [MTY] forever.

16But I would give you Israelis very good wheat/grain,

and I would fill your stomachs with wild honey.”

82

A psalm written by Asaph

1God gathers all the rulers and judges who think they are gods for a meeting in heaven;

and he tells them that he has decided this:

2“You must [RHQ] stop judging people unfairly;

you must no longer make decisions that favor wicked people!

(Think about that!)

3You must defend people who are poor and orphans;

you must act fairly toward those who are needy and those who have no one to help them.

4Rescue them from the power [MTY] of evil people [DOU]!”

5Those rulers do not know or understand anything!

They are very corrupt/evil,

and as a result of their corrupt/evil behavior,

it is as though the foundation of the world is being shaken!

6I the all-powerful God, previously said to them, “You think you are gods!

It is as though you are all my sons,

7but you will die like people do;

your lives will end, like the lives of all rulers end.”

8God, arise and judge everyone on [MTY] the earth,

because all the people-groups belong to you!

83

A psalm which is a song written by Asaph

1God, do not continue to be silent!

Do not be quiet and say nothing,

2because your enemies are rioting against you;

those who hate you are rebelling against you!

3They are secretly planning to do things to harm us, your people;

they are ◄conspiring together against/planning how to defeat► the people whom you protect.

4They say, “Come, we must destroy their nation,

with the result that no one will remember that Israel ever existed!”

5They have agreed on what they want to do to destroy Israel,

and they have formed an alliance against you.

6The people who have done that are the people of Edom region,

the descendants of Ishmael who live on the east side of the Jordan River,

the Moab people-group, the descendants of Hagar who also live on the east side of the Jordan River,

7Gebal people-group, the Ammon people-group, the Amalek people-group,

the Philistia people-group, and the people of Tyre city.

8The people of Assyria have joined them;

they are strong allies of the Moab and Ammon people-groups, who are descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot.

(Think about that!)

9God, do to those people things like you did to the Midian people-group,

like you did to Sisera and Jabin at Kishon River.

10You destroyed them at Endor town,

and their corpses lay on the ground and decayed.

11Do to them things like you did to Kings Oreb and Zeeb;

defeat their leaders like you defeated Zebah and Zalmunna,

12who said, “We will take for ourselves the land that the Israelis say belongs to God!”

13My God, cause them to disappear quickly like whirling dust,

like chaff that the wind blows away!

14Like a fire completely burns a forest

and like flames burn in the mountains,

15expel them by sending storms;

cause them to be terrified by your big storms/hurricanes!

16Cause them [SYN] to be very ashamed

in order that they will admit that you are very powerful.

17Cause them to be forever disgraced because of being defeated,

and cause them to die while they are still disgraced.

18Cause them to know that you, whose name is Yahweh,

are the supreme ruler over everything on the earth.

84

A psalm written by one of the descendants of Korah for the choir director

1Lord, you who are the Commander of the armies of angels,

your temple is very beautiful!

2I [SYN] would like to be there;

Yahweh, I desire that very much [DOU].

With all of my inner being I sing joyfully to you, the all-powerful God.

3Even sparrows and swallows have built nests near your temple, where you protect them [DOU];

they take care of their young babies near the altars where people offer sacrifices to you,

who are the commander of the armies of heaven, and my king and my God.

4◄Happy are/You are pleased with► those who ◄live/continually worship► in your temple,

constantly singing to praise you.

(Think about that!)

5Happy are those who know that you are the one who causes them to be strong,

those who strongly desire to ◄make the trip/go► to Zion Hill.

6While they travel through the dry Baca Valley,

you cause it to become a place where there are springs of water,

where the rains ◄in the autumn/before the cold season► fill the valley with pools of water.

7As a result, those who travel through there become stronger/refreshed

knowing that they will appear in your presence ◄on Zion Hill/in Jerusalem►.

8Yahweh, commander of the armies of heaven, listen to my prayer;

God, who is worshiped by us ◄descendants of Jacob/Israeli people►, hear [IDM] what I am saying!

(Think about that!)

9God, be kind to [IDM] our king, the one who protects us [MTY],

the one whom you have chosen [MTY] to rule us.

10For me, spending one day in your temple

is better than spending 1,000 days somewhere else;

standing at the entrance to your temple, ready to go inside,

is better than living in the tents/homes where wicked people live.

11Yahweh our God is like the sun that shines on us and like a shield that protects us [MET];

he is kind to us and honors us.

Yahweh does not refuse to give any good thing/blessing to those who do what is right.

12Yahweh, commander of the armies of heaven,

◄happy are/you are pleased with► those who trust in you!

85

A psalm written by one of the descendants of Korah for the choir director

1Yahweh, you have been kind to us people who live in this land;

you have enabled us Israeli people to become prosperous again.

2You forgave us, your people, for the sins that we had committed;

you pardoned us for all our sins [DOU].

(Think about that!)

3You stopped being angry with us

and turned away from severely punishing us.

4Now, God, the one who saves/rescues us, ◄restore us/make us prosperous again►

and stop being angry with us!

5◄Will you continue to be angry with us forever?/Please do not continue to be angry with us forever.► [DOU, RHQ]

6Please enable us [RHQ] to prosper again

in order that we, your people, will rejoice about what you have done for us.

7Yahweh, by rescuing us from our troubles/difficulties,

show us that you faithfully love us.

8I want to listen to what Yahweh our God says,

because he promises/says that he will enable us, his people, to live peacefully,

if we do not return to doing foolish things.

9He is surely ready to save/rescue those who revere him,

in order that his glory/splendor will be seen in our land.

10When that happens, he will both faithfully love us and faithfully do for us what he promised to do [PRS];

and we will act/behave righteously, and he will give us peace,

which will be like a kiss that he gives us.

11Here on earth, we will ◄be loyal to/continually believe in► God,

and from heaven, God will act justly/fairly toward us.

12Yes, Yahweh will do good things for us,

and there will be great harvests in our land.

13Yahweh always acts righteously [PRS, MET];

he acts righteously wherever he goes.

86

A prayer written by David

1Yahweh, listen [IDM] to what I say and answer me,

because I am weak and needy.

2Prevent me from dying now, because I ◄am loyal to/continue to believe in► you;

save/rescue me, because I serve you and I trust in you, my God.

3Lord, be kind to me,

because I cry out to you all during the day.

4Lord, cause me to be glad,

because I ◄pray to/worship► [IDM] you.

5Lord, you are good to us, and you forgive us;

you faithfully love very much all those who ◄pray/call out► to you.

6Lord, listen to my prayer;

hear me when I cry out to you to help me.

7When I have troubles, I call out to you,

because you answer me.

8Lord, among all the gods whom the heathen nations worship,

there is no one like you;

not one of them has done the great things that you have done.

9Lord, some day, people from all the nations that you have established will come and bow down in front of you

and they will praise you [MTY].

10You are great, and you do wonderful/marvelous things;

only you are God.

11Yahweh, teach me what you want me to do

in order that I may conduct my life according to what you say, which is true.

Cause/Teach me to revere you .

12Lord, my God, I will thank you with all my inner being,

and I will praise you forever.

13You faithfully love me very much;

you have prevented me from dying and going to the place where dead people are.

14But God, proud men are trying to attack me;

a gang/group of cruel men are wanting to kill me;

they are men who do not have any ◄respect for/interest in► you.

15But Lord, you always are mercifully and kind;

you do not become angry quickly,

you faithfully love us very much

and always do for us what you have promised to do.

16Look down toward me and be merciful to me;

cause me to be strong and save/rescue me

who serves you faithfully like my mother did.

17Yahweh, do something to show me that you are being good to me

in order that those who hate me will see that you have encouraged me and helped me,

and as a result they will be ashamed.

87

A psalm written by one of the descendants of Korah

1The city that Yahweh established is on his sacred hill.

2He loves that city, Jerusalem, more than he loves any other city in Israel.

3You people in [APO] the city that God ◄owns/lives in►,

people say wonderful things about your city.

(Think about that!)

4Some of those who know about God are the people of Egypt and Babylonia,

and also the people of Philistia and Tyre and Ethiopia;

some day they all will say,

“Although I was not born in Jerusalem,

because I belong to Yahweh, it is as though I was born there.”

5And concerning Jerusalem, people will say

“It is as though everyone was born there,

and Almighty God will cause that city to remain strong/safe/secure.”

6Yahweh will write a list of the names of the people of various groups who belong to him,

and he will say that he considers them all to be citizens of Jerusalem.

(Think about that!)

7They will all dance and sing, saying,

“Jerusalem is the source of all our blessings.”

88

A psalm that expresses sadness, written for the choir director by Zerah’s son Heman, one of the descendants of Korah

1Yahweh God, you who rescues me, all during each day I call out to you to help me,

and I cry out to you during each night also.

2Listen [IDM] to my prayer [DOU],

while I cry out to you for help!

3I have experienced many troubles/difficulties,

and I am about to die [MTY] and go where dead people are.

4Because I have no more strength,

other people also consider that I will soon die.

5I am like a corpse that has been abandoned;

I am like dead people who lie in their graves,

people who have been completely forgotten,

because you do not take care of them anymore.

6It is as though you have thrown me into a deep, dark pit,

into a place where they throw corpses.

7It seems like you are very angry with me,

and it is as though you have crushed me like ocean waves crash down on people [MET].

(Think about that!)

8You have caused my friends to ◄avoid/stay away from► me;

I have become repulsive to them.

It is as though I am in a prison and cannot escape.

9My eyes cannot see well because I cry very much.

Yahweh, every day I call out to you to help me;

I lift up my hands to you while I pray.

10You certainly do not [RHQ] perform miracles for dead people!

Their spirits do not [RHQ] arise to praise you!

(Think about that!)

11Corpses in the grave certainly do not tell about your faithfully loving us [RHQ],

and in the place where people are finally destroyed,

no one tells about what you faithfully do for us [RHQ].

12No one in the deep dark pit ever sees the miracles that you perform [RHQ],

and no one in the place where people have been completely forgotten tells about your being good to us.

13But as for me, Yahweh, I cry out to you to help me;

each morning I pray to you.

14Yahweh, why do you reject me [RHQ]?

Why do you turn away from me [RHQ]?

15All the time since I was young, I have suffered and have often almost died;

I am ◄in despair/very discouraged► because of enduring the terrible things that you have done to me.

16I feel that you have crushed me because of your being angry with me;

the terrible things that you are doing to me are almost destroying me.

17I feel as though they surround me like a flood [SIM];

they are ◄closing in on/crushing► me from all sides.

18You have caused even my friends and others whom I love to avoid me,

and it is as though the only friend that I have is darkness.

89

A song written by Ethan, from the clan of Ezra

1Yahweh, I will sing forever about the ways you faithfully love me;

people not yet born will hear that you faithfully do all that you have promised.

2I will tell people that you will faithfully love us forever,

and that your being faithful to do what you have promised is as permanent as the sky.

3Yahweh said, “I have made an agreement with David, whom I chose to serve me.

I have made this solemn ◄agreement with/promise to► him:

4‘I will enable various ones of your descendants to always be kings;

the line of kings descended from you [MTY] will never end.’”

(Think about that!) 10

5Yahweh, I desire that all those beings who are in [MTY] heaven will praise you for the wonderful things that you do,

and that all your holy angels will sing about how you faithfully do what you promise.

6There is no one [RHQ] in heaven who can be compared with you, Yahweh.

There are no angels [RHQ] in heaven who are equal to you.

7When your holy angels gather together,

they declare that you must be revered;

they say that you are more awesome than all the angels that surround your throne!

8O Yahweh, God Almighty, there is no one [RHQ] who is powerful like you are;

your faithfully doing all that you promise is like a cloak that [MET] always surrounds you.

9You rule over the powerful seas;

when their waves rise up, you calm them.

10You are the one who crushed and killed the great sea monster named Rahab.

You defeated and scattered your enemies with your great power [MTY].

11The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours;

and everything on the earth is yours, because you created it all.

12You created everything from the north to the south.

Tabor Mountain and Hermon Mountain joyfully praise you [MTY].

13◄You/Your arms► are very powerful;

◄you/your hands► are extremely strong.

14◄Your rule [MTY] over us is based on/As you rule over us, you are always► treating people fairly and justly,

and on/are always faithfully loving us and doing what you promised.

15Yahweh, happy are the people who worship you with joyful shouts,

who live knowing that you are always watching over them.

16Every day, throughout the day, they rejoice in what you [MTY] have done,

and they praise you for being very good to them.

17You give us your glorious strength;

because you act in our favor, we defeat [MET] our enemies.

18Yahweh, you gave us the one who protects us [MET];

you, the holy God whom we Israelis worship, chose a king for us.

19Long ago you spoke in a vision to one of your servants/prophets, saying,

“I have helped a famous soldier;

I chose him from among all the people to be a king.

20That man is David, the one who will serve me faithfully,

and I anointed him with sacred olive oil to make him king.

21I [MTY] will always strengthen him;

with my power [MTY] I will make him strong.

22His enemies will never find ways to defeat him,

and wicked people will never defeat him.

23I will crush his enemies in front of him

and get rid of those who hate him.

24I will always be loyal to him and faithfully love him

and enable him to defeat [MET] his enemies.

25I will cause ◄his kingdom/the area that he rules► to include all the land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River.

26He will say to me, ‘You are my Father,

my God, the one who protects [MET] and saves me.’

27I will give him the rights/privileges that a man’s firstborn son has [MET];

he will be the greatest king on the earth.

28I will always be loyal to him,

and my agreement to bless him will last forever.

29I will establish a line of his descendants that will never end,

various ones of his descendants will always be kings.

30But, if some of his descendants disobey my laws,

and do not not behave like my commands say that they should,

31if they disregard my requirements

and do not do the right things that I have told them to do,

32I will punish them severely [MTY]

and cause them to suffer for doing wrong.

33But I will not stop faithfully loving David,

and I will always do what I promised him.

34I will not break the agreement that I made with him;

I will not change even one word that I spoke to him.

35Once I made a solemn promise to David, and that will never change,

and because I am God, I will never lie to David.

36I promised that the line of kings descended from him will go on forever;

it will last as long as the sun shines.

37That line will ◄be as permanent/last as long► as the moon

that is always watching everything from the sky.

Think about that!)

38But Yahweh, now you have rejected [DOU] David!

You are very angry with the king whom you appointed.

39It seems that you have broken the agreement that you made with your servant, David;

it seems as though you have signaled hat he is no longer the king by throwing his crown into the dust/dirt.

40You have torn down the walls that protect his city,

and allowed all his forts to become ruins.

41All those who pass by plunder/steal his possessions;

his neighbors ◄laugh at/ridicule► him.

42You have enabled his enemies to defeat him;

you have made them all happy.

43You have caused his sword to become useless,

and you have not helped him in his battles.

44You have caused his splendor to end (OR, You have taken away his power

by knocking his throne to the ground.

45You have caused him to look old when he is still young

and caused him to be very shamed/disgraced.

(Think about that!)

46O Yahweh, how long will this continue?

Will you hide yourself forever?

How long will your anger burn like a fire?

47Do not forget that life is very short;

have you created all us people in vain?

48No one can [RHQ] keep on living and never die;

◄No one can [RHQ] avoid going/Everyone will go► to the place of the dead.

(Think about that!)

49Yahweh, you promised long ago

that you would faithfully love us;

why are you not doing that?

You solemnly promised that to David!

50Yahweh, do not forget that people insult me!

◄Heathen people/People who do not know you► curse me!

51Yahweh, your enemies insult your chosen king!

They insult/ridicule him wherever he goes.

52I hope/desire that Yahweh will be praised forever!

Amen! May it be so!

90

Book Four

A prayer by the prophet Moses

1Lord, you have always ◄been like a home for us/protected us► [MET].

2Before you created the mountains,

before you formed the earth and everything that is in it,

you were eternally God,

and you will be God forever.

3When people die, you cause their corpses to become soil again;

you change their corpses to become dirt like the first man was created from.

4When you ◄consider/think about► time,

1,000 years are as short as [SIM] one day which passes;

you consider that [HYP] they are as short as a few hours in the night.

5You cause people suddenly to die [MET];

they live only a short time, like a dream lasts only a short time.

They are like grass/weeds [SIM] that grow up.

6In the morning [DOU] the grass sprouts and grows well,

but in the evening it dries up and ◄completely withers/dies►.

7Similarly, because of the sins that we have committed, you become angry with us;

you terrify us and then you destroy us.

8It is as though you place our sins in front of you,

you spread out even our secret sins where you can see them.

9Because you are angry with us, you cause our lives to end;

the years that we live pass as quickly as a sigh does.

10People live for only 70 years;

but if they are strong, some of them live for 80 years.

But even during good years we have much pain and troubles;

our lives soon end, and we die [EUP].

11No one [RHQ] has fully experienced the powerful things you can do to them when you are angry with them,

and people are not afraid that you will greatly punish them because of your being angry with them.

12So teach/help us to realize that we live for only a short time

in order that we may use our time wisely.

13Yahweh, how long will you be angry with us?

Pity us who serve you.

14Each morning show us that your faithfully loving us is enough for us

in order that we may shout joyfully and be happy for the rest of our lives.

15Cause us to now be as happy for as many years as you ◄afflicted us/caused us to be sad► and we experienced troubles.

16Enable us to see the great things that you do

and enable our descendants to also see your glorious power.

17Lord, our God, give us your blessings

and enable us to be successful;

yes, cause us to be successful in everything that we do [DOU]!

91

1Those who live under the protection of God Almighty,

will be able to rest safely under his care.

2I will declare to Yahweh,

“You protect me;

you are like a fort [MET] in which I am safe.

You are my God, the one in whom I trust.”

3Yahweh will rescue you from all hidden traps

and save you from deadly diseases.

4He will shield/protect you like a bird shields/protects its chicks [MET] with/under her wings.

You will be safe ◄in his care/because he takes care of you►.

His faithfully doing what he has promised is like a shield [MET] that will protect you.

5You will not be afraid of things that happen during the night that could ◄terrorize you/cause you to be very afraid►,

or of arrows that your enemies will shoot at you during the day.

6You will not be afraid of ◄plagues/widespread sicknesses► that demons cause when they attack people at night,

or of other evil forces that kill people at midday.

7Even if 1,000 people fall dead alongside you,

even if 10,000 people are dying around you,

you will not be harmed.

8Look and see

that ◄wicked people are being punished/God is punishing wicked people►!

9If you allow Yahweh to protect you,

if you trust God Almighty to ◄shelter/take care of► you,

10nothing evil will happen to you;

no plague will come near your house,

11because Yahweh will command his angels

to protect you wherever you go.

12They will hold you up with their hands,

with the result that you will not hurt your foot on a big stone.

13You will be kept safe from being harmed by your enemies [MET];

it will be as though you are stepping on lions and poisonous snakes without them harming you!

14Yahweh says, “I will rescue those who love me,

I will protect them because they ◄acknowledge that I am Yahweh/know me►.

15When they call out to me, I will answer them.

I will help them when they are experiencing trouble;

I will rescue them and honor them.

16I will reward them by enabling them to live a long time,

and I will save them.”

92

A psalm that is to be sung on Sabbath days

1Yahweh, it is good for people to thank you

and to sing to praise you [MTY] who are greater than any other god.

2It is good to proclaim every morning that you faithfully love us,

and each night to sing songs that declare that you always do what you have promised to do,

3accompanied by musicians playing harps that have ten strings,

and by the sounds made by a lyre.

4Yahweh, you have caused me to be glad;

I sing joyfully because of what you [SYN] have done.

5Yahweh, the things that you do are great!

But it is difficult for us to understand all that you think.

6There are things that you do that foolish people cannot know about,

things that stupid people cannot understand.

7They do not understand that although the number of wicked people increases like blades of grass do [SIM],

and they prosper,

they will be completely destroyed.

8But Yahweh, you will ◄be exalted/be honored/rule► forever.

9Yahweh, your enemies will certainly die,

and those who do wicked things will be defeated/scattered.

10But you have caused me to be as strong [MTY] as [SIM] a wild ox;

you have caused me to be very joyful [MTY].

11I [SYN] have seen you defeat my enemies;

d I have heard those evil men wail/scream while they were being slaughtered.

12But righteous people will prosper like [SIM] palm trees that grow well,

or like [SIM] cedar trees that grow in Lebanon.

13They are like the trees that grow near the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem,

those trees that are close to the courtyard of the temple of our God.

14Even when righteous people become old, they do many things [IDM] that please God.

They remain strong and full of energy, like trees that [MET] remain full of sap.

15That shows that Yahweh is just;

he is like a huge rock under which I am safe/protected,

and he never does anything that is wicked/wrong.

93

1Yahweh, you are the King!

You are majestic, and the power that you have is like [MET] a robe that a king wears.

You put the world firmly in place, and it will never be moved/shaken.

2You ruled as king a very long time ago;

you have always existed.

3Yahweh, when you created the world, you separated the water from the chaotic mass and formed oceans,

and the waves of the waters of those oceans still roar,

4but you are greater than the roar of those oceans,

more powerful than the ocean waves!

You are Yahweh, the one who is greater than any other god!

5Yahweh, your laws never change,

and your temple has always been holy/sacred.

And that will be true forever.

94

1Yahweh, you are able to get revenge on your enemies.

So show them that you are going to punish them!

2You are the one who judges all people on the earth;

so arise, and give/punish the proud leaders of our people like they deserve.

3Yahweh, how long will those wicked people be glad/happy?

It is not right that [RHQ] they continue being glad!

4They do evil things, and they boast about doing them;

how long will they be allowed to continue doing that?

5Yahweh, it is as though those wicked people crush us, your people;

they ◄oppress/treat cruelly► those who belong to you [DOU].

6They murder widows and orphans

and people from other countries who think it is safe to live in our land.

7Those wicked people say, “Yahweh does not see anything;

so the God whom those Israelis worship does not see the evil things that we do.”

8You evil people who rule Israel, you are foolish and stupid;

when will you become wise [RHQ]?

9God made our ears;

so do you think that he cannot hear what you say [RHQ]?

He created our eyes;

so do you think that he cannot see the evil things that you do [RHQ]?

10He also scolds the leaders of other nations;

so do you think that he will not punish you [RHQ]?

He is the one who knows everything;

so why do you think that he does not know what you do [RHQ]?

11Yahweh knows everything that people are thinking;

he knows that what they think ◄is useless/vanishes as quickly as► smoke [MET].

12Yahweh, you are pleased with people who want you to discipline/correct them,

those who want you to teach them your laws.

13When those people have had troubles, you cause those troubles to cease,

and some day it will be as though you will dig pits for wicked people,

and they will fall into those pits and die.

14Yahweh will not abandon his people;

he will not desert like that those who belong to him [DOU].

15Some day judges will decide matters fairly for people,

and all honest/righteous people will be pleased about that.

16But when wicked people ◄oppressed me/treated me cruelly►,

◄who defended me?/no one defended me.► [RHQ]

No one stood up to testify for me against those evil people [RHQ].

17If Yahweh had not helped me at that time,

I would have been executed,

and my soul/spirit would have gone to the place where dead people say nothing.

18I said/thought to myself, “I am about to die,”

but Yahweh, you held me up by faithfully loving me.

19Whenever I am very worried,

you comfort/encourage me and cause me to be happy.

20You have nothing to do with wicked judges,

who establish laws that allow people to do what is not legal.

21They plan to get rid of righteous people,

and they declare that ◄innocent people/people who have not done what is wrong► must be executed.

22But Yahweh ◄has become like my fortress/protects me► [MET];

my God is like a huge rock under which I am protected/safe [MET].

23He will punish those wicked leaders in return for the wicked things that they have done,

and will get rid of them for the sins that they have committed;

yes, Yahweh our God will ◄wipe them out/destroy them completely►.

95

1Come, sing to Yahweh;

sing joyfully to the one who protects us [MET] and saves us!

2We should thank him as we come before him,

and sing ◄joyful songs/joyfully► as we praise him.

3Because Yahweh is the great God,

he is a great king who rules over all other gods.

4He rules over the whole earth,

from the deepest places/caves to the highest mountains.

5The seas are his, because he made them.

He is also the one who [SYN] formed/made the dry land.

6We should come, worship, and bow down before him.

We should kneel before Yahweh, the one who made us.

7He is our God,

and we are the people whom he takes care of [MET];

like sheep that a shepherd takes care of.

Today, listen to what Yahweh is saying to you.

8He says, “Do not become stubborn [IDM] like your ancestors did at Meribah,

and like they did at Massah in the desert.

9There your ancestors ◄wanted to see/tried to determine► if they could do many very evil things without my punishing them.

Even though they had seen me perform many miracles, they tested whether I would continue to be patient with them.

10For 40 years I was angry with those people,

and I said, ‘Those people say that they want to please me, but they do things that I detest.

They refuse to obey my commands.’

11So because I was very angry, I solemnly said/declared about them:

‘They will never enter the land of Canaan where I would have allowed them to rest!’”

96

1Sing to Yahweh a new song!

You people throughout the earth, sing to Yahweh!

2Sing to Yahweh and praise him [MTY]!

Every day proclaim to others that he has saved/rescued us.

3Tell about his glory/greatness to all people-groups;

tell all people-groups the marvelous things that he has done.

4Yahweh is great, and he deserves to be praised very much;

he should be revered more than for all the gods,

5because all the gods that other people-groups worship are only idols,

but Yahweh is truly great; he created the skies!

6Those who are in his presence honor him and can see that he is a great king.

They can see in his temple that he is very powerful and is very beautiful.

7You people in nations all over the earth, praise Yahweh!

Praise Yahweh for his glorious power [HEN]!

8Praise Yahweh like he deserves to be praised,

Bring an offering and come to his temple.

9Bow down before Yahweh when he appears in his holy/sacred temple;

everyone on the earth should tremble in front of him,

because he is majestic and holy.

10Say to all the people-groups, “Yahweh is the king!

He put the world in its place, and nothing will ever be able to move/shake it.

He will judge all the people-groups fairly.”

11All the beings that are in [MTY] the heavens should be glad, and all the people on the earth should rejoice.

The oceans and all the creatures that are in the oceans should roar to praise Yahweh.

12The fields and everything that grows in them should rejoice.

When they do that, it will be as though all the trees in the forests will sing joyfully

13in front of Yahweh.

That will happen when he comes to judge everyone on [MTY] the earth.

He will judge all the people fairly/justly, according to what he knows is true.

97

1Yahweh is the king!

I want everyone on the earth to be glad/happy,

and the people who live on the islands in the oceans to also rejoice about that!

2There are very dark clouds around him to hide him;

he rules [MTY] righteously/justly and fairly.

3He sends fire in front of him,

and he completely burns all his enemies in that fire.

4All around the world he causes lightning to flash;

people on the earth see it, and it causes them to be afraid and tremble.

5The mountains/hills melt like wax in front of Yahweh,

the one who is the Lord, who rules over all the earth.

6The angels in [MTY] heaven proclaim that he acts righteously,

and all the people-groups see his glory.

7Everyone who worships idols should be ashamed;

all those who are proud of their false gods should realize that their gods are useless,

It is as though all those gods bow down to worship Yahweh.

8The people [MTY] of Jerusalem hear about Yahweh and are glad/happy,

and people in the other [MTY] cities in Judah also rejoice,

because Yahweh judges and punishes wicked people.

9Yahweh is the supreme king over all the earth;

he has very great power, and all the other gods have no power at all.

10Yahweh loves those who hate what people do that is evil;

he protects the lives of his people,

and he rescues them when the wicked people try to harm them.

11His light shines on righteous people;

he causes those who are righteous to rejoice.

12You righteous people, rejoice about what Yahweh has done,

and thank him, our holy God!

98

A psalm

1Sing to Yahweh a new song,

because he has done wonderful things!

By his power [MTY] and his great strength [DOU] he has defeated his enemies.

2Yahweh has declared to people that he has defeated his enemies;

he has revealed that he has punished them,

and people in all the world have seen that he has done it.

3Like he promised to us Israeli people [MTY],

he has faithfully loved us and ◄been loyal to/not abandoned► us.

People who live in very remote places in all the earth

have seen that our God has defeated his enemies.

4All you people [MTY] everywhere should sing joyfully to Yahweh;

praise him while you sing and shout joyfully!

5Praise Yahweh while you play the lyres/harps,

playing delightful music.

6Some of you should blow trumpets and other horns,

while others shout joyfully to Yahweh, our king.

7The oceans and all the creatures that are in the oceans should roar to praise Yahweh.

Everyone on the earth should sing!

8It should seem as though the rivers are clapping their hands to praise Yahweh

and that the hills are singing together joyfully in front of Yahweh,

9because he will come to judge everyone on [MTY] the earth!

He will judge all the people-groups in the world justly and fairly [DOU].

99

1Yahweh is the supreme king,

so all the people-groups should tremble ◄in his presence/in front of him►!

He sits on his throne in the temple above the statues of winged creatures,

so the earth should quake/shake!

2Yahweh is a mighty king in Jerusalem;

but he is also the supreme ruler of all people-groups.

3So they should praise him because he is very great/powerful;

and he is holy!

4He is a mighty king who ◄loves/is pleased with► what is just/right;

he has acted justly and fairly [DOU] in Israel.

5Praise Yahweh our God!

Worship him in front of the Sacred Chest in his temple [MTY],

where he rules people.

He is holy!

6Moses and Aaron were two of his priests;

Samuel also was someone who prayed to him.

Those three cried out to Yahweh to help them,

and he answered them.

7He spoke to Moses and Aaron from the cloud that was like a huge pillar;

they obeyed all the laws and commandments [DOU] that he gave to them.

8Yahweh, our God, you answered your people

when they cried out to you to help them;

you are a God who forgave them for those sins that they had committed,

even though you punished them for the things that they did that are wrong.

9Praise Yahweh, our God,

and worship him at the temple on his sacred hill;

it is right to do that because Yahweh, our God, is holy!

100

A psalm of thanksgiving

1Everyone in the world should shout joyfully to Yahweh!

2We should worship Yahweh gladly!

We should come before him singing joyful songs.

3We should acknowledge/recognize that Yahweh is God;

it is he who made us, so we belong to him.

We are the people that he takes care of [MET];

we are like sheep that are cared for by their shepherd.

4Enter the gates of his temple thanking him;

enter the courtyard of the temple singing songs to praise him!

Thank him and praise him,

5because Yahweh always does good things for us.

He faithfully loves us,

and ◄is faithful/is loyal to us forever/will never forsake us►.

101

A psalm written by David

1Yahweh, I will sing to you!

I will sing about your faithfully loving us (OR, my being loyal to you and acting justly/fairly toward people).

2I promise that while I rule people [MTY],

I will behave in such a way that no one will be able to criticize me.

Yahweh, ◄when will you come to help me?/I need you to come to help me.► [RHQ]

I will do things that are right.

3I will not allow stay away from those who do what is evil[SYN].

I hate the deeds of those who ◄turn away from/sin against► you;

I will ◄completely avoid those people/not allow those people to come near me►.

4I will not be dishonest,

and I will not have anything to do with evil (OR, evil people).

5I will get rid of anyone who secretly slanders someone else,

and I will not ◄tolerate/allow to be near me► anyone who is proud and arrogant [DOU].

6I will approve of [IDM] people in this land who ◄are loyal to/faithfully obey► God,

and I will allow them to ◄live with/work for► me.

I will allow those who behave in such a way that no one can criticize them to ◄serve me/be my officials►.

7I will not allow anyone who deceives others to work in my palace;

no one who tells lies will be allowed to continually come to work for me.

8Every day I will try to get rid of all the wicked people in this land;

I will do that by expelling them from this city, which is Yahweh’s city.

102

A prayer written by someone who was afflicted, when he was discouraged and pleaded for Yahweh to help him

1Yahweh, listen to what I am praying;

hear me while I cry out to you!

2Do not ◄turn away/hide yourself► from me when I ◄have troubles/am distressed►!

Listen to me,

and answer me quickly now, when I am calling out to you!

3My life is ending, like smoke that disappears [SIM];

I have a high fever which burns my body like a fire burns [SIM].

4I feel like I am drying up like grass [SIM] that has been beaten/trampled down,

and I no longer have a desire to eat food.

5I groan loudly,

and my bones can be seen under my skin because I have become very thin.

6I am like a lonely and despised vulture in the desert,

like an owl by itself in the abandoned ruins of a building/city.

7I lie awake at night;

because there is no one to comfort me,

I am like a lonely bird sitting on a housetop [SIM].

8All during the day my enemies insult me;

those who make fun of me mention my name

and say, “May you be like him” when they curse people.

9-10Because you are very angry [DOU] with me,

now I sit in ashes while I am suffering greatly;

and those ashes fall on the bread/food that I eat,

and what I drink has my tears mixed with it.

It is as though you have picked me up and thrown me away!

11My time to remain alive is like an evening shadow that will soon be gone [SIM].

I am withering like grass withers in the hot sun.

12But Yahweh, you are our king who rules [MTY] forever;

people who are not yet born will remember you.

13You will arise and be merciful to the people of [MTY] Jerusalem;

it is now time for you to do that;

this is the time for you to be kind to them.

14Even though ◄the city has been destroyed/our enemies have destroyed our city►,

we who serve you still love the stones that were formerly in the city walls;

because now there is rubble everywhere,

we, your people, are very sad when we see it.

15Yahweh, some day the people of other nations will revere you [MTY];

all the kings on earth will see that you are very glorious/great.

16You will rebuild Jerusalem,

and you will appear there with your glory/brightness.

17You will listen to the prayers of your people who are homeless,

and you will ◄not ignore them/do what they request► [LIT]

when they plead with you to help them.

18Yahweh, I want to write these words

in order that people in future years will know what you have done,

in order that people who are not born yet will praise you.

19They will know that you looked down from your holy/sacred place in heaven [DOU]

and saw what was happening on the earth.

20They will know that you hear prisoners groaning

and that you will set free those who have been told, “You will be executed.”

21As a result, people in Jerusalem will praise you [DOU] for what you have done

22when many people from other people-groups and those who are citizens of other kingdoms gather to worship you.

23But now you have caused me to become weak while I am still young;

I think that I will ◄not live much longer/ very long/soon die►.

24I say to you, “My God, do not cause me to die now,

before I become old!

You live forever!

25You created the world long ago,

and you made ◄the heavens/everything in the sky► with your own hands.

26The earth and the heavens/sky will disappear, but you will remain.

They will wear out like clothes wear out.

You will get rid of them like people get rid of old clothes,

and they will no longer exist,

27but you are not like the things that you created,

because you are always the same;

you never die.

28Some day our children will live safely in Jerusalem,

and their descendants will be protected in your presence.”

103

A psalm written by David

1I tell myself that I should praise Yahweh.

I will praise him [MTY] with all of my inner being, because he [MTY] is holy.

2I tell myself that I should praise Yahweh

and never forget all the kind things he has done for me:

3He forgives all my sins,

and he heals me from all my diseases/sicknesses;

4he keeps me from dying [MTY],

and blesses me by faithfully loving me and acting mercifully to me.

5He gives me good things during my entire life.

He makes me feel young and strong like eagles.

6Yahweh judges justly and ◄vindicates/does what is right for► all those who have been treated unfairly.

7Long ago he revealed to Moses what he planned to do;

he showed to the ancestors of us Israeli people the mighty things that he was able to do.

8Yahweh acts mercifully and kindly;

he does not quickly ◄get angry/punish us► when we sin;

he is always showing us that he faithfully loves us.

9He will not keep rebuking us,

and he will not remain angry forever.

10He punishes us for our sins,

but he does not punish us severely as we deserve [DOU]!

11The skies are very high above the earth,

and Yahweh’s faithful love for all those who revere him is just as great.

12He has taken away the guilt for [MTY] our sins,

taking it as far from us as the east is from the west.

13Just like parents act mercifully toward their children,

Yahweh is kind to those who revere him.

14He knows what our bodies are like;

he remembers that he created us from dirt,

and so we quickly fail to do what pleases him [MET].

15We humans do not live forever [SIM];

we are like grass [SIM] that withers and dies.

We are like wild flowers: They bloom for a short while,

16but then the hot wind blows over them, and they disappear;

no one sees them again.

17But Yahweh will faithfully keep loving forever

all those who revere him.

He will act fairly to our children and to their children;

18he will act that way to all those who obey the agreement he made with them to bless them if they did what he told them to do,

to all those who obey what he has commanded.

19Yahweh made/caused the heavens to be the place where he rules [MTY];

from there he rules over everything.

20You angels who belong to Yahweh, praise him!

You are powerful creatures/beings who do what he tells you to do;

you obey what he commands.

21Praise Yahweh, you armies/thousands of angels who serve him and do what he desires!

22All you things that Yahweh has created, praise him;

praise him in every place where he rules, everywhere!

And I also will praise Yahweh!

104

1I tell myself that I should praise Yahweh.

Yahweh, my God, you are very great!

Like a king has on his royal robes [MET],

you have honor and majesty/greatness all around you!

2You created/caused light to be like your robe [MET].

You spread out the sky like a man sets up a tent.

3You made/put your home in heaven, above the rain clouds in the sky, like a man puts the rafters of his house in place [MET].

You made/caused the clouds to be like chariots to carry you.

4You caused the winds to be like your messengers [MET],

and flames of fire to be like your servants.

5You placed the world firmly on its foundation

so that it can never be moved/shaken.

6Later, you covered the earth with a flood, like a blanket,

with the water that covered the mountains.

7But when you rebuked the water, the oceans receded;

your voice spoke like thunder,

and then the waters rushed away.

8Mountains rose up from the water,

and the valleys sank down

to the levels that you had determined for them.

9Then you set a boundary for the oceans, a boundary that they cannot cross;

their water will never again cover the whole earth.

10You make/cause springs to pour water into ravines;

their water flows down between the mountains.

11Those streams provide water for all the animals to drink;

the wild donkeys drink the water and are no longer thirsty.

12Birds make their nests alongside the streams,

and they sing among the branches of the trees.

13From ◄your home in heaven/the sky► you send rain down on the mountains,

and you fill the earth with many good things that you create.

14You make/cause grass to grow for the cattle to eat,

and you make/cause plants to grow for people.

In that way animals and people get their food from what grows in the soil.

15We get grapes to make [MTY] wine to drink and make us cheerful,

and we get olives to make [MTY] olive oil to put on our skin and cause it to shine,

and we get grain to make [MTY] bread to give us strength.

16Yahweh, you send plenty of rain to water your trees,

the cedar trees that you planted in Lebanon.

17Birds make their nests in those trees;

even storks make their nests in pine/fir trees.

18High up in the mountains the wild goats live,

and hyraxes/badgers live in the crags/crevices in the rocks.

19Yahweh, you made the moon to indicate the times for our festivals,

and you made the sun that knows when to go down.

20You bring darkness, and it becomes night,

when all the animals in the forest prowl around, looking for food.

21At night the young lions roar as they seek their prey,

but they depend on you to give them food.

22At dawn, they go back to their dens and lie down.

23And during the daytime, people go to their work;

they work until it is evening.

24Yahweh, you have made so many different kinds of things!

You were very wise as you made them all.

The earth is full of the creatures that you made.

25We see the ocean which is very large [DOU]!

It is full of many kinds of living creatures,

big ones and little ones.

26We see the ships which sail along!

We see the huge sea monster, which you made to ◄splash around/play► in the sea.

27All of those creatures depend on you

to give them the food that they need.

28When you give them the food that they need,

they gather it.

You give them what you have in your hand,

and they eat it and are satisfied.

29But if you refuse to give food to them,

they become terrified.

And when you cause them to stop breathing, they die;

their bodies decay and become soil again.

30When you cause newborn creatures to begin to breathe,

they start to live;

you give new life to all the living creatures on the earth.

31I want the glory of Yahweh to last forever.

Iwant him to rejoice about all the things that he has created.

32He causes the earth to shake just by looking at it!

By merely touching the mountains he makes/causes them to pour out fire and smoke!

33I will sing to Yahweh ◄as long as I live/throughout my entire life►.

I will praise my God until the day that I die.

34I want Yahweh to be pleased by all those things that I have thought about him,

because I rejoice about knowing him.

35But I desire that sinners will disappear from the earth,

so that there will be no more wicked people!

But as for me, I will praise Yahweh!

◄Praise him/Hallelujah►!

105

1Give thanks to Yahweh, and tell others that he is very great!

Tell everyone in the world what he has done!

2Sing to him; praise him as you sing to him;

tell others about his wonderful miracles.

3Be happy because you know that he [MTY] is holy!

You people who worship Yahweh, rejoice!

4Ask Yahweh to help you and give you his strength,

and continue to ask him!

5-6You people who are descendants of God’s servant Abraham,

you descendants of Jacob, the man God chose,

think about all the wonderful things that he has done:

He performed miracles, and he punished all our enemies.

7He is Yahweh, our God.

He rules and judges people throughout the earth.

8He never forgets the agreement that he made;

he made a promise that will last for 1,000 generations;

9that is the agreement that he made with Abraham,

and he repeated that agreement with Isaac.

10Later he confirmed it again to Jacob

as an agreement for the Israeli people that would last forever.

11What he said was, “I will give you the Canaan region;

it will belong to you and your descendants forever.”

12He said that to them when there were only a few of them,

a tiny group of people who were living in that land like strangers.

13They continued to wander from one place to another,

from one kingdom to another.

14But he did not allow others to oppress them.

He warned those kings by saying to them,

15“Do not do harm the people whom I have chosen!

Do not harm my prophets!”

16He sent a famine to Canaan, and as a result all the people had no food to eat.

17So his people went to Egypt, but first he sent someone there.

He sent Joseph, who had been sold to be a slave.

18Later, while Joseph was in prison in Egypt,

they put his legs in shackles that bruised his feet,

and they put an iron collar around his neck.

19There, Yahweh ◄refined Joseph’s character/tested Joseph to see if Joseph would continue to trust him►,

until what Joseph predicted would happen ◄came true/happened►.

20The king of Egypt summoned him, and he set Joseph free;

this ruler of many people-groups released Joseph from prison.

21Then he appointed him to take care of everything in the king’s household,

to take care of everything that the king possessed.

22◄Joseph was permitted/He permitted Joseph► to command the king’s servants

to do anything that Joseph wanted them to do,

and even to tell the king’s advisors the things that they should do for the people of Egypt.

23Later, Joseph’s father Jacob arrived in Egypt.

He lived like a foreigner in the land that belonged to the descendants of Ham.

24And years later Yahweh caused the descendants of Jacob to become very numerous.

As a result, their enemies, the Egyptians, considered that the Israelis were too strong.

25So Yahweh caused the rulers of Egypt to ◄turn against/hate► the Israeli people,

and they planned ways to get rid of his people.

26But then Yahweh sent his servant Moses

along with Moses’ older brother Aaron, whom Yahweh had also chosen to be his servant.

27Those two performed amazing miracles among the people of Egypt,

in that land where the descendants of Ham lived.

28Yahweh sent darkness, so that the people of Egypt could not see anything [DOU],

but the rulers of Egypt refused [RHQ] to obey when Moses and Aaron commanded them to let the Israeli people leave Egypt.

29Yahweh caused all the water in Egypt to become ◄blood/ red like blood►,

and his doing that caused all the fish to die.

30Then he caused the land to become full of frogs;

the king and his officials even had frogs in their bedrooms.

31Then Yahweh commanded that flies come, and swarms of them descended on the people of Egypt,

and gnats also swarmed across the whole country.

32Instead of sending rain, Yahweh sent terrible hail,

and lightning flashed throughout the land.

33The hail ruined their grapevines and fig trees

and shattered all the other trees.

34He commanded locusts to come, and swarms of them came;

so many that they could not be counted.

35The locusts ate every green plant in the land,

ruining all the crops.

36Then Yahweh killed the oldest son in every house of the people of Egypt [DOU].

37Then he brought the Israeli people out from Egypt;

they were carrying loads of jewelry made of silver and gold that the women of Egypt had given to them.

No one was left behind because of being sick.

38The people of Egypt were glad when the Israeli people left,

because they had become very afraid of the Israelis.

39Then Yahweh spread a cloud to cover the Israelis;

and at night it became a big fire in the sky to give them light.

40Later the Israelis asked for meat to eat,

and Yahweh sent flocks of quail to them,

and he gave them plenty of manna food from the sky each morning.

41One day he caused a rock to open up and water poured out for them to drink;

it was like a river flowing in that desert.

42He did that because he kept thinking about the sacred promise that he had given to his servant, Abraham.

43So his people were joyful as he brought them out from Egypt;

those people whom he had chosen were shouting joyfully as they went.

44He gave to them the land that belonged to the people-groups that lived there in Canaan,

and the Israelis harvested crops that other people had planted.

45Yahweh did all these things

in order that his people would do all the things that he had commanded them to do [DOU].

Praise Yahweh!

106

1Praise Yahweh!

Praise Yahweh, because he does good things for us;

he faithfully loves us forever/continually!

2Because Yahweh has done many great things,

no one can [RHQ] tell all the great things that Yahweh has done,

and no one can praise him enough/sufficiently.

3◄Happy are/He is pleased with► those who act fairly/justly,

with those who always do what is right.

4Yahweh, be kind to me when you help your people;

help me when you rescue/save them.

5Allow me to see it when your people become prosperous again

and when all the people of your nation, Israel, are happy;

allow me to be happy with them!

I want to praise you along with all those others who belong to you.

6We and our ancestors have sinned;

we have done things that were very wicked [DOU].

7When our ancestors were in Egypt,

they did not pay attention to the wonderful things that Yahweh did;

they forgot about the many times that he showed that he faithfully loved them.

Instead, when they were at the Red Sea,

they rebelled against God, who is greater than any other god.

8But he rescued them for the sake of his own reputation

in order that he could show that he is very powerful.

9He rebuked the Red Sea and it became dry,

and then while he led our ancestors across it,

they walked through it as though it were as dry as a desert [SIM].

10In that way he rescued them from the power [MTY] of their enemies who hated them [DOU].

11Then their enemies were drowned in the water of the Red Sea;

not one of them was left.

12When that happened, our ancestors believed that Yahweh had truly done for them what he had promised to do,

and they sang to praise him.

13But they soon forgot what he had done for them;

they did things without waiting to find out what Yahweh wanted them to do.

14They intensely wanted food like they formerly ate in Egypt.

They did evil things to find out if they could do those things without God punishing them.

15So he gave them what they requested,

but he also caused a terrible disease to afflict them.

16Later when some of the men became jealous of Moses

and his older brother Aaron, who was dedicated to serve Yahweh by being a priest,

17the ground opened up and swallowed Dathan

and also buried Abiram and his family.

18And God sent a fire down from heaven

which burned up all the wicked people who ◄supported them/agreed with► them.

19Then the Israeli leaders made a gold statue at Sinai Mountain

and worshiped it.

20Instead of worshiping our glorious God,

they started to worship a statue of a bull that eats grass!

21They forgot about God, who had rescued them by the great miracles that he performed in Egypt.

22They forgot about the wonderful things that he did for them in Egypt

and the amazing/awesome things that he did for them at the Red Sea.

23Because of that, God said that he would get rid of the Israelis,

but Moses, whom God had chosen to serve him, pleadeed with God not to get rid of them.

And as a result God did not destroy them.

24Later, our ancestors ◄refused/were afraid► to enter beautiful Canaan land

because they did not believe that God would enable them to take the land from the people who were living there, as he had promised.

25They stayed in their tents and grumbled

and would not pay attention to what Yahweh said that they should do.

26So he solemnly [MTY] told them

that he would cause them to die there in the desert,

27and that he would scatter their descendants among the people of other nations/people-groups who did not believe in him,

and that he would allow them to die in those lands.

28Later the Israeli people started to worship the idol of Baal who they thought lived at Peor Mountain,

and they ate meat that had been sacrificed to Baal and those other lifeless gods.

29Yahweh became very angry because of what they had done,

so again he sent a terrible disease to attack/strike them.

30But Phinehas stood up and punished/killed the ones who had sinned greatly,

and as a result the ◄plague/serious disease► ended.

31People have remembered that righteous thing that Phinehas did,

and in future years people will remember it.

32Then at Meribah Springs our ancestors caused Yahweh to become angry,

and as a result Moses had trouble.

33They caused Moses to become very angry [IDM],

and he said things that were foolish.

34Our ancestors did not destroy the people who did not believe in Yahweh

like he told them to do.

35Instead, they mingled with people from those people-groups,

and they started to do the evil things that those people did.

36Our ancestors worshiped the idols of those people,

which resulted in their being destroyed/exiled/taken to another country [MET].

37Some of the Israelis sacrificed their sons and daughters to the demons that those idols represented.

38They killed [MTY] their own children, who ◄were innocent/had not done things that were wrong►,

and offered them as sacrifices to the idols in Canaan.

As a result, Canaan land was polluted by those murders [MTY].

39So by their deeds they caused themselves to become unacceptable to God;

because they did not faithfully worship only God,

they became like women who sleep with other men instead of sleeping only with their husbands [MET].

40So Yahweh became very angry with his people;

he was completely disgusted with them.

41As a result he allowed people-groups who did not believe in him to conquer them,

so those who hated our ancestors started to rule over them.

42Their enemies ◄oppressed them/treated them cruelly►

and completely controlled them [MET].

43Many times Yahweh rescued them,

but they continued to rebel against him,

and they were finally destroyed because of the sins that they committed.

44However, Yahweh always heard them when they cried out to him;

he listened to them when they were distressed.

45For their sake, he thought about the agreement/promise that he had made to bless them,

and because he never stopped loving them very much,

he changed his mind about punishing them more.

46He caused all those who had taken the Israelis to Babylonia to ◄feel sorry for/pity► them.

47Yahweh our God, rescue/save us

and bring us back to Israel from among those people-groups

in order that we may thank you [MTY]

and joyfully praise you.

48Praise Yahweh, the God whom we Israelis worship,

praise him now and forever!

And I want everyone to say, “Amen/May it be so!”

Praise Yahweh!

107

Book Five

1Give thanks to Yahweh, because he always does good things for us

His faithful love for us lasts forever!

2Those whom Yahweh has saved should tell others

that he has rescued them from their enemies.

3He has gathered those of you who were ◄exiled/taken forcefully► to many lands;

he has gathered you together from the east and the west,

from the north and from the south.

4Some of those who returned from those countries wandered in the desert;

they were lost and had no homes to live in.

5They were hungry and thirsty,

and they were very discouraged.

6When they were in trouble, they called out to Yahweh,

and he rescued them from ◄being distressed/their difficulties►.

7He led them along a straight road where they walked safely

to cities in Canaan where they could live.

8They should praise/thank Yahweh for loving them faithfully

and for the wonderful things that he does for people.

9He gives thirsty people plenty of water to drink,

and he gives hungry people plenty of good things to eat.

10Some of them were in very dark [HEN] ◄places in Babylonia/other countries►;

they were prisoners, suffering because of chains fastened to their hands and feet.

11They were in prison because they had ◄rebelled against/not obeyed► the message of God;

they were there because they had despised the advice given by God,

who is greater than all other gods.

12That is why their bodies were worn out from hard labor;

when they fell down, there was no one who would help them.

13In their troubles, they called out to Yahweh,

and he rescued them from their being distressed.

14He broke the chains that were on their hands and feet;

and brought them out of those very dark prisons.

15-16He broke down the prison gates that were made of bronze,

and cut through the prison bars that were made of iron.

So they also should praise/thank Yahweh for faithfully loving them,

and for all the wonderful things that he does for people.

17Some of them foolishly rebelled against God,

so they suffered for their sins.

18They did not want to eat any food,

and they almost died.

19In their troubles, they also called out to Yahweh,

and he rescued them from their being distressed.

20When he commanded that they be healed, they were healed;

he saved them from dying.

21They also should praise/thank Yahweh for faithfully loving them,

and for all the wonderful things that he does for people.

22They should give offerings to him to show that they are thankful,

and they should sing joyfully about the miracles that he has performed.

23Some of them sailed in ships;

they were selling things in ports throughout the world.

24As they were sailing, they also saw the miracles that Yahweh performed,

the wonderful things that he did when they were on very deep seas.

25He commanded the winds, and they became strong

and ◄stirred up high waves/caused waves to rise high►.

26The ships in which they were sailing were tossed high in the air,

and then they sank into the ◄troughs/low places► between the high waves;

then the sailors were terrified.

27They stumbled about and staggered like drunken men,

and they did not know what to do.

28In their troubles, they also called out to Yahweh,

and he rescued them from their distresses.

29He ◄calmed the storm/caused the wind to stop blowing►,

and he caused the waves to completely subside.

30They were very glad when it became calm;

and Yahweh brought them safely into a harbor.

31They also should praise/thank Yahweh for faithfully loving them,

and for all the wonderful things that he does for people.

32They should praise him among the Israeli people when they have gathered together,

and they should praise him in front of the leaders of the country.

33Sometimes Yahweh causes rivers to become dry,

with the result that the land becomes a desert,

and springs of water become dry land.

34Sometimes he causes land that has produced lots of crops to become salty wastelands,

with the result that they do not produce crops.

He does that because the people who live there are very wicked.

35But sometimes he causes pools of water to appear in deserts,

and he causes springs to flow in very dry ground.

36He brings hungry people into that land, to live there and build cities there.

37They plant seeds in their fields,

and they plant grapevines that produce big crops of grapes.

38He blesses the people, and the women give birth to many children,

and they have large herds of cattle.

39When the number of people becomes smaller and they have been humiliated by their enemies

by being oppressed and caused to suffer [DOU],

40Yahweh shows contempt for the leaders who oppress them,

and causes them to wander in deserts where there are no roads.

41But he rescues poor people from ◄being in misery/suffering►,

and causes their families to increase in number like flocks of sheep.

42Godly/Righteous people will ◄see/hear about► these things, and they will rejoice,

and wicked people will hear about these things, too,

but they will have nothing to say in reply.

43Those who are wise should think carefully about those things;

they should consider all the things that Yahweh has done to show that he faithfully loves them.

108

A psalm written by David

1God, I am ◄very confident/trusting completely► [IDM] in you.

I will sing to praise you.

with allmy nner being.

2I will arise before the sun rises,

and I will praise you while I play my big harp and my ◄lyre/small harp►.

3I prayed, “Yahweh, I will thank you among all the people-groups;

I will sing to praise you among the nations,

4because your faithful love for us reaches up to the heavens,

and your faithfully doing what you promise is as great as the distance up to the clouds.

5Yahweh, show in the heavens that you are very great!

And show your glory to people all over the earth!

6Answer our prayers and by your power help us [MTY] to defeat our enemies

in order that we, the people whom you love, may be saved/rescued.”

7And Yahweh answered our prayers and spoke from his temple, saying, “Because I have conquered your enemies, I will joyfully divide everything in Shechem city

and I will distribute among my people the valuable things in Succoth Valley .

8The Gilead region is mine;

the people of the tribe of Manasseh are mine;

the tribe of Ephraim is like my war helmet,

and the tribe of Judah is like the ◄scepter/stick that I hold which shows that I am the ruler► [MET];

9the Moab region is like my washbasin [MET];

I throw my sandal in the Edom area to show that it belongs to me;

I shout triumphantly because I have defeated the people of the Philistia area.”

10Because we want to attack the people of Edom,

◄who will lead my army triumphantly to their capital city that has strong walls around it?/I want someone to lead my army triumphantly to their capital city that has strong walls around it.► [RHQ]

11God, we hope that [RHQ] you have not abandoned us,

and that you will go with us when our army marches out to fight our enemies.

12We need you to help us when we fight against our enemies,

because the help that humans can give us is worthless.

13But with you helping us, we shall win;

you will enable us to defeat our enemies.

109

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1God, you are the one whom I praise,

So please answer my prayer,

2because wicked people slander me

and tell [MTY] lies about me.

3They are constantly saying that they hate me,

and they say evil things about me for no reason.

4I show them that I want to be their friends

and I pray for them,

but instead of being kind to me, they say that I have done evil things.

5In return for my doing good things for them and loving them,

they do evil things to me and hate me.

6They said, “Appoint a wicked judge who will judge him,

and bring in one of his enemies who will stand up and accuse him.

7And cause that when the trial ends,

the judge will declare that he is guilty,

and that even his prayer will be considered to be a sin.

8Then, cause that he will soon die

and that someone else will have his job/work (OR, possessions).

9Cause that his children will not have a father anymore

and that his wife will become a widow.

10Cause that his children will be forced to leave the ruined homes that they have been living in

and wander around begging for food.

11Cause that all the people to whom he owed money will seize all his property;

Cause that strangers will take away everything that he worked to acquire.

12Cause that while he is still living no one will be kind to him,

and after he dies, cause that no one will pity his children.

13Cause that all his descendants will die

and that his grandchildren will not remember who he [MTY] was.

14Yahweh, remember and do not forgive his ancestors for the evil things that they did,

and do not even forgive the sins that his mother committed;

15think about his sins continually,

and cause that his name will be completely forgotten.

16He never was kind to anyone;

he ◄persecuted/cause problems for► poor and needy people

and even killed helpless people.

17He liked to curse people.

So cause those terrible things that he requested to happen to others to happen to him!

He did not want to bless others,

so cause that no one will bless him!

18He cursed other people as often/easily as he put on his clothes [SIM];

cause that the terrible things that he wanted to happen to others will happen to him and enter his body like water that he drinks [SIM],

like olive oil soaks into a person’s bones when it is rubbed on his skin [SIM].

19Cause that those terrible things will cling to him like his clothes

and be around him like the belt that he wears every day.”

20Yahweh, I want you to punish all my enemies that way,

those who say evil things about me.

21But Yahweh, my God, do good things for me

in order that I may honor you;

rescue me from my enemies

because your faithfully loving me is good.

22I ask you to do this because I am poor and needy

and my inner being is ◄full of pain/very troubled/discouraged►.

23I think that my time to remain alive is short,

like an evening shadow that will soon disappear [SIM].

I will be blown away like a locust/grasshopper is blown by the wind.

24My knees are weak because I have ◄fasted/abstained from eating food► very often,

and my body has become very thin.

25The people who accuse me make fun of me;

when they see me, they insult me by shaking their heads at me as though I were an evil man.

26Yahweh, my God, help me!

Because you faithfully love me, rescue me!

27When you save me,

cause my enemies to know that you are the one who has done it!

28They may curse me, but I ask that you bless me.

Cause those who ◄persecute/cause problems for► me to be defeated and as a result to be disgraced/ashamed,

and cause me to be glad/happy!

29Cause those who accuse me to be completely disgraced;

cause other people to see that they are disgraced, as easily as they see the clothes that they wear [SIM]!

30But I will thank Yahweh very greatly;

I will praise him when I am among the crowd of people who are worshiping him.

31I will do that because he defends [MTY] needy people like me,

and saves us from those who have decided/declared that we must be executed.

110

A psalm written by David

1Yahweh said to my lord the king,

“Sit here, close to me, in the place of highest honor [MTY]

until I completely defeat your enemies [MET]

and make them like a stool for your feet!”

2Yahweh also said to him, “I will extend your power as king

from Jerusalem to other lands;

you will rule over all your enemies.

3On the day that you lead your armies into battle,

many of your people will volunteer to join your army.

Like the dew refreshes the earth early in the morning,

young men will encourage you by coming to help you.”

4Yahweh has made a solemn promise,

and he will never change his mind;

he has said to the king, “You will be a priest forever

serving Yahweh like Melchizedek did.”

5Yahweh stands in the place of highest honor at your right side;

when he becomes angry, he will defeat many kings.

6He will judge and punish the people of many nations;

he will fill the land with their corpses.

He will crush the heads of other kings all over the earth.

7But my lord the king will drink from streams near the road;

he will be refreshed after defeating his enemies.

111

1Praise Yahweh!

I will thank Yahweh with my entire inner being,

every time I am with a large group of godly/righteous people.

2The things that Yahweh has done are wonderful!

All those who are delighted/pleased with those things

desire to ◄study/think about► them.

3Because of everything that he does,

people greatly honor him and respect him because he is a great king;

the righteous/just things that he does will endure forever.

4He has appointed/established festivals in which we remember the wonderful things that he has done;

Yahweh always is kind and merciful.

5He provides food for those who revere him;

he never forgets the agreement that he made with our ancestors.

6By enabling his people to capture the lands that belonged to other people-groups,

he has shown to us, his people, that he is very powerful.

7He [MTY] faithfully does what he has promised and always does what is just/fair,

and we can depend on him to help us when he commands us to do things.

8What he commands must be obeyed forever;

and he acted in a true and righteous manner when he gave us those commands.

9He rescued us, his people, from being slaves in Egypt,

and he made an agreement with us that will last forever.

He [MTY] is holy and awesome!

10Revering Yahweh is the way to become wise.

All those who obey his commands will know what is good for them to decide to do.

We should praise him forever!

112

1Praise Yahweh!

◄Happy are/He is pleased with► those who revere him,

those who happily obey his commands.

2Their children will prosper in their land;

and their descendants will be blessed by God.

3Their families [MTY] will be very wealthy [DOU],

and the results of their righteous deeds will endure forever.

4Godly/Righteous people are like lights [SIM] that shine in the darkness

on those who are kind, merciful and righteous.

5Things will go well for those who generously lend money to others

and who conduct their businesses honestly.

6Righteous people will not be overwhelmed/worried/distressed because of their troubles,

and they will never be forgotten by other people.

7They are not afraid of receiving bad news;

they confidently/completely trust in Yahweh.

8They are confident and not afraid,

because they know that they will see God defeat their enemies.

9They give things generously to poor/needy people;

the results of their kind deeds will endure forever,

and they will be exalted and honored.

10Wicked people see those things and are angry;

they gnash their teeth angrily,

but they will disappear and die.

The wicked things that they want to do will never happen.

113

1Praise Yahweh!

You people who serve Yahweh, praise him!

Praise ◄him/his name►!

2Yahweh should be praised now and forever!

3People who live in the east and people who live in the west,

everyone, should praise Yahweh [MTY]!

4Yahweh rules [MTY] over all the nations,

and high in the heavens he shows that his glory is very great.

5There is no one [RHQ] who is like Yahweh, our God,

who lives/sits/rules in the highest heaven,

6and looks far down through the heavens and sees the people on the earth.

7Sometimes he lifts poor people up so that they no longer sit in the dirt;

he helps needy people so that they no longer sit on heaps of ashes

8and causes them to be honored by sitting next to princes,

the sons of the kings who rule their people.

9He also enables women who have no children to have a family;

he causes them to be happy mothers.

Praise Yahweh!

114

1When the Israeli people left Egypt,

when they who were descendants of Jacob left people who spoke a foreign/different language,

2the land of Judah became the place where people worshiped God;

and Israel became the land (OR, the Israeli people became the people) that he ruled over.

3When they came to the Red Sea,

it was as though the water saw them and ran away!

When they came to the Jordan River,

that water in the river stopped flowing so that the Israelis could cross it.

4When they came to Sinai Mountain and there was a big earthquake,

it was as though the mountains skipped/jumped like goats do

and the hills jumped around like lambs do.

5If someone asks, “What happened at the Red Sea that caused the water to run away?

What happened that caused the water in the Jordan River to stop flowing?

6What happened that caused the mountains to skip like goats

and caused the hills to jump around like lambs?”

7I would reply that it was the presence of the Lord that caused those things to happen!

Everyone/Everything on the earth should tremble in the presence of God, whom ◄Jacob worshiped/the Israeli people worship►!

8He is the one who caused pools of water for the Israeli people to drink to flow from a rock;

he caused a spring to flow from a solid rock cliff!

115

1Yahweh, people should praise only you [MTY];

they must praise you, not us,

because you faithfully love us and always do what you have promised to do.

2It is not right that [RHQ] other people-groups should say about us,

“They claim that their God is very powerful,

but if that is true, why does he not help them?”

3Our God is in heaven,

and he does whatever he wants to!

4But their idols are only statues made of silver and gold,

things that humans have made.

5Their idols have mouths, but they cannot say anything;

they have eyes, but they cannot see anything.

6They have ears, but they cannot hear anything;

they have noses, but they cannot smell anything.

7They have hands, but they cannot feel anything;

they have feet, but they cannot walk,

and they have throats but cannot even make any sounds!

8The people who make those idols are as powerless as those idols,

and those who trust in those idols can accomplish nothing, just like their idols!

9You, my fellow Israeli people, trust in Yahweh!

He is the one who helps you and protects you like [MET] a shield.

10You priests [MTY], trust in Yahweh!

He is the one who helps you and protects you like [MET] a shield.

11All you who revere Yahweh, trust in him!

He is the one who helps you and protects you like [MET] a shield.

12Yahweh has not forgotten us;

he will bless us Israeli people [MTY]!

He will bless the priests,

13and he will bless all those who revere him;

he will bless important people and people who are considered to be unimportant, everyone!

14I desire that Yahweh will give many children

to you my fellow-Israeli people, and to your descendants.

15I desire that Yahweh, the one who made heaven and the earth, will bless all of you!

16The highest heavens belong to Yahweh,

but he gave everything that is on the earth to us people.

17Dead people are not able to praise Yahweh;

when they descend into the place where dead people are,

they are unable to speak and cannot praise him.

18But we who are alive will thank/praise him,

now and forever.

Praise Yahweh!

116

1I love Yahweh,

because he hears me when I cry for him to help me.

2He listens to me,

so I will call out to him all during my life.

3Everything around me [MET] caused me to think that I would die;

I was very afraid that I would die and go to the place where dead people are.

I was very distressed/worried and afraid.

4But then I called out to Yahweh, saying,

“Yahweh, I plead with you to save/rescue me!”

5Yahweh is kind and does what is right;

he is our God, and he acts mercifully to us.

6He protects those who ◄are helpless/cannot defend themselves►;

and when I thought that I would die, he saved me.

7I must encourage/tell myself to ◄have inner peace/not worry anymore►,

because Yahweh has done very good things for me.

8Yahweh has saved me [SYN] from dying,

and has kept/protected me from troubles that would cause me to cry.

He has kept/protected me from stumbling.

9So here on the earth, where people are still alive,

I live knowing that Yahweh is directing me.

10I continued to believe/trust in Yahweh,

even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted/troubled.”

11Even when I was distressed/worried and said, “I cannot trust anyone,”

I continued to trust in Yahweh.

12So now I will tell you [RHQ] what I will offer to Yahweh,

because of all the good things that he has done for me.

13I will offer to him a cup of wine

to thank him for saving/rescuing me.

14When I am together with many [HYP] people who belong to Yahweh,

I will give to him the offerings that I solemnly promised to give to him.

15Yahweh is very grieved/sad when one of his people dies.

16I am one of those who serve Yahweh;

I serve him like my mother did.

He has freed/saved me from dying (OR, from being fastened by chains).

17So I will offer to him a sacrifice to thank him,

and I will pray to him.

18-19When I am together with many of [HYP] the people who belong to Yahweh,

in the courtyard outside his temple in Jerusalem,

I will give to him the offerings that I solemnly promised to give to him.

Praise Yahweh!

117

1You people of all nations, praise Yahweh!

All you people-groups, extol/praise him,

2because he faithfully loves us very much.

and he will forever faithfully do for us what he promised that he would do.

Praise Yahweh!

118

1Tell Yahweh that you thank him very much for the good things that he has done for you

He faithfully loves us, his people, forever.

2You Israeli people should repeatedly shout,

“He faithfully loves us, his people, forever!”

3You priests who are descendants of Aaron should repeatedly shout,

“He faithfully loves us, his people, forever!”

4All you who revere him should repeatedly shout,

“He faithfully loves us, his people, forever!”

5When I was distressed, I called out to Yahweh,

and he answered me and set me free from my worries/troubles.

6Yahweh is ◄on my side/helping me►,

so I will not be afraid of anything.

No one [RHQ] can do anything that will prevent God from blessing me forever.

7Yes, Yahweh is ◄on my side/helping me►,

so I will look triumphantly at my enemies while he defeats them.

8It is better to trust in Yahweh

than to ◄depend on/trust in► people.

9It is better to trust Yahweh to protect us

than to trust that influential/important people will protect us.

10Armies of [MTY] many nations surrounded me,

but Yahweh enabled me to defeat them by his power [MTY].

11They completely surrounded me,

but I defeated them all by the power of Yahweh.

12They swarmed around me like angry bees;

they were like a fire that blazes strongly, but only briefly, in a thornbush,

but I defeated them by the power [MTY] that Yahweh gave me.

13My enemies attacked me fiercely and almost defeated me,

but Yahweh helped me.

14Yahweh is the one who makes me strong,

and he is the one about whom I always sing;

he has saved me from my enemies.

15Listen to the joyful songs of victory being sung in the tents of godly/righteous people!

They sing, “Yahweh has defeated our enemies by his mighty power [MTY];

16he has raised his strong right arm to show he has defeated his enemies.

Yahweh has completely defeated them!”

17I will not be killed in battle;

I will live to proclaim the great things that Yahweh has done.

18Yahweh has punished me severely,

but he has not allowed ◄me to die/ my enemies to kill me►.

19You gatekeepers, open for me the gates of the temple

in order that I may enter and thank Yahweh.

20Those are the gates through which we enter the temple to worship Yahweh;

godly/righteous people enter those gates.

21Yahweh, I thank you that you answered my prayer,

and you saved me from my enemies.

22Yahweh’s promised/chosen king is like [MET] the stone which the builders rejected

when they were building a house,

but that stone became the ◄cornerstone/most important stone in the building►.

23◄This was done by Yahweh/Yahweh has done this►,

and it is a wonderful thing for us to see.

24This is the day in which we remember that Yahweh acted powerfully to defeat our enemies;

we will rejoice and be glad/happy today.

25Yahweh, we plead with you to keep rescuing us from our enemies.

Yahweh, please help us ◄accomplish/do well► what we want to do.

26Yahweh, bless the one who will come with your authority [MTY].

And from the temple we ◄bless/ ask Yahweh to bless► all of you.

27Yahweh is God,

and he has caused his light to shine on us.

Come, carrying palm branches, and join the people who are starting the festival as they go to the altar.

28Yahweh, you are the God whom I worship, and I will praise you!

You are my God, and I will tell everyone that you are great!

29Thank Yahweh, because he does good things for us

He will faithfully love us forever.

119

1◄Yahweh is pleased with/Happy are► those about whom no one can say truthfully that they have done things that are wrong,

those who always obey the laws of Yahweh.

2Yahweh is pleased with those who ◄obey his requirements/do what he has instructed them to do►,

those who request him with their entire inner beings to help them to do that.

3They do not do things that are wrong;

they behave like Yahweh wants them to.

4Yahweh, you have given us ◄your principles of behavior/all the things that you have declared that we should do►,

and you told us to obey them carefully.

5I desire that I will faithfully/always obey all ◄your statutes/that you have said that we should do►.

6If I continually ◄heed/pay attention to► all ◄your commands/that you have commanded►,

I will not be disgraced/ashamed.

7When I learn all of ◄your regulations/the rules that you have given to us►,

I will praise you with a pure inner being [IDM].

8I will obey all ◄your statutes/that you have decreed that we should do►;

do not desert/abandon me!

9I know [RHQ] how a youth can ◄keep his life pure/avoid sinning►;

it is by obeying what you have told us to do.

10I try to serve you with my entire inner being;

do not allow me to ◄wander away from obeying/disobey► ◄your commands/what you have commanded►.

11I have ◄memorized/stored in my mind► many of ◄your words/what you have promised►

in order that I will not sin against you.

12Yahweh, I praise you;

teach me ◄your statutes/what you have declared►.

13I [MTY] tell others ◄the regulations/the rules that you have given to us►.

14I like to obey ◄your requirements/what you have instructed us to do►;

I enjoy that more than being very rich.

15I will ◄study/think about► ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►,

and I will pay attention to what you have showed me.

16I will be happy to obey ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►,

and I will not forget your words.

17Do good things for me, who serve you,

in order that I may continue to live and obey ◄your words/what you have told us to do► during all my life.

18Open my mind

in order that I may know the wonderful things that are written in your laws.

19I am living here on the earth for only a short time;

◄do not prevent me from understanding/help me to understand► [LIT] ◄your commands/what you have commanded►.

20In my inner being I strongly desire to know ◄your regulations/the rules that you have given to us► all the time.

21You rebuke those who are proud;

cursed are those who disobey ◄your commands/what you have commanded►.

22Do not allow them to continue to insult and scorn me;

I request this because I have obeyed what you have instructed us to do.

23Rulers gather together and plan ways to harm me,

but I will ◄meditate on/study► ◄your statutes/what you have decreed►.

24I am delighted with ◄your requirements/what you have instructed us to do►;

it is as though they are my advisors.

25I think that I will soon die [IDM];

revive/heal me, as you have told me that you would.

26When I told you about my behavior, you answered me;

teach me ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►.

27Help me to understand ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►,

and then I will ◄meditate on/think about► the wonderful things that you have done.

28I am very sad/sorrowful [IDM], with the result that I have no strength;

enable me to be strong again, like you promised me that you would do.

29Prevent me from doing what is wrong,

and be kind to me by teaching me your laws.

30I have decided that I will faithfully/always obey you;

I have ◄paid attention to/heeded► ◄your regulations/the rules that you have given to us►.

31Yahweh, I try to carefully hold fast to what you have instructed us to do;

do not abandon me, with the result that I would become disgraced.

32I will eagerly obey [IDM] ◄your commands/what you have commanded►,

because you have enabled me to understand more what you want me to do.

33Yahweh, teach me the meaning of ◄your statutes/the things that you have decreed that we should do►,

and then I will obey them, every one of them.

34Help me to understand your laws

in order that I may obey them with all my inner being.

35I am happy with ◄your commands/what you have commanded►,

so ◄lead me along the paths/enable me to walk on the road► that you have chosen for me.

36Cause me to want to obey your rules

and not to want to become rich.

37Do not allow me to look at things that are worthless,

and allow me to continue to live, like you promised that you would do.

38Because I serve you, do what you promised to do for me,

which is what you also promise to do for all those who revere you.

39People insult me;

protect me from those insults, because I hate them.

The ◄regulations/rules that you have given to us► are very good!

40I very much desire to obey ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►;

because you are righteous, allow me to continue to live (OR, be good to me).

41Yahweh, show me that you faithfully love me,

and rescue/save me, like you have said/promised that you would.

42After you do that, I will be able to reply to those who insult me,

because I trust in ◄your word/what you have promised that you would do►.

43Always enable me to [LIT] speak your truth,

because I have confidence in ◄your regulations/the rules that you have given us►.

44I will always obey your laws,

forever.

45I will be free from ◄affliction/my enemies’ attacks►,

because I have tried to obey ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►.

46I will tell to kings ◄your requirements/what you have instructed us to do►;

and because I did not abandon you, those kings will not cause me to be ashamed.

47I am delighted to obey ◄your commands/what you have commanded►,

and I love them.

48I respect/revere [IDM] ◄your commands/what you have commanded►,

and I love them,

and I will ◄meditate on/think about► ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►.

49Do not forget what you said/promised to do for me, who serve you,

because what you have said has caused me to confidently expect good things from you.

50When I have been suffering, you comforted me;

you did what you promised me, and that [PRS] revived me.

51Proud people are always making fun of me,

but I do not ◄turn away from/stop► obeying your laws.

52Yahweh, when I think about ◄your regulations/the rules► that you gave to us long ago,

I am comforted/encouraged.

53When I see that wicked people have disregarded your laws,

I become very angry.

54While I have been living here for a short time on the earth,

I have written songs about ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►.

55Yahweh, during the night I think about you [MTY],

and so I obey your laws.

56What I have always done is to obey ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►.

57Yahweh, you are the one whom I have chosen,

and I promise to ◄obey your words/do what you have told us to do►.

58With all my inner being I plead with you to be good to me;

be kind to me, like you promised/said that you would do.

59I have thought about my behavior,

and I have decided to return to obeying ◄your requirements/what you have instructed us to do►.

60I hurry to obey ◄your commands/what you have commanded►;

I do not delay at all.

61Wicked people have tried to seize me, like a hunter tries to catch an animal with a net [MET],

but I do not forget your laws.

62In the middle of the night I wake up,

and I praise you for ◄your commands/the rules that you have given us to do►;

they are fair/just.

63I am a friend of all those who revere you,

those who obey ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►.

64Yahweh, you faithfully/always love people all over the earth;

teach me ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►.

65Yahweh, you have done good things for me,

like you promised/said that you would do.

66Teach me to think carefully before I decide what to do,

and teach me other things that I need to know,

because I believe that it is good for us to obey ◄your commands/what you have commanded►.

67Before you afflicted/punished me, I did things that were wrong,

but now I obey ◄your words/what you have told us to do►.

68You are very good, and what you do is good;

teach me ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►.

69Proud people have told many lies about me,

but the truth is that with all my inner being I obey ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►.

70Those proud people ◄are stupid/do not understand your laws► [IDM],

but as for me, I am delighted with your laws.

71It was good for me that you afflicted/punished me,

because the result was that I learned ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►.

72The laws that you [MTY] gave/told to us are worth more to me than gold,

more than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.

73You created me and formed my body (OR, kept me safe);

help me to be wise in order that I may learn ◄your commands/what you have commanded►.

74Those who have an awesome respect for you will see what you have done for me, and they will rejoice,

because they will see that I have trusted in ◄your words/what you told us►.

75Yahweh, I know that ◄your regulations/the rules that you have given to us► are right/fair

and that you have afflicted/punished me because you faithfully do what you have promised.

76Cause me to be comforted/encouraged by knowing that you faithfully love me,

like you said to me that you would do.

77Be merciful to me in order that I may continue to live,

because I am delighted with your laws.

78Cause the proud people who falsely accuse me to be ashamed,

but as for me, I will continue ◄meditating on/thinking about► ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►.

79Cause those who revere you to come back to me

in order that they may (OR, specifically, those who) know ◄your requirements/what you have instructed us to do►.

80Enable me to perfectly obey ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►

in order that I may not be ashamed because of not doing that.

81I am very tired/exhausted while I wait for you to save me from my enemies;

but I confidently expect that you will tell me what you will do.

82My eyes are tired from waiting a long time for you to do what you promised/said that you would do,

and I ask, “When will you help/encourage me?”

83I have become as useless as [MET] a wineskin that is shriveled from hanging a long time in the smoke inside a house,

but I have not forgotten ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►.

84How long must I wait?

When will you punish those who ◄persecute/cause trouble for► me?

85It is as though proud people have dug deep pits for me to fall into,

people who do not obey your laws.

86All ◄your commands are/what you have commanded is► trustworthy;

but people are ◄persecuting/causing trouble for► me by telling lies about me, so please help me!

87Those people have almost killed me,

but I have not stopped obeying ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►.

88Because you faithfully love me, allow me to continue to live

in order that I may continue to obey ◄your rules/what you have instructed us to do►.

89Yahweh, your words will last forever;

they will last as long as heaven lasts.

90You will faithfully continue doing ◄for people who are not yet born/in every generation► what you have ◄promised/said that you would do►;

you have put the earth in its place, and it remains firmly there.

91To this day, all things on the earth remain because you decided that they should remain;

everything on the earth serves you.

92If I had not been delighted in obeying your laws,

I would have died because of what I was suffering.

93I will never forget ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►,

because as a result of my obeying them you have enabled me to continue to live.

94I belong to you; save/rescue me from my enemies,

because I have tried to obey ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►.

95Wicked men are waiting to kill me,

but I will think about /what you have instructed us to do.

96I have learned that there is a limit/end for everything,

but what you command ◄has no limits/never ends►.

97I love your laws very much.

I ◄meditate on/think about► them all during the day.

98Because I know ◄your commands/what you have commanded►,

and because I think about them all the time,

I have become wiser than my enemies.

99I understand more than my teachers do,

because I ◄meditate on/think about► ◄your requirements/what you have instructed us to do►.

100I understand more than many old people do,

because I obey ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►.

101I have avoided all evil behavior

in order that I may obey ◄your words/what you have told us to do►.

102I have not ◄turned away from/quit► obeying ◄your regulations/the rules that you have given to us►,

because you have taught me while I have studied them.

103When I read your words,

they are like [MET] sweet things that I taste/eat,

yes, they are even sweeter than honey.

104Because I have learned ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►,

I am able to understand many things;

therefore, I hate all evil things that some people do.

105Your words are like [MET] a lamp to guide me;

they are like a light [MET] to show me the path that I should walk on.

106I have solemnly promised, and I am solemnly promising it again,

that I will always obey your ◄regulations/rules that you have given to us►,

and they are all fair/just.

107Yahweh, I am suffering very much;

cause me to be strong/healthy again, as you have promised to do.

108Yahweh, when I thank you while I pray, it is like [MET] a sacrifice to you;

please accept it,

and teach me your ◄regulations/rules that you have given to us►.

109My enemies are often trying to kill me [IDM],

but I do not forget your laws.

110Wicked people have tried to seize me like a hunter tries to catch an animal with a trap [MET],

but I have not disobeyed ◄your principles of behavior/what you declared that we should do►.

111◄Your requirements/What you have instructed us to do► are my possession forever;

because of them [PRS], I am joyful.

112I ◄have decided/am determined► [IDM] to obey ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do► until the day that I die [MTY].

113I hate people who are only partly committed to you,

but I love your laws.

114You are like a place where I can hide from my enemies,

and you are like a shield [MET] behind which I am protected from them,

and I trust in your promises.

115You evil people, stay away from me

in order than I may obey ◄my God’s commands/what my God has commanded►!

116Enable me to be strong, as you promised/said that you would do,

in order that I may continue to live.

I am confidently expecting that you will restore me;

◄do not disappoint me/do not allow me to be disappointed►.

117Hold me up, in order that I will be safe

and always ◄pay attention to/heed► ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►.

118You reject all those who disobey ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►;

but what they deceitfully plan to do will be ◄useless/in vain►.

119You get rid of all the wicked people on the earth like [SIM] people throw away trash;

therefore I love /what you have instructed us to do.

120I [SYN] tremble because I am afraid of you;

I am afraid because you punish those who do not obey ◄your regulations/the rules that you have given to us►.

121But I have done what is right and fair/just;

so do not allow people to oppress/mistreat me.

122Promise me that you will do good things for me

and do not allow proud people to oppress me.

123My eyes are tired from waiting a long time for you to rescue me,

for you to save me like you promised/said that you would.

124Do something for me to show that you faithfully love me,

and teach me ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►.

125I am one who serves you;

enable me to understand what you want me to know

in order that I will know ◄your requirements/what you have instructed us to do►.

126Yahweh, now is the time for you to punish people

because they have disobeyed your laws.

127Truly, I love ◄your commands/what you have commanded► more than I love gold;

I love them more than I love very pure gold.

128So I conduct my life by ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►,

and I hate all the evil things that some people do.

129◄Your requirements are/All the things that you have instructed us to do are► wonderful,

so I obey them with all my inner being.

130When someone explains ◄your words/what you have said►,

it is as though they are lighting a light;

what they say causes even people who have not learned your laws to be wise.

131I eagerly desire to know ◄your commands/what you have commanded►,

like [SIM] a dog that pants with its mouth open wanting to be fed.

132Listen to me and act kindly to me,

like you do to all those who love you [MTY].

133Guide me as you promised/said that you would do and help me not to fall/sin;

do not allow evil people to control what I do.

134Rescue/Save me from those who oppress me

in order that I may obey ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►.

135Be kind to me

and teach me ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►.

136I cry very much

because many people do not obey your laws.

137Yahweh, you are righteous

and ◄your regulations/the rules that you have given to us► are just/fair.

138◄Your requirements/All the things that you have instructed us to do► are true

and are all very right and fair.

139I am ◄furious/very angry►

because my enemies disregard ◄your words/what you have told us to do►.

140◄Your promises are/All the things that you have said that you will do are► dependable

and I love them.

141I am not important and people despise me,

but I do not forget ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►.

142You are righteous and you will be righteous forever,

and your laws will never be changed.

143I constantly have troubles/difficulties and I am worried,

but ◄your commands cause/what you have commanded causes► me to be happy.

144◄Your requirements are/All the things that you have instructed us to do are► always fair;

help me to understand them in order that I may continue to live.

145Yahweh, with all my inner being I call out to you;

answer me and I will obey ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►.

146I call out to you;

save/rescue me in order that I can continue to obey all ◄your requirements/the things that you have instructed us to do►.

147Each morning I arise before dawn and call to you to help me;

I confidently expect you to do what you have ◄promised/said that you will do►.

148All during the night I am awake,

and I ◄meditate on/think about► what you have ◄promised/said that you would do►.

149Yahweh, because you faithfully love me,

listen to me while I pray,

and keep me safe because of my obeying ◄your regulations/what you have told us to do►.

150Those evil people who oppress/persecute me are coming closer to me;

they do not pay any attention to your laws.

151But Yahweh, you are near to me,

and I know that ◄your commands/what you command► will never be changed.

152Long ago I found out about ◄your requirements/all the things that you have instructed us to do►,

and I know that you intended them to last forever.

153Look at me and see that I am suffering very much, and heal me,

because I do not forget your laws.

154Defend me when others accuse me, and rescue me from them;

allow me to continue to live, as you promised/said that you would.

155Wicked people do not obey ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►,

so you will certainly not save them.

156Yahweh, you are very merciful;

allow me to continue to live because of my obeying ◄your regulations/the rules that you have given to us►.

157Many people are my enemies and many people ◄cause me to suffer/persecute me►,

but I ◄do not turn aside from/have not stopped obeying► [LIT] ◄your requirements/what you have instructed us to do►.

158When I look at those who are not faithful to you, I am disgusted

because they do not obey ◄your requirements/what you have instructed us to do►.

159Yahweh, notice that I love ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►;

because you faithfully love me, allow me to continue to live.

160All that you have said is truth,

and all ◄your regulations/the rules that you have given to us► will endure forever.

161Rulers persecute me for no reason,

but in my inner being I revere ◄your words/what you have said►.

162I am happy about ◄your words/what you have promised to do for me►,

as happy as someone who has found a great treasure.

163I thoroughly hate [DOU] all lies

but I love your laws.

164Seven/Many times each day I thank you for ◄your regulations/the rules that you have given to us►,

and they are all just/fair.

165Things go well for those who love your laws;

there is nothing adverse/bad that will happen to them.

166Yahweh, I confidently expect that you will rescue me from my troubles,

and I obey ◄your commands/what you have commanded us►.

167I obey ◄what you require/what you have instructed► us to do;

I love it all very much.

168I obey ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►,

and you see everything that I do.

169Yahweh, listen while I pray for you to help me;

help me to understand ◄your words/what you have told us to do►.

170Hear me while I pray

and rescue/save me as you promised/said that you would.

171I [MTY] will always praise you

because you teach me ◄your statutes/what you have decreed that we should do►.

172I will sing about ◄your words/what you have promised to do►

because ◄all your commands are/everything that you have commanded is► just/fair.

173I ask you [SYN] to always be ready to help me

because I have chosen to obey ◄your principles of behavior/what you have declared that we should do►.

174Yahweh, I eagerly desire for you to rescue/save me from my enemies;

I am delighted with your laws.

175Allow me to continue to live in order that I can continue to praise you,

and that your regulations/rules that you have given to us will continue to help me.

176I have wandered away from you like [SIM] a sheep that has become lost;

search for me, because I have not forgotten ◄your commands/what you have commanded us►.

120

A psalm written for people going up to the temple to worship

1When I had troubles, I called out to Yahweh

and he answered me.

2I prayed,

“Yahweh, rescue/save me from people [SYN, MTY] who lie to me and try to deceive me!”

3You people who lie to me, I will tell you [RHQ] what God will do to you

and what he will do to punish you.

4He will shoot sharp arrows at you like soldiers do,

and he will burn you with red-hot coals from the wood of a broom tree.

5It is terrible for me, living among cruel/savage [DOU] people

like those who live in Meshech region and Kedar region.

6I have lived for a long time among people who hate to live with others peacefully.

7Every time I talk about living together peacefully,

they talk about starting a war.

121

A psalm written for people going up to the temple to worship

1When we travel toward Jerusalem,

I look up toward the hills and I ask myself, “Who will help me?”

2And my answer is that Yahweh is the one who helps me;

he is the one who made heaven and the earth.

3He will not allow us to fall/stumble;

God, who protects us, will not fall asleep.

4The one who protects us Israeli people

never gets sleepy, nor does he sleep [LIT].

5Yahweh watches over us;

he is like the shade [MET] that protects us from the sun.

6He will not allow the sun to harm us during the day,

and he will not allow the moon to harm us during the night.

7Yahweh will protect us from being harmed in any manner;

he will keep us safe.

8He will protect us from the time that we leave our houses in the morning until we return in the evening;

he will protect us now, and he will protect us forever.

122

A psalm written by David for people going up to the temple to worship

1I was glad/happy when people said to me,

“We should go to the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem!”

2And now we are here,

standing inside the gates/city of [APO] Jerusalem.

3Jerusalem is a city that has been rebuilt,

with the result that people can gather together in it.

4We people of the tribes of Israel who belong to Yahweh can now go up there

as Yahweh commanded that we should do,

and we can thank him.

5There the kings of Israel who were descendants of King David sit on their thrones

and decide cases fairly when the people have disputes.

6Pray that there will be peace in Jerusalem;

I desire that those who love Jerusalem will ◄prosper/live peacefully►.

7I desire that there will be peace inside the walls of the city

and that people who are inside the palaces will be safe.

8For the sake of my relatives and friends, I say,

“My desire is that that inside Jerusalem people will live peacefully.”

9And because I love the temple of Yahweh our God,

I pray that things will go well for the people who live in Jerusalem.

123

A psalm written for people going up to the temple to worship

1Yahweh, I look up toward you,

up to heaven, from where you rule.

2Like servants ask [IDM] their masters for what they need

and like maids ask t their mistresses for what they need,

we ask you, Yahweh our God, for what we need,

and we ask you to be merciful to us.

3Yahweh, be very merciful [DOU] to us

because our enemies have acted very contemptuously toward us.

4Rich people have made fun of us for a long time,

and proud people who have ◄oppressed/acted cruelly toward► us have acted toward us as though we were worthless.

124

A psalm written by David for people going up to the temple to worship

1You Israeli people, answer this question:

What would have happened to us if Yahweh had not been ◄helping/fighting for► us?

2When our enemies attacked us,

if Yahweh had not been fighting for us,

3we would have all been killed [IDM]

because they were very angry with us!

4They would have been like [MET] a flood that swept/carried us away;

it would have been as though the water would have covered us,

5and we would all have drowned in the flood that was ◄raging/flowing very fast►.

6But praise Yahweh,

because he has not allowed our enemies to destroy us

like wild animals [MET] tear apart the creatures that they capture.

7We have escaped from our enemies like a bird escapes from the trap that hunters have set;

it is as though the trap that our enemies set for us was broken

and we have escaped from it!

8Yahweh is the one who helps us [MTY];

he is the one who made heaven and the earth.

125

A psalm written for people going up to the temple to worship

1Those/We who trust in Yahweh are as secure/steadfast [SIM] as Zion Hill,

which cannot be shaken and can never be moved.

2Like the hills that surround Jerusalem protect the city,

Yahweh protects us, his people,

and he will protect us forever.

3Wicked people [MTY] should not be allowed to rule over the land where righteous people live.

If they did that, those righteous people might ◄be encouraged to imitate them and► do things that are wrong.

4Yahweh, do good things to those who do good things to others

and to those who sincerely obey your commands [IDM].

5But when you punish the wicked people who are not Israelis,

also punish those Israelis who turn away from walking on the good roads [MET] that you have shown them!

I wish that things will go well for people in Israel!

126

A psalm written for people going up to the temple to worship

1When Yahweh brought us Israeli people back to Jerusalem (OR, enabled us Israelis to prosper again),

it was wonderful;

it seemed as though [SIM] we were dreaming.

2We were extremely happy,

and we [SYN] continued shouting joyfully.

Then the other people-groups said about us,

“Yahweh has done great things for them!”

3And we say, “Yes, Yahweh truly has done great things for us,

and we are very happy.”

4Yahweh, when it rains, water flows in the streams again after they were dry [SIM].

Similarly, enable our nation to become great again like it was before.

5We cried when we planted seeds because it was hard work preparing the soil that had not been plowed for many years;

now we want to shout joyfully because we are gathering a big harvest.

6Those who cried as they carried the bags of seeds to the fields will shout joyfully

when they bring the crops to their houses at harvest time.

127

A psalm written by Solomon for people going up to the temple to worship

1If people are building a house without knowing whether it is Yahweh’s will to build it,

they are building it in vain.

Similarly, if Yahweh does not protect a city,

it is useless for guards/sentries to stay awake to tell people if their enemies come to attack it.

2It is also useless to arise very early and go to sleep late at night

in order that you can work hard all day to earn money to buy food,

because Yahweh gives food to those whom he loves.

3Children are a gift that comes to parents from Yahweh;

they are a reward/blessing from him.

4If a man has sons while he is still young,

when they grow up, they will be able to help him defend his family

like [SIM] a soldier can defend himself if he has a bow and arrows in his hand.

5A man who has many sons is very happy,

like [MET] a soldier who has many arrows in his quiver is very happy.

If a man with his many grown sons is taken by his enemies to the place where they decide matters, his enemies will never be able to defeat that man,

because his sons will help to defend him.

128

A psalm written for those going up to the temple to worship

1◄Happy are/Yahweh is pleased with► those of you who revere him

and do what he wants you to do [IDM].

2You will be able to earn the money that you [MTY] need to buy food;

you will be happy and you will be prosperous.

3Your wife will be like a grapevine that bears many grapes [SIM];

she will give birth to many children.

Your children who sit around your table

will be like a strong olive tree that has many shoots growing up around it [SIM].

4Every man who reveres Yahweh

will be blessed like that.

5I wish/hope that Yahweh will bless all of you from where he dwells ◄on Zion Hill/ in Jerusalem►

and that you will see the people of Jerusalem prospering every day that you live!

6I desire that you will live many years,

long enough to see your grandchildren.

I desire/hope that things will go well for the people in Israel!

129

A psalm written for people going up to the temple to worship

1I say that my enemies have ◄afflicted/caused trouble for► me ever since I was young.

Now I ask you, my fellow Israelis, to repeat those same words:

2“Our enemies have afflicted us since our nation began,

but they have not defeated us!

3Our enemies struck us with whips that cut into our backs [MET]

like a farmer uses a plow to cut deep furrows into the ground.”

4But Yahweh is righteous,

and he has freed me from being a slave [MTY] of wicked people.

5I wish/hope that all those who hate Jerusalem/Israel will be ashamed because of being defeated.

6I hope/wish that they will be of no value, like grass that grows on the roofs of houses

that dries up and does not grow tall;

7as a result no one cuts it and puts it in bundles and carries it away.

8People who pass by and see men harvesting grain usually greet them by saying to them,

“We wish/hope that Yahweh will bless you!”

But this will not happen to those who hate Israel.

We, acting as Yahweh’s representatives, bless you Israelis.

130

A psalm written for people going up to the temple to worship

1Yahweh, I have a lot of troubles/many difficulties, so I call out to you.

2Yahweh, hear me,

while I call out to you [SYN] to be merciful to me!

3Yahweh, if you kept a record of the sins that we have committed,

not one of us [RHQ] would escape from being condemned and punished

4But you forgive us,

with the result that we greatly revere you.

5Yahweh has said that he would help/rescue me;

I trust what he said, and I wait eagerly for him to do that.

6I wait for Yahweh to help me

more than watchmen wait for the light to dawn;

yes, I wait more eagerly than they do!

7You my fellow Israelis, confidently expect that Yahweh will bless us.

He will bless us because he faithfully loves us,

and he is very willing to save/rescue us.

8And he will save us Israeli people from being punished for all the sins that we have committed.

131

A psalm written by David for people going up to the temple to worship

1Yahweh, I am not proud

and I have not thought highly about ◄myself/the things that I have done►.

And I do not concern myself about things that you have done that are very big or very wonderful.

2Instead, I am calm and peaceful,

like a small child who lies quietly in its mother’s arms [SIM].

In the same way, I am peaceful .

3You my fellow Israelis, confidently expect that Yahweh will do good things for you,

now and forever!

132

A song to sing along the road up to Jerusalem

1Yahweh, do not forget King David

and all the hardships/troubles he endured!

2He made a solemn promise to you,

the mighty God whom our ancestor Jacob worshiped.

3He said, “I will not go home,

I will not rest on my bed,

4I will not sleep at all

5until I build a place for Yahweh,

a home for the mighty God whom Jacob worshiped.”

6In Bethlehem we heard news about the sacred chest.

We went and found it in the fields of Jearim city, and we took it to Jerusalem.

7Later we said, “Let’s go to the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem;

let’s worship there in front of the throne where he sits.”

8Yahweh, come to the place where you live eternally,

to the place where your sacred chest is,

to that place that shows that you are very powerful.

9I want/desire that the righteous behavior of your priests will always be evident,

just like the beautiful robes that they wear [MET],

and that your people will always shout joyfully.

10You chose David to serve you as king of Israel;

do not reject/abandon him!

11Yahweh, you made a solemn promise to David,

a promise that you will not break.

You said, “I will cause your descendants to rule [MTY] as kings like you.

12If they keep my agreement with them

and obey all the commands that I will give them,

the line of kings descended from you will never end.”

13Yahweh has chosen Jerusalem;

he has wanted to make that city his home;

14he said, “This is the city where I will live forever [DOU];

this is the place where I wanted to stay.

15I will give to the people of Jerusalem all that they need;

I will give enough food even to satisfy the poor people there.

16I will cause the priests to behave in a manner worthy of being ones whom I have saved;

that will be as evident as the beautiful robes that they wear [MET];

and all my people who live there will shout joyfully.

17There in Jerusalem I will cause one of David’s descendants [MET] to become a great king;

he also will be my chosen king,

and he will be like a bright lamp [MET] that shines continually.

18I will defeat his enemies and cause them to be very ashamed/disgraced;

but the crown that my king wears will always shine.”

133

A psalm written for people going up to the temple to worship

1It is very good and very pleasant

for God’s people to gather together harmoniously.

2It is as delightful as the precious/expensive ◄olive oil/perfume►

that runs down from the Supreme Priest Aaron’s head onto his beard when he is anointed

and runs down onto the collar of his robes.

3Gathering together harmoniously is as delightful as the dew that falls on Hermon Mountain

and the dew that falls on the hills near Zion Hill.

Yahweh has promised to bless his people there in Jerusalem

by giving them everlasting (OR, a long-lasting) life.

134

A psalm written for people going up to the temple to worship

1All you people who serve Yahweh,

who stand up and ◄serve/pray to► him at night in his temple,

come and praise him!

2Lift up your hands/arms to pray to him in the temple

and praise him!

3And I want Yahweh, who created heaven and the earth,

to bless you from where he lives in the temple on Zion Hill.

135

1Praise Yahweh!

You who ◄do work for/serve► Yahweh,

praise him!

2You who stand in the temple of Yahweh our God and in the surrounding courtyard,

praise him [MTY]!

3Praise Yahweh, because he does good things for us;

sing to him [MTY], because he is kind to us.

4He has chosen us, the descendants of Jacob;

he has chosen us Israelis to belong to him [DOU].

5I know that Yahweh is great;

he is greater than all the gods.

6Yahweh does whatever he desires to do,

in heaven and on the earth

and in the seas/oceans, down to the bottom of the seas.

7He is the one who causes clouds to appear from very distant places on the earth;

he sends lightning with the rain,

and he brings the winds from the places where he stores them.

8He is the one who killed all the firstborn males in Egypt,

the firstborn of people and of animals.

9There he performed many kinds of miracles [DOU]

to punish the king and all his officials.

10He destroyed many nations

and the powerful kings who ruled them:

11Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group,

and Og, the king of Bashan region,

and all the other kings in Canaan land.

12Then he gave their land to us Israeli people

to belong to us forever.

13Yahweh your name will endure forever,

and people who are not yet born will remember the great things that you have done.

14Yahweh, you declare that we your people ◄are innocent/have not done things that are wrong►,

and you are merciful to us.

15But the idols that the other people-groups worship are only statues made of silver and gold,

things that humans have made.

16Their idols have mouths, but they cannot say anything;

they have eyes, but they cannot see anything.

17They have ears, but they cannot hear anything,

and they are not even able to breathe.

18The people who make those idols are as powerless as those idols,

and those who trust in those idols can accomplish no more than their idols can!

19My fellow Israelis, praise Yahweh!

You priests who are descended from Aaron, praise Yahweh!

20You men who are descended from Levi, you who assist the priests, praise Yahweh!

All you who revere Yahweh, praise him!

21Praise Yahweh in the temple on Zion Hill in Jerusalem,

where he lives!

Praise Yahweh!

136

1Thank Yahweh, because he does good things for us;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

2Thank God, the one who is greater than all other gods;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

3Thank the Lord who is greater than all other lords/rulers;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

4He is the only one who performs great miracles;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

5He is the one who by being very wise created the heavens;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

6He is the one who caused the ground to rise up above the deep waters;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

7He is the one who created great lights in the sky;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

8He created the sun to shine in the daytime;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

9He created the moon and stars to shine during the nighttime;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

10He is the one who killed the firstborn males in Egypt;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

11He led the Israeli people out of Egypt;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

12With his ◄strong hand/great power► he led them out;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

13He is the one who caused the Red Sea to divide;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

14He enabled the Israeli people to walk through it on dry land;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

15But he caused the king of Egypt and his army to drown in it;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

16He is the one who led his people safely through the desert;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

17He killed powerful kings;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

18He killed kings who were famous;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

19He killed Sihon, the king of the Amor people-group;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

20He killed Og, the king of Bashan region;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

21He gave their lands to us, his people;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

22He gave those lands to us people of Israel, who serve him;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

23He is the one who did not forget about us when we were defeated by our enemies;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

24He rescued us from our enemies;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

25He is the one who gives food to all living creatures;

his faithful love for us endures forever.

26So thank God, who lives in heaven, for all those things,

because his faithful love for us endures forever!

137

1When we had been taken to Babylonia, far from Jerusalem,

we sat down by the rivers there,

and we cried when we thought about the temple on Zion Hill in Jerusalem.

2On the willow trees alongside the rivers we hung our harps

because we did not want to play them anymore because we were very sad.

3The soldiers who had captured us and taken us to Babylonia told us to sing for them;

they told us to ◄entertain them/make them happy►, saying,

“Sing for us one of the songs that you previously sang in Jerusalem!”

4But we thought,

“We are sad because we have been punished by Yahweh and brought to this foreign land,

so we cannot [RHQ] sing songs about Yahweh while we are here!”

5If I forget about Jerusalem [APO], Iet my right hand wither

with the result that I will be unable to play my harp

6Do not allow me to sing again [MTY],

if I forget about Jerusalem,

if I do not consider that Jerusalem causes me to be more joyful than anything else does.

7Yahweh, punish the people of the Edom people-group

for what they did on the day that the army of Babylon captured Jerusalem.

Do not forget that they said,

“Tear down all the buildings! Destroy them completely! Leave only the foundations!”

8And you people of Babylon, you will certainly be destroyed!

Those who punish you in return for what you did to us will be happy;

9they will take your babies

and completely smash them on the rocks.

138

A psalm written by David

1Yahweh, I thank you with all my inner being.

I sing to praise you in front of the idols of false gods to ridicule/belittle them.

2I bow down while I look towards your sacred temple,

and I thank you [MTY] because you faithfully love us and faithfully do all that you have promised.

You have shown that both you [MTY] and what you have promised to do are greater than anything else.

3On the day when I called out to you, you answered me;

you enabled me to be strong and brave.

4Yahweh, some day all the kings of this earth will praise you,

because they will have heard what you have said.

5They will sing about what you have done;

they will sing and say that you are very great.

6Yahweh, you are supreme,

but you take care of people who are considered to be unimportant.

And you know what proud people are doing,

even though they are far away from you and think that you do not see them.

7When I am in the midst of many troubles/difficulties,

you save/rescue me.

With your hand/power [MTY] you rescue me from my enemies who are angry at me.

8Yahweh, you will do for me everything that you promised;

you faithfully love us forever.

Finish what you started to do for us, your Israeli people.

139

A psalm written by David for the choir director

1Yahweh, you have examined me,

and you know everything about me.

2You know when I sit down and when I stand up.

Even though you are far away from me,

you know what I am thinking.

3When I travel and when I lie down,

you know everything that I do.

4Yahweh, even before I say [MTY] anything,

you know everything that I am going to say!

5You protect me on all sides;

you put your hand on me to protect me with your power [MTY].

6I am not able to understand that you know everything about me.

That is too great for me to really understand.

7◄Where could I go to escape from your Spirit?/I could not go anywhere to escape from your Spirit.► [RHQ]

◄Where could I go to get away from you?/I could not go anywhere to get away from you.► [RHQ]

8If I went up to heaven, you would be there.

If I lay down in the place where the dead people are, you would be there.

9If I had wings and flew very far east [MTY],

or if I flew west and made a place to live on an island in the ocean,

10you would be there also, to lead me by your hand,

and you would help me.

11I could request the darkness to hide me,

or I could request the light around me to become darkness,

12but even if that happened, the darkness would not be darkness for you!

For you, the night is as bright as the daytime is,

because for you, daylight and darkness are ◄not different/the same►.

13You created all the parts of my body;

you put the parts of my body together when I was still in my mother’s womb.

14I praise you because you made my body in a very awesome and wonderful way.

Everything that you do is amazing!

I know that very well.

15When my body was being formed,

while it was being put together where no one else could see it,

you saw it!

16You saw me before I was born.

You wrote in your book the number of days that you had decided that I would live.

You did that before any of those days had even started!

17God, what you think about me is very precious (OR, is very hard to understand).

There is a great number of things that you think about.

18If I could count them, I would see that they are more than the grains of sand at the seashore.

And when I wake up, I am still with you

and I know that there are still more of your thoughts about me to count.

19God, I desire that you would kill all the wicked people!

And I wish that violent [MTY] men would ◄leave/go away from► me.

20They say wicked/malicious things about you;

they slander your name.

21Yahweh, I certainly [RHQ] hate those who hate you!

And I despise [RHQ] those who rebel against you.

22I hate them completely,

and I consider that they are my enemies.

23God, search my inner being;

find out what I am thinking!

24Find out whether there is anything evil in my inner being,

and lead me along the road that leads to my being with you forever.

140

A psalm written by David

1Yahweh, rescue/save me from being attacked by evil men;

and even more, ◄keep me safe/protect me► from being attacked by violent people.

2They are always planning to do evil things

and they are always inciting/urging people to start quarrels.

3By what they say [MTY] they injure people like poisonous snakes do;

the words that they speak [MTY] can kill people as easily as cobras/vipers do.

(Think about that!)

4Yahweh, protect me from the power [MTY] of wicked people.

Keep me safe from violent men who plan to destroy me [SYN].

5It is as though proud people have set a trap for me;

it is as though they have spread their nets to catch me;

it is as though they have put those things along the road to catch/seize me.

(Think about that!)

6I say to you, “Yahweh, you are my God;”

so listen to me while I cry out to you to help me.

7Yahweh, my Lord, you are the one who defends me strongly;

you have protected me during battles [MET] as though you had put a helmet on my head.

8Yahweh, do allow wicked people to do the things that they desire,

and do not allow them to do the evil things that they plan to do.

(Think about that!)

9Do not allow my enemies to ◄become proud/defeat me►;

cause the evil things that they say [MTY] they will do to me to happen to them, instead.

10Cause burning coals to fall on their heads!

Cause them to be thrown into deep pits, from which they cannot climb out!

11Do not allow those who slander others to succeed;

cause evil things to happen to violent men and destroy them!

12Yahweh, I know that you defend those who are oppressed,

and that you do what is just/fair for those who are needy/poor.

13Righteous people will surely thank you [MTY],

and they will live ◄in your presence/with you►.

141

A psalm written by David

1Yahweh, I call out to you;

please help me quickly!

Listen to me when I am calling to you.

2Accept my prayer as though it were incense being burned as an offering [SIM] to you.

And accept me while I lift up my hands to pray to you

like you accept sacrifices that I offer to you each evening [SIM].

3Yahweh, do not allow me to say [MTY] things that are wrong;

guard my lips.

4Prevent me from wanting to do anything that is wrong,

and from joining with wicked men when they want to do evil deeds [DOU].

Do not even allow me to share in eating delightful food with them!

5It is all right if righteous people strike/hit me or rebuke me

because they are trying to act kindly toward me to teach me to do what is right,

but I do not want wicked people to honor me by anointing my head with olive oil;

I am always praying that you will punish them because of the wicked deeds that they do.

6When their rulers are thrown down from the top of rocky cliffs,

people will know that what you, Yahweh, said about them is true.

7Like a log that is split and cut into small pieces [SIM],

their shattered bones will be scattered on the ground near other graves.

8But Yahweh God, I continue to assk you to help me.

I ask you to protect me;

do not allow me to ◄die/be killed► now!

9It is as though people have set traps for me;

protect me from falling into those traps,

It is as though they have spread nets to catch me;

keep me from being caught in those nets.

10I desire that wicked people will fall into the traps they have set to catch me

while I escape from them.

142

A psalm that David prayed when he was hiding in a cave

1Yahweh, I cry out to you;

I plead with you to help me.

2I am bringing to you all my problems;

I am telling you all my troubles/difficulties.

3When I am very discouraged,

you know what I should do.

Wherever I walk, it is as though my enemies have hidden traps for me to fall into.

4I look around,

but there is no one who pays attentionto me,

no one who will protect me,

no one who cares about what happens to me.

5So Yahweh, I cry out to you to help me;

you are the one who protects me;

and you are all that I need while I am alive.

6Listen to me while I cry out to you for help,

because I am very distressed.

Rescue/Save me from those who are pursuing me,

because they are very strong,

with the result that I cannot escape from them.

7Free/Rescue me from my troubles/difficulties [MET]

in order that I may thank you.

If you do that, when I am with godly/righteous people,

I will praise you for having been very good to me.

143

A psalm written by David

1Yahweh, hear me while I pray to you!

Because you are righteous

and because you faithfully do what you have promised,

listen to what I am pleading that you do for me.

2I am one who serves you;

do not judge me,

because you know that everyone has done things that are wrong►.

3My enemies have pursued me;

they have completely defeated me.

It is as though they have put me in a dark prison,

where I have nothing good to ◄hope for/expect►, like those who died long ago [SIM].

4So I am very discouraged;

I am very dismayed/worried.

5I remember what has happened previously:

I ◄meditate on/think about► all the things that you have done;

I consider all the great deeds that you [SYN] have performed.

6I lift up my hands/arms to you while I pray;

I [SYN] need you, like very dry ground needs rain [SIM].

(Think about that!)

7Yahweh, I am very discouraged,

so please answer me right now!

Do not hide from me,

because if you do that, I will soon be [SIM] among those who descend to where the dead people are.

8Every morning cause me to remember that you faithfully love me,

because I trust in you.

I ◄pray/send my prayers up [IDM]► to you;

show me what I should do.

9Yahweh, I have gone/run to you to be protected,

so rescue me from my enemies.

10You are my God;

teach me to do what you want me to do.

I want your good Spirit to lead me on a path that is not difficult to walk on.

11Yahweh, restore me when I am close to dying, as you promised to do.

Because you are righteous/good, rescue me from my troubles/difficulties!

12I am one who serves you;

so because you faithfully love me,

kill my enemies

and get rid of all those who ◄oppress/cause trouble for► me.

144

Written by David

1I praise Yahweh, who is like an overhanging rock under which I ◄get refuge/am protected►!

He trains my hands so that I can use them to fight battles;

he trains my fingers so that I can shoot arrows in a war.

2He is the one who protects me;

he is like a fortress [DOU] in which I am safe,

he protects me like shields protect soldiers [MET],

and he gives me refuge.

He defeats other nations and then puts them under my power.

3Yahweh, we people are very insignificant/unimportant, so why ◄are you concerned/do you care about us► [RHQ]?

It is amazing to me that you pay attention to humans.

4The time that we live is as short as [SIM] a puff of wind;

our time to live disappears like a shadow does.

5Yahweh, ◄tear open/open up► the sky and come down!

Touch the mountains in order that smoke will pour out from them!

6Cause lightning to flash with the result that your enemies will run away!

Shoot your arrows at them and cause them to ◄run away/scatter►.

7It is as though my enemies surround me like a flood;

reach your hand down from heaven

and rescue me from them [SYN].

They are men from other countries

8who [SYN] always tell lies.

Even in a courtroom where they swear to tell the truth

they tell lies.

9God, I will sing a new song to you,

and I will play my ten-stringed harp while I sing to you.

10You enable kings to defeat their enemies;

and you rescued me, your servant David, from being killed by my enemies’ swords.

11So I ask you to save me from being killed by the swords that those evil people carry.

Rescue me from the power [MTY] of those foreigners

who [SYN] always tell lies,

and who raise their right hands in courtrooms when they solemnly declare that they will tell the truth.

12I wish/hope that our young sons will grow up to be like strong plants [SIM],

and I wish/hope that our daughters will grow up to be straight and tall

like the pillars [SIM] that stand in the corners of palaces.

13I wish/hope that our barns will be full of many different crops.

I wish/hope that the sheep in our fields will give birth to tens of thousands of baby lambs.

14I wish/hope that our cows will give birth to many calves

without having any miscarriages or deaths when they are born (OR, that no enemies will break through our city walls and take us ◄into exile/to their own countries►).

I wish/hope that there will not be a time when the people in our streets cry out in distress

because foreign armies are invading.

15If good things like that happen to a nation,

the people will be very happy.

The people whose God is Yahweh are the ones who will be happy!

145

A psalm written by David to praise God

1My God and King, I will proclaim that you are very great/glorious;

I will praise you [MTY] now and forever.

2Every day I will praise you;

Yes, I will praise you [MTY] forever.

3Yahweh you are great, and ◄you ought to be praised/people should praise you► very much;

we cannot fully realize how great you are.

4Parents should tell their children the things that you have done;

they should tell their children about your mighty deeds.

5They should tell them that you are very glorious and majestic [DOU],

and I will ◄meditate on/think about► all your wonderful deeds.

6People will speak about your powerful and awesome deeds,

and I will proclaim that you are very great.

7People will remember and proclaim that you are very good to us,

and they will sing joyfully that you always act justly/fairly.

8Yahweh, you are kind and merciful to us;

you do not quickly become angry;

you faithfully love us very much.

9Yahweh, you are good to everyone,

and you are merciful to everything that you have made.

10Yahweh, all the creatures that you made will thank you,

and all your people will praise you.

11They will tell others that you rule gloriously as our king

and that you are very powerful.

12They will do that in order that everyone will know about your powerful deeds

and that you rule over us gloriously.

13You will never stop being king;

you will rule ◄throughout all generations/forever►.

Yahweh, you faithfully do all that you have promised to do,

and all that you do, you do mercifully.

14Yahweh, you help all those who are discouraged

and you lift up all those who ◄stumble and fall down/are distressed►.

15All of the creatures that you made expect that you will provide food for them,

and you give them food when they need it.

16You give food to all living creatures generously [IDM],

and you cause them to ◄be satisfied/have all the food that they need►.

17Everything that Yahweh does, he does justly/fairly,

and all that he does, he does mercifully.

18Yahweh ◄comes near to/is ready to help► all those who call out to him,

to those who call to him sincerely.

19To all those who revere him, he gives them what they need.

He hears them when they cry out to him, and saves/rescues them.

20Yahweh protects all those who love him,

but he will get rid of all the wicked people.

21I [SYN] will always praise Yahweh;

He is holy; and I wish/hope that evefyone will praise him [MTY] forever.

146

1Praise Yahweh!

With my whole inner being I will praise Yahweh.

2I will praise Yahweh as long as I am alive;

I will sing to praise my God for the rest of my life.

3You people, do not trust in your leaders;

do not trust humans because they cannot save/rescue you from your difficulties/problems.

4And when they die, their corpses decay and become soil again.

After they die, they can no longer do the things that they planned to do.

5But those whose helper is the God whom Jacob worshiped are happy.

The one whom they confidently expect to help them is Yahweh, their God.

6He is the one who created heaven and the earth

and the oceans and all the creatures that are in them.

He always does what he has promised to do.

7He decides matters fairly for those who are ◄treated unfairly/oppressed►,

and he provides food for those who are hungry.

He frees those who are in prison.

8Yahweh enables those who are blind to see again.

He lifts up those who have fallen down.

He loves righteous people.

9Yahweh takes care of those from other countries who live in our land,

and he helps widows and orphans.

But he gets rid of wicked people.

10Yahweh will continue to be our king forever;

you people of Israel, your God will rule forever!

Praise Yahweh!

147

1Praise Yahweh!

It is good to sing to praise our God.

It is a delightful thing to do and the right thing to do.

2Jerusalem was destroyed, but Yahweh is enabling us to build Jerusalem again.

He is bringing back the people who were taken to Babylonia.

3He enables those who were very discouraged to be encouraged again;

it is as though they have wounds and he bandages them.

4He has determined how many stars there will be,

and he gives names to all of them.

5Yahweh is great and very powerful,

and no one can measure how much he understands.

6Yahweh lifts up those who have been oppressed,

and he throws the wicked down to the ground.

7Thank Yahweh while you are singing to him to praise him;

on the harps, play music to our God.

8He covers the sky with clouds,

and then he sends rain to the earth

and causes grass to grow on the hills.

9He gives to animals the food that they need,

and gives food to young crows/birds when they cry out because they are hungry.

10He is not pleased with strong horses

or with men who can run [MTY] fast.

11Instead, what pleases him are those who revere him,

those who confidently expect him to continue to faithfully love them.

12You people of [APO] Jerusalem, praise Yahweh!

Praise your God!

13He guards your city by keeping its gates strong.

He blesses the people who live there.

14He protects the borders of your country, so that enemies from other countries cannot attack you.

He gives you plenty of very good wheat/grain to eat.

15He commands what he wants to be done on the earth,

and his words quickly come to the place to which he sends them.

16He sends snow which covers the ground like a white wool blanket [SIM],

and he scatters frost on the ground like wind scatters ashes [SIM].

17He sends hail down like ◄pebbles/tiny stones►;

when that happens, ◄it is very difficult to endure because the air becomes very cold./who can endure because the air becomes very cold?► [RHQ]

18But he commands the wind to blow, and it blows.

Then the hail melts and the water flows into the streams.

19He sent his message to the descendants of Jacob;

he tells to his Israeli people the laws and regulations that he had decreed.

20He has not done that for any other nation;

the other nations do not know his laws.

Praise Yahweh!

148

1Praise Yahweh!

Praise him, from up in heaven;

praise him from way up in the sky!

2All you angels who belong to him, praise him!

All you who are in the armies of heaven, praise him!

3Sun and moon, you also praise him!

You shining stars, you praise him!

4You highest heavens, praise him!

And you waters that are high above the sky, praise him!

5I want all of these to praise Yahweh [MTY]

because by commanding them to exist, he created them.

6He determined the places where they should be in the sky,

and he commanded that they should be there forever.

They cannot disobey that command!

7And everything on the earth, praise Yahweh!

You huge sea monsters and everything else that is deep in the ocean,

8and fire and hail, and snow and frost,

and strong winds that obey what he commands,

I tell all of you to praise Yahweh!

9Hills and mountains,

fruit trees and cedar trees,

10all the wild animals and all you cattle,

and the ◄reptiles/creatures that crawl on the ground►,

and all the birds, I tell all of them to praise Yahweh!

11You kings on this earth and all the people that you rule,

you princes and all other rulers,

12you young men and young women,

you old people and children, everyone, praise Yahweh!

13I want them all to praise Yahweh [MTY]

because he is greater than anyone else.

His glory is greater than anything on the earth or in heaven.

14He caused us, his people, to be strong

in order that we, his people,

we Israeli people ◄who are very precious to him/whom he loves very much►,

would praise him.

So praise Yahweh!

149

1Praise Yahweh!

Sing a new song to Yahweh,

praise him whenever his faithful people gather together!

2You Israeli people, be glad because of what God, who created you, has done for you!

You people of Jerusalem, rejoice because of what God your king has done for you!

3Praise Yahweh by dancing, by beating/playing tambourines,

and by playing harps to praise him!

4Yahweh is pleased with his people;

he honors humble people by helping them to defeat their enemies.

5God’s people should rejoice because they have won battles

and they should sing joyfully all during the night!

6They [MTY] should shout loudly to praise God;

but they should also hold sharp swords in their hands,

7ready to use them to defeat the soldiers of nations that do not worship God,

and to punish the people of those nations,

8and to fasten the arms and legs of their kings and other leaders with iron chains,

9to judge and punish the people of those nations, like God wrote/declared should be done.

It is ◄a privilege/an honor► for God’s faithful people to do that!

Praise Yahweh!

150

1Praise Yahweh!

Praise God in his sacred temple!

And praise him in his fortress in heaven!

2Praise him for the mighty deeds that he has performed;

praise him for his being extremely great!

3Praise him by blowing trumpets loudly;

praise him by playing harps and ◄small lyres/other instruments that have many strings►!

4Praise him by beating drums and by dancing.

Praise him by playing stringed instruments and by playing flutes!

5Praise him by clashing cymbals together;

praise him by clashing together very loud cymbals!

6I want all living creatures to praise Yahweh!

Praise Yahweh!