Psalm 137:1–140:13

How Shall We Sing the Lord’s Song?

137 By the waters of Babylon,

there we sat down and wept,

when we remembered Zion.

2  On the willows1 there

we hung up our lyres.

3  For there our captors

required of us songs,

and our tormentors, mirth, saying,

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4  sHow shall we sing the Lord’s song

in a foreign land?

5  If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

tlet my right hand forget its skill!

6  Let my utongue stick to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem

above my highest joy!

7  Remember, O Lord, against the vEdomites

wthe day of Jerusalem,

how they said, x“Lay it bare, lay it bare,

down to its foundations!”

8  O daughter of Babylon, ydoomed to be destroyed,

blessed shall he be who zrepays you

with what you have done to us!

9  Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones

and adashes them against the rock!

Give Thanks to the Lord

138 Of David.

1  bI give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

before cthe gods I sing your praise;

2  I bow down dtoward your eholy temple

and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things

your name and your word.1

3  On the day I called, you answered me;

my strength of soul you increased.2

4  fAll the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,

for they have heard the words of your mouth,

5  and they shall sing of gthe ways of the Lord,

for great is the glory of the Lord.

6  hFor though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,

but the haughty he knows from afar.

7  iThough I walk in the midst of trouble,

you jpreserve my life;

you kstretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

and your lright hand delivers me.

8  The Lord will mfulfill his purpose for me;

nyour steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not forsake othe work of your hands.

Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart

139 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1  O Lord, you have psearched me and known me!

2  You qknow when I sit down and when I rise up;

you rdiscern my thoughts from afar.

3  You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

4  Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, syou know it altogether.

5  You them me in, behind and before,

and ulay your hand upon me.

6  vSuch knowledge is wtoo wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.

7  xWhere shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where yshall I flee from your presence?

8  zIf I ascend to heaven, you are there!

aIf I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

9  If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10  even there your hand shall blead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

11  If I say, c“Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

12  deven the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

13  For you eformed my inward parts;

you fknitted me together in my mother’s womb.

14  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.1

gWonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

15  hMy frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in ithe depths of the earth.

16  Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your jbook were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

17  How precious to me are your kthoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

18  lIf I would count them, they are more than mthe sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

19  Oh that you would nslay the wicked, O God!

O omen of blood, pdepart from me!

20  They qspeak against you with malicious intent;

your enemies rtake your name in vain.2

21  sDo I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

And do I not tloathe those who urise up against you?

22  I hate them with complete hatred;

I count them my enemies.

23  Search me, O God, and know my heart!

vTry me and know my thoughts!3

24  And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and wlead me in xthe way everlasting!4

Deliver Me, O Lord, from Evil Men

140 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1  yDeliver me, O Lord, from evil men;

preserve me from zviolent men,

2  who plan evil things in their heart

and astir up wars continually.

3  They make btheir tongue sharp as ca serpent’s,

and dunder their lips is the evenom of asps. Selah

4  Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;

preserve me from zviolent men,

who have planned to trip up my feet.

5  The arrogant have fhidden a trap for me,

and with cords they have spread ga net;1

beside the way they have set hsnares for me. Selah

6  iI say to the Lord, You are my God;

give ear to jthe voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!

7  O Lord, my Lord, kthe strength of my salvation,

you have covered my head in the day of battle.

8  lGrant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;

do not further their2 evil plot, or mthey will be exalted! Selah

9  As for the head of those who surround me,

let nthe mischief of their lips overwhelm them!

10  Let oburning coals fall upon them!

Let them be cast into fire,

into miry pits, no more to rise!

11  Let not the slanderer be established in the land;

let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!

12  I know that the Lord will pmaintain the cause of the afflicted,

and qwill execute justice for the needy.

13  Surely rthe righteous shall give thanks to your name;

sthe upright shall dwell in your presence.