Psalm 68:1–70:5

¹God will arise. 

His enemies will be scattered. 

Those who hate him will flee from him. 

²Blow them away like smoke. 

Let wicked people melt in God’s presence like wax next to a fire. 

³But let righteous people rejoice. 

Let them celebrate in God’s presence. 

Let them overflow with joy. 

⁴Sing to God; make music to praise his name. 

Make a highway for him to ride through the deserts.^a

The Lord is his name. 

Celebrate in his presence. 

⁵The God who is in his holy dwelling place 

is the father of the fatherless and the defender of widows. 

⁶God places lonely people in families. 

He leads prisoners out of prison into productive lives, 

but rebellious people must live in an unproductive land. 

⁷O God, when you went in front of your people, 

when you marched through the desert, 

Selah 

⁸the earth quaked and the sky poured 

in the presence of the God of Sinai, 

in the presence of the God of Israel. 

⁹You watered the land with plenty of rain, O God. 

You refreshed it when your land was exhausted. 

¹⁰Your flock settled there. 

Out of your goodness, O God, 

you provided for oppressed people. 

¹¹The Lord gives instructions. 

The women who announce the good news are a large army. 

¹²⸤They say,⸥ “The kings of the armies flee; they run away. 

The women who remained at home will divide the goods. 

¹³Though you stayed among the sheep pens, 

⸤you will be like⸥ the wings of a dove covered with silver, 

its feathers with yellow gold. 

¹⁴Meanwhile, the Almighty was still scattering kings there 

like snow falling on Mount Zalmon.” 

¹⁵The mountain of Bashan is the mountain of God. 

The mountain of Bashan is the mountain with many peaks. 

¹⁶Why do you look with envy, you mountains with many peaks, 

at the mountain where God has chosen to live? 

Certainly, the Lord will live there forever. 

¹⁷The chariots of God are twenty thousand in number, 

thousands upon thousands. 

The Lord is among them. 

⸤The God of⸥ Sinai is in his holy place. 

¹⁸You went to the highest place. 

You took prisoners captive. 

You received gifts from people, 

even from rebellious people, so that the Lord God may live there. 

¹⁹Thanks be to the Lord, 

who daily carries our burdens for us. 

God is our salvation. 

Selah 

²⁰Our God is the God of victories. 

The Almighty Lord is our escape from death. 

²¹Certainly, God will crush the heads of his enemies 

⸤and destroy even⸥ the hair on the heads 

of those who continue to be guilty. 

²²The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan. 

I will bring them back from the depths of the sea 

²³so that you, ⸤my people,⸥ may bathe^byour feet in blood 

and the tongues of your dogs 

may lick the blood of your enemies.” 

²⁴Your festival processions, O God, can be seen by everyone. 

They are the processions for my God, my king, into the holy place. 

²⁵The singers are in front. 

The musicians are behind them. 

The young women beating tambourines are between them. 

²⁶Thank God, the Lord, the source of Israel, with the choirs. 

²⁷Benjamin, the youngest, is leading them, 

⸤next⸥ the leaders of Judah with their noisy crowds, 

⸤then⸥ the leaders of Zebulun, 

⸤then⸥ the leaders of Naphtali. 

²⁸Your God has decided you will be strong. 

Display your strength, O God, 

as you have for us before. 

²⁹Kings will bring you gifts 

because of your temple high above Jerusalem. 

³⁰Threaten the beast who is among the cattails, 

the herd of bulls with the calves of the nations, 

until it humbles itself with pieces of silver. 

Scatter the people who find joy in war. 

³¹Ambassadors will come from Egypt. 

Sudan will stretch out its hands to God ⸤in prayer⸥. 

³²You kingdoms of the world, sing to God. 

Make music to praise the Lord. 

Selah 

³³God rides through the ancient heaven, the highest heaven. 

Listen! He makes his voice heard, his powerful voice. 

³⁴Acknowledge the power of God. 

His majesty is over Israel, and his power is in the skies. 

³⁵God, the God of Israel, is awe-inspiring in his holy place. 

He gives strength and power to his people. 

Thanks be to God! 

Psalm 69

For the choir director; according to shoshannim; by David. 

¹Save me, O God! 

The water is already up to my neck! 

²I am sinking in deep mud. 

There is nothing to stand on. 

I am in deep water. 

A flood is sweeping me away. 

³I am exhausted from crying for help. 

My throat is hoarse. 

My eyes are strained ⸤from⸥ looking for my God. 

⁴Those who hate me for no reason 

outnumber the hairs on my head. 

Those who want to destroy me are mighty. 

They have no reason to be my enemies. 

I am forced to pay back what I did not steal. 

⁵O God, you know my stupidity, 

and the things of which I am guilty are not hidden from you. 

⁶Do not let those who wait with hope for you 

be put to shame because of me, O Almighty Lord of Armies. 

Do not let those who come to you for help 

be humiliated because of me, O God of Israel. 

⁷Indeed, for your sake I have endured insults. 

Humiliation has covered my face. 

⁸I have become a stranger to my ⸤own⸥ brothers, 

a foreigner to my mother’s sons. 

⁹Indeed, devotion for your house has consumed me, 

and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. 

¹⁰I cried and fasted, but I was insulted for it. 

¹¹I dressed myself in sackcloth, but I became the object of ridicule. 

¹²Those who sit at the gate gossip about me, 

and drunkards make up songs about me. 

¹³May my prayer come to you at an acceptable time, O Lord. 

O God, out of the greatness of your mercy, 

answer me with the truth of your salvation. 

¹⁴Rescue me from the mud. 

Do not let me sink ⸤into it⸥. 

I want to be rescued from those who hate me 

and from the deep water. 

¹⁵Do not let floodwaters sweep me away. 

Do not let the ocean swallow me up, 

or the pit close its mouth over me. 

¹⁶Answer me, O Lord, because your mercy is good. 

Out of your unlimited compassion, turn to me. 

¹⁷I am in trouble, so do not hide your face from me. 

Answer me quickly! 

¹⁸Come close, and defend my soul. 

Set me free because of my enemies. 

¹⁹You know that I have been insulted, put to shame, and humiliated. 

All my opponents are in front of you. 

²⁰Insults have broken my heart, and I am sick. 

I looked for sympathy, but there was none. 

I looked for people to comfort me, but I found no one. 

²¹They poisoned my food, 

and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink. 

²²Let the table set for them become a trap 

and a snare for their friends. 

²³Let their vision become clouded so that they cannot see. 

Let their thighs continually shake. 

²⁴Pour your rage on them. 

Let your burning anger catch up with them. 

²⁵Let their camp be deserted 

and their tents empty. 

²⁶They persecute the one you have struck, 

and they talk about the pain of those you have wounded. 

²⁷Charge them with one crime after another. 

Do not let them be found innocent. 

²⁸Let their ⸤names⸥ be erased from the Book of Life. 

Do not let them be listed with righteous people. 

²⁹I am suffering and in pain. 

Let your saving power protect me, O God. 

³⁰I want to praise God’s name with a song. 

I want to praise his great name with a song of thanksgiving. 

³¹This will please the Lord more than ⸤sacrificing⸥ an ox 

or a bull with horns and hoofs. 

³²Oppressed people will see ⸤this⸥ and rejoice. 

May the hearts of those who look to God for help be refreshed. 

³³The Lord listens to needy people. 

He does not despise his own who are in prison. 

³⁴Let heaven and earth, the seas, and everything that moves in them, praise him. 

³⁵When God saves Zion, he will rebuild the cities of Judah. 

His servants will live there and take possession of it. 

³⁶The descendants of his servants will inherit it. 

Those who love him will live there. 

Psalm 70^a

For the choir director; by David; to be kept in mind. 

¹Come quickly to rescue me, O God! 

Come quickly to help me, O Lord! 

²Let those who seek my life 

be confused and put to shame. 

Let those who want my downfall 

be turned back and disgraced. 

³Let those who say, “Aha! Aha!” 

be turned back because of their own shame. 

⁴Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad because of you. 

Let those who love your salvation continually say, 

“God is great!” 

⁵But I am oppressed and needy. 

O God, come to me quickly. 

You are my help and my savior. 

O Lord, do not delay!