Psalm 1–41

Psalm 1

¹Blessed is the person who does not 

follow the advice of wicked people, 

take the path of sinners, 

or join the company of mockers. 

²Rather, he delights in the teachings of the Lord 

and reflects on his teachings day and night. 

³He is like a tree planted beside streams— 

a tree that produces fruit in season 

and whose leaves do not wither. 

He succeeds in everything he does.^a

⁴Wicked people are not like that. 

Instead, they are like husks that the wind blows away. 

⁵That is why wicked people will not be able to stand in the judgment 

and sinners will not be able to stand where righteous people gather. 

⁶The Lord knows the way of righteous people, 

but the way of wicked people will end. 

Psalm 2

¹Why do the nations gather together? 

Why do their people devise useless plots? 

²Kings take their stands. 

Rulers make plans together 

against the Lord and against his Messiah^aby saying, 

³“Let’s break apart their chains 

and shake off their ropes.” 

⁴The one enthroned in heaven laughs. 

The Lord makes fun of them. 

⁵Then he speaks to them in his anger. 

In his burning anger he terrifies them by saying, 

⁶“I have installed my own king on Zion, my holy mountain.” 

⁷I will announce the Lord’s decree. 

He said to me: 

“You are my Son. 

Today I have become your Father. 

⁸Ask me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance 

and the ends of the earth as your own possession. 

⁹You will break them with an iron scepter. 

You will smash them to pieces like pottery.” 

¹⁰Now, you kings, act wisely. 

Be warned, you rulers of the earth! 

¹¹Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 

¹²Kiss the Son, or he will become angry 

and you will die on your way 

because his anger will burst into flames. 

Blessed is everyone who takes refuge in him. 

Psalm 3

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

¹O Lord, look how my enemies have increased! 

Many are attacking me. 

²Many are saying about me, 

“Even with God ⸤on his side⸥, 

he won’t be victorious.” 

Selah 

³But you, O Lord, are a shield that surrounds me. 

You are my glory. 

You hold my head high. 

⁴I call aloud to the Lord, 

and he answers me from his holy mountain. 

Selah 

⁵I lie down and sleep. 

I wake up again because the Lord continues to support me. 

⁶I am not afraid of the tens of thousands 

who have taken positions against me on all sides. 

⁷Arise, O Lord! 

Save me, O my God! 

You have slapped all my enemies in the face. 

You have smashed the teeth of wicked people. 

⁸Victory belongs to the Lord! 

May your blessing rest on your people. 

Selah 

Psalm 4

For the choir director; with stringed instruments; a psalm by David. 

¹Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness. 

You have freed me from my troubles. 

Have pity on me, and hear my prayer! 

²You important people, 

how long are you going to insult my honor? 

How long are you going to love what is empty 

and seek what is a lie? 

Selah 

³Know that the Lord singles out godly people for himself. 

The Lord hears me when I call to him. 

⁴Tremble and do not sin. 

Think about this on your bed and remain quiet. 

Selah 

⁵Offer the sacrifices of righteousness 

by trusting the Lord. 

⁶Many are saying, “Who can show us anything good?” 

Let the light of your presence shine on us, O Lord. 

⁷You put more joy in my heart 

than when their grain and new wine increase. 

⁸I fall asleep in peace the moment I lie down 

because you alone, O Lord, enable me to live securely. 

Psalm 5

For the choir director; for flutes; a psalm by David. 

¹Open your ears to my words, O Lord. 

Consider my innermost thoughts. 

²Pay attention to my cry for help, my king and my God, 

because I pray only to you. 

³In the morning, O Lord, hear my voice. 

In the morning I lay my needs in front of you, 

and I wait. 

⁴You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness. 

Evil will never be your guest. 

⁵Those who brag cannot stand in your sight. 

You hate all troublemakers. 

⁶You destroy those who tell lies. 

The Lord is disgusted with bloodthirsty and deceitful people. 

⁷But I will enter your house because of your great mercy. 

Out of reverence for you, I will bow toward your holy temple. 

⁸O Lord, lead me in your righteousness because of those who spy on me. 

Make your way in front of me smooth. 

⁹Nothing in their mouths is truthful. 

Destruction comes from their hearts. 

Their throats are open graves. 

They flatter with their tongues. 

¹⁰Condemn them, O God. 

Let their own schemes be their downfall. 

Throw them out for their many crimes 

because they have rebelled against you. 

¹¹But let all who take refuge in you rejoice. 

Let them sing with joy forever. 

Protect them, and let those who love your name triumph in you. 

¹²You bless righteous people, O Lord. 

Like a large shield, you surround them with your favor. 

Psalm 6

For the choir director; with stringed instruments, on the sheminith;^aa psalm by David. 

¹O Lord, do not punish me in your anger 

or discipline me in your rage. 

²Have pity on me, O Lord, because I am weak. 

Heal me, O Lord, because my bones shake with terror. 

³My soul has been deeply shaken with terror. 

But you, O Lord, how long …? 

⁴Come back, O Lord. 

Rescue me. 

Save me because of your mercy! 

⁵In death, no one remembers you. 

In the grave, who praises you? 

⁶I am worn out from my groaning. 

My eyes flood my bed every night. 

I soak my couch with tears. 

⁷My eyes blur from grief. 

They fail because of my enemies. 

⁸Get away from me, all you troublemakers, 

because the Lord has heard the sound of my crying. 

⁹The Lord has heard my plea for mercy. 

The Lord accepts my prayer. 

¹⁰All my enemies will be put to shame and deeply shaken with terror. 

In a moment they will retreat and be put to shame. 

Psalm 7

A shiggaion^aby David; he sang it to the Lord about the ⸤slanderous⸥ words of Cush, a descendant of Benjamin. 

¹O Lord my God, I have taken refuge in you. 

Save me, and rescue me from all who are pursuing me. 

²Like a lion they will tear me to pieces 

and drag me off with no one to rescue me. 

³O Lord my God, 

if I have done this— 

if my hands are stained with injustice, 

⁴if I have paid back my friend with evil 

or rescued someone who has no reason to attack me— 

⁵then let the enemy chase me and catch me. 

Let him trample my life into the ground. 

Let him lay my honor in the dust. 

Selah 

⁶Arise in anger, O Lord. 

Stand up against the fury of my attackers. 

Wake up, my God.^c

You have already pronounced judgment. 

⁷Let an assembly of people gather around you. 

Take your seat high above them. 

⁸The Lord judges the people of the world. 

Judge me, O Lord, 

according to my righteousness, 

according to my integrity. 

⁹Let the evil within wicked people come to an end, 

but make the righteous person secure, 

O righteous God who examines thoughts and emotions. 

¹⁰My shield is God above, 

who saves those whose motives are decent. 

¹¹God is a fair judge, 

a God who is angered by injustice every day. 

¹²If a person does not change, God sharpens his sword. 

By bending his bow, he makes it ready ⸤to shoot⸥. 

¹³He prepares his deadly weapons 

and turns them into flaming arrows. 

¹⁴See how that person conceives evil, 

is pregnant with harm, 

and gives birth to lies. 

¹⁵He digs a pit and shovels it out. 

Then he falls into the hole that he made ⸤for others⸥. 

¹⁶His mischief lands back on his own head. 

His violence comes down on top of him. 

¹⁷I will give thanks to the Lord for his righteousness. 

I will make music to praise the name of the Lord Most High. 

Psalm 8

For the choir director; on the gittith;^aa psalm by David. 

¹O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth! 

Your glory is sung above the heavens. 

²From the mouths of little children and infants, 

you have built a fortress against your opponents 

to silence the enemy and the avenger. 

³When I look at your heavens, 

the creation of your fingers, 

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

⁴what is a mortal that you remember him 

or the Son of Man that you take care of him? 

⁵You have made him a little lower than yourself. 

You have crowned him with glory and honor. 

⁶You have made him rule what your hands created. 

You have put everything under his control: 

⁷all the sheep and cattle, the wild animals, 

⁸the birds, the fish, 

whatever swims in the currents of the seas. 

⁹O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth! 

Psalm 9

For the choir director; according to muth labben;^aa psalm by David.^b

¹I will give ⸤you⸥ thanks, O Lord, with all my heart. 

I will tell about all the miracles you have done. 

²I will find joy and be glad about you. 

I will make music to praise your name, O Most High. 

³When my enemies retreat, they will stumble and die in your presence. 

⁴You have defended my just cause: 

You sat down on your throne as a fair judge. 

⁵You condemned nations. 

You destroyed wicked people. 

You wiped out their names forever and ever. 

⁶The enemy is finished—in ruins forever. 

You have uprooted their cities. 

Even the memory of them has faded. 

⁷Yet, the Lord is enthroned forever. 

He has set up his throne for judgment. 

⁸He alone judges the world with righteousness. 

He judges ⸤its⸥ people fairly. 

⁹The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, 

a stronghold in times of trouble. 

¹⁰Those who know your name trust you, O Lord, 

because you have never deserted those who seek your help. 

¹¹Make music to praise the Lord, who is enthroned in Zion. 

Announce to the nations what he has done. 

¹²The one who avenges murder has remembered oppressed people. 

He has never forgotten their cries. 

¹³Have pity on me, O Lord. 

Look at what I suffer because of those who hate me. 

You take me away from the gates of death 

¹⁴so that I may recite your praises one by one 

in the gates of Zion 

and find joy in your salvation. 

¹⁵The nations have sunk into the pit they have made. 

Their feet are caught in the net they have hidden ⸤to trap others⸥. 

¹⁶The Lord is known by the judgment he has carried out. 

The wicked person is trapped 

by the work of his own hands. 

Higgaion Selah 

¹⁷Wicked people, all the nations who forget God, 

will return to the grave. 

¹⁸Needy people will not always be forgotten. 

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