Psalm 13–19

PSALM 13

How Long, O Yahweh?

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

¹How long, O Yahweh? Will You ^aforget me forever?

How long ^bwill You hide Your face from me?

²How long shall I ^atake counsel in my soul,

Having ^bsorrow in my heart all the day?

How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

^3aLook and answer me, O Yahweh my God;

^bGive light to my eyes, lest I ^csleep the sleep of death,

⁴Lest my enemy ^asays, “I have overcome him,”

And ^bmy adversaries rejoice that I am shaken.

⁵But I have ^atrusted in Your lovingkindness;

My heart shall ^brejoice in Your salvation.

⁶I will ^asing to Yahweh,

Because He has ^bdealt bountifully with me.

PSALM 14

There Is No One Who Does Good

For the choir director. Of David.

¹The ¹wicked fool ^asays in his heart, “There is no God.”

They act corruptly, they commit abominable ²deeds;

There is ^bno one who does good.

²Yahweh ^alooks down from heaven upon the sons of men

To see if there is anyone who ^1bhas insight,

Anyone who ^cseeks after God.

³They have all ^aturned aside, altogether they have become ¹worthless;

There is ^bno one who does good, not even one.

⁴Do all the workers of iniquity ^anot know,

Who ^beat up my people as they eat bread,

And ^cdo not call upon Yahweh?

⁵There they are in great dread,

For God is with the ^arighteous generation.

⁶You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted,

But Yahweh is his ^arefuge.

⁷Oh, that ^athe salvation of Israel ¹would come out of Zion!

When Yahweh ^2brestores His captive people,

May Jacob rejoice, may Israel be glad.

PSALM 15

Who May Dwell on Your Holy Mountain?

A Psalm of David.

¹O Yahweh, who may ¹sojourn ^ain Your tent?

Who may dwell on Your ^bholy mountain?

²He who ^awalks blamelessly, and works righteousness,

And ^bspeaks truth in his heart.

³He ^adoes not slander ¹with his tongue,

Nor ^bdoes evil to his neighbor,

Nor ^ctakes up a reproach against his friend;

⁴In ¹whose eyes a reprobate is despised,

But ²who ^ahonors those who fear Yahweh;

He ^bswears to his own hurt and does not change;

⁵He ^adoes not put out his money ¹at interest,

Nor ^bdoes he take a bribe against the innocent.

^cHe who does these things will never be shaken.

PSALM 16

You Will Not Forsake My Soul

A ^†Mikhtam of David.

^1aKeep me, O God, for ^bI take refuge in You.

²O my soul, you have said to Yahweh, “You are ¹my Lord;

I ^ahave no good without You.”

³As for the ^1asaints who are in the earth,

They are the majestic ones ^bin whom is all my delight.

⁴The ^1apains of those who have ²bartered for another god will be multiplied;

I shall not pour out their drink offerings of ^bblood,

Nor will I ^ctake their names upon my lips.

⁵Yahweh is the ^aportion of my inheritance and my ^bcup;

You support my ^clot.

⁶The ^alines have fallen to me in pleasant places;

Indeed, my inheritance is ^bbeautiful to me.

⁷I will bless Yahweh who has ^acounseled me;

Indeed, my ^1bmind instructs me in the night.

^8aI have ^bset Yahweh continually before me;

Because He is ^cat my right hand, ^dI will not be shaken.

⁹Therefore ^amy heart is glad and ^bmy glory rejoices;

My flesh also will ^cdwell securely.

¹⁰For You ^awill not forsake my soul to Sheol;

You will not ^bgive Your ¹Holy One over to see ²corruption.

¹¹You will make known to me ^athe path of life;

In ^bYour presence is fullness of joy;

In Your right hand there are ^cpleasures forever.

PSALM 17

In the Shadow of Your Wings

A Prayer of David.

¹Hear a ^arighteous cause, O Yahweh, ^bgive heed to my cry of lamentation;

^cGive ear to my prayer, which is not from ^ddeceitful lips.

²May ^amy ¹judgment come from Your presence;

May Your eyes behold ^bwhat is upright.

³You have ^atested my heart;

You have visited me by night;

You have ^btried me and ^cYou find ¹nothing;

I have ^dpurposed that my mouth will not ²transgress.

⁴As for the deeds of men, ^aby the word of Your lips

I have kept from the ^bpaths of the violent.

⁵My ^asteps have held fast to Your ¹paths.

My ^bfootsteps have not stumbled.

⁶I have ^acalled upon You, for You will answer me, O God;

^bIncline Your ear to me, hear my speech.

^7aMarvelously show Your lovingkindnesses,

O ^bSavior of those who take refuge ¹at Your right hand

From those who rise up against them.

⁸Keep me as ¹the ^aapple of the eye;

Hide me ^bin the shadow of Your wings

⁹From the ^awicked who devastate me,

My ^bdeadly enemies who surround me.

¹⁰They have ^aclosed their ¹unfeeling heart,

With their mouth they ^bspeak proudly.

¹¹They have now ^asurrounded us in our steps;

They set their eyes ^bto cast us down to the ground.

¹²He is ^alike a lion that is eager to tear,

And as a young lion ^blurking in hiding places.

^13aArise, O Yahweh, confront him, ^bbring him low;

^cProtect my soul from the wicked with ^dYour sword,

¹⁴From men with ^aYour hand, O Yahweh,

From men ¹of the world, ^bwhose portion is in this life,

And whose belly You ^cfill with Your treasure;

They are satisfied with children,

And leave their excess to their infants.

¹⁵As for me, I shall ^abehold Your face in righteousness;

^bI will be satisfied ¹with Your ^clikeness when I awake.

PSALM 18

Yahweh Is My Rock and My Fortress

For the choir director. Of the servant of Yahweh, of David, ^†who spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

¹He said, “I love You, O Yahweh, ^amy strength.”

²Yahweh is ^amy ¹rock and ^bmy fortress and my ^cdeliverer,

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;

My ^dshield and the ^ehorn of my salvation, my ^fstronghold.

³I call upon Yahweh, who is ^aworthy to be praised,

And I am ^bsaved from my enemies.

⁴The ^acords of death encompassed me,

And the ^btorrents of vileness ¹terrified me.

⁵The ^acords of Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my ^adistress I called upon Yahweh,

And cried to my God for help;

He heard my voice ^bout of His temple,

And my ^ccry for help before Him came into His ears.

⁷Then the ^aearth shook and quaked;

And the ^bfoundations of the mountains were trembling

And were shaken, because He was angry.

⁸Smoke went up ¹out of His nostrils,

And ^afire from His mouth devoured;

Coals were kindled by it.

⁹He ^abowed the heavens and came down

With thick ^bdarkness under His feet.

¹⁰He rode upon a ^acherub and flew;

And He sped upon the ^bwings of the wind.

¹¹He made ^adarkness His hiding place, ^bHis ¹canopy around Him,

Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

¹²From the ^abrightness before Him passed His thick clouds,

Hailstones and ^bcoals of fire.

¹³Yahweh also ^athundered in the heavens,

And the Most High gave forth His voice,

Hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴He ^asent out His arrows, and scattered them,

And lightning flashes in abundance, and ¹threw them into confusion.

¹⁵Then the ^achannels of water appeared,

And the foundations of the world were ¹laid bare

At Your ^brebuke, O Yahweh,

At the blast of the ^cbreath of Your nostrils.

¹⁶He ^asent from on high, He took me;

He drew me out of ^bmany waters.

¹⁷He ^adelivered me from my strong enemy,

And from those who hated me, for they were ^btoo mighty for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in ^athe day of my disaster,

But ^bYahweh was my support.

¹⁹He brought me forth also into a ^abroad place;

He rescued me, because ^bHe delighted in me.

²⁰Yahweh has ^arewarded me according to my righteousness;

According to the ^bcleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

²¹For I have ^akept the ways of Yahweh,

And have ^bnot wickedly departed from my God.

²²For all ^aHis judgments were before me,

And I did not put away His ^bstatutes from me.

²³I was also ^1ablameless with Him,

And I ^bkept myself from my iniquity.

²⁴Therefore Yahweh has ^arecompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to the cleanness of my hands before His eyes.

²⁵With ^athe ¹kind You show Yourself kind;

With the blameless ^bYou show Yourself blameless;

²⁶With the pure You show Yourself ^apure,

And with the crooked ^bYou show Yourself ¹astute.

²⁷For You ^asave an afflicted people,

But ^beyes which are lifted up, You bring down.

²⁸For You ^alight my lamp;

Yahweh my God ^billumines my darkness.

²⁹For by You I can ^1arun upon a troop;

And by my God I can ^bleap over a wall.

³⁰As for God, His way is ^1ablameless;

The ^bword of Yahweh is ²tried;

He is a ^cshield to all who take refuge in Him.

³¹For ^awho is God, but Yahweh?

And who is a ^brock, except our God,

³²The God who ^agirds me with strength

And ¹makes my way ^2bblameless?

³³He ^amakes my feet like hinds’ feet,

And ^bsets me upon my high places.

³⁴He ^atrains my hands for battle,

So that my arms can ^bbend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You have also given me ^athe shield of Your salvation,

And Your ^bright hand upholds me;

And ^cYour ¹gentleness makes me great.

³⁶You ^aenlarge my steps under me,

And my ^bankles have not given way.

³⁷I ^apursued my enemies and overtook them,

And I did not turn back ^buntil they were consumed.

³⁸I crushed them, so that they were ^anot able to rise;

They fell ^bunder my feet.

³⁹For You have ^agirded me with strength for battle;

You have ^1bsubdued under me those who rose up against me.

⁴⁰¹You have also made my enemies ^aturn their backs to me,

And I ^2bdestroyed those who hated me.

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was ^anone to save,

Even to Yahweh, but ^bHe did not answer them.

⁴²Then I beat them fine as the ^adust before the wind;

I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.

⁴³You have delivered me from the ^acontentions of the people;

You have placed me as ^bhead of the nations;

A ^cpeople whom I have not known serve me.

⁴⁴As soon as they hear, they obey me;

Foreigners ^1acower before me.

⁴⁵Foreigners ^afade away,

And ^bcome trembling out of their ¹fortresses.

⁴⁶Yahweh ^alives, and blessed be ^bmy rock;

And let ^cthe God of my salvation be lifted high,

⁴⁷The God who ^aexecutes vengeance for me,

And ^bsubdues peoples under me.

⁴⁸Who ^adelivers me from my enemies;

Surely You ^blift me above those who rise up against me;

You rescue me from the ^cviolent man.

⁴⁹Therefore I will ^agive thanks to You among the nations, O Yahweh,

And I will ^bsing praises to Your name.

⁵⁰He gives great ^1asalvation to His king,

And shows lovingkindness to ^bHis anointed,

To David and ^chis seed forever.

PSALM 19

The Law of Yahweh Is Perfect

For the…