Psalm 7–12

PSALM 7

In You I Have Taken Refuge

A ^†Shiggaion of David, which he sang to Yahweh concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite.

¹O Yahweh my God, ^ain You I have taken refuge;

Save me from all those who pursue me, and ^bdeliver me,

²Lest he tear ¹my soul ^alike a lion,

Rending me in pieces, while there is none to deliver.

³O Yahweh my God, if I have done this,

If there is ^ainjustice in my hands,

⁴If I have ^arewarded evil to him who ¹is at peace with me,

Or have ^bplundered my adversary without cause,

⁵Let the enemy pursue ¹my soul and overtake ²it;

And let him trample my life down to the ground

And cause my glory to dwell in the dust. ³Selah.

^6aArise, O Yahweh, in Your anger;

^bLift up Yourself against ^cthe fury of my adversaries,

And ^darouse Yourself ¹for me; You have appointed judgment.

⁷Let the congregation of the ^apeoples encompass You,

And over ¹them return on high.

⁸Yahweh ^ajudges the peoples;

^1bGive justice to me, O Yahweh, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.

⁹O let ^athe evil of the wicked come to an end, but ^bestablish the righteous;

For the righteous God ^ctests the hearts and ¹minds.

¹⁰My ^ashield is ¹with God,

Who ^bsaves the upright in heart.

¹¹God is a ^arighteous judge,

And a God who has ^bindignation every day.

¹²If ¹a man ^adoes not repent, He will ^bsharpen His sword;

He has ^cbent His bow and prepared it.

¹³He has also prepared ¹for Himself deadly weapons;

He makes His ^aarrows fiery shafts.

¹⁴Behold, he travails with wickedness,

And he ^aconceives mischief and gives birth to falsehood.

¹⁵He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,

And has ^afallen into the hole which he made.

¹⁶His ^amischief will return upon his own head,

And his ^bviolence will descend upon ¹his own skull.

¹⁷I will give thanks to Yahweh ^aaccording to His righteousness

And will ^bsing praise to the name of Yahweh Most High.

PSALM 8

How Majestic Is Your Name

For the choir director. According to the Gittith. A Psalm of David.

¹O Yahweh, our Lord,

How majestic is Your name in all the earth,

Who ^1adisplays Your splendor above the heavens!

^2aFrom the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have established ^1bstrength

Because of Your adversaries,

To make ^cthe enemy and the revengeful cease.

³When I ^asee ^bYour heavens, the work of Your fingers,

The ^cmoon and the stars, which You have established;

^4aWhat is man that You remember him,

And the son of man that You care for him?

⁵Yet You have made him a ^alittle lower than the ¹angels,

And ^bYou crown him with ^cglory and majesty!

⁶You make him to ^arule over the works of Your hands;

You have ^bput all things under his feet,

⁷All sheep and oxen,

And also the animals of the field,

⁸The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,

Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

^9aO Yahweh, our Lord,

How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

PSALM 9

Yahweh Will Judge the World in Righteousness

For the choir director. ^†Almuth-labben. A Psalm of David.

Aleph

¹¹I will give thanks to Yahweh with all ^amy heart;

I will ^brecount all Your ²wondrous deeds.

Aleph

²I will be glad and ^aexult in You;

I will ^bsing praise to Your name, O ^cMost High.

Beth

³When my enemies turn back,

They stumble and ^aperish before You.

⁴For You have ^amaintained my ¹justice and my cause;

You have sat on the throne ^2bjudging righteously.

Gimel

⁵You have ^arebuked the nations, You have made the wicked perish;

You have ^bblotted out their name forever and ever.

He

⁶¹The enemy has come to an end in perpetual ²ruins,

And You have uprooted the cities;

The very ^amemory of them has perished.

Vav

⁷But ^aYahweh ¹abides forever;

He has established His ^bthrone for judgment,

Vav

⁸And He will ^ajudge the world in righteousness;

He will render justice for the peoples with equity.

Vav

⁹¹Yahweh also will be a ^astronghold for the oppressed,

A stronghold in times of ²distress;

Vav

¹⁰And ¹those who ^aknow Your name will put their trust in You,

For You, O Yahweh, have not ^bforsaken those who seek You.

Zayin

¹¹Sing praises to Yahweh, who ^aabides in Zion;

^bDeclare among the peoples His acts.

¹²For ^aHe who ¹requires blood remembers them;

He does not forget ^bthe cry of the afflicted.

Heth

¹³Be gracious to me, O Yahweh;

See my affliction from those ^awho hate me,

You who ^blift me up from the gates of death,

¹⁴That I may recount ^aall Your praises,

That in the gates of the daughter of Zion

I may ^brejoice in Your ¹salvation.

Teth

¹⁵The nations have sunk down ^ain the pit which they have made;

In the ^bnet which they hid, their own foot has been caught.

¹⁶Yahweh has ^amade Himself known;

He has ^bexecuted judgment.

In the work of his own hands the wicked is snared. ¹Higgaion ²Selah.

Yodh

¹⁷The wicked will ^1areturn to Sheol,

Even all the nations who ^bforget God.

Kaph

¹⁸For the ^aneedy will not always be forgotten,

Nor the ^bhope of the afflicted perish forever.

^19aArise, O Yahweh, do not let man prevail;

Let the nations be ^bjudged before You.

²⁰Put them ^ain fear, O Yahweh;

Let the nations know that they are ^bbut men. Selah.

PSALM 10

Do Not Forget the Afflicted

Lamedh

¹¹Why ^ado You stand afar off, O Yahweh?

Why ^bdo You hide ²Yourself in times of distress?

²In his ^alofty pride the wicked ¹hotly pursues the afflicted;

²Let them be ^bcaught in the thoughts which they have devised.

³For the wicked ^aboasts of his ^bsoul’s desire,

And ¹the greedy man curses and ^cspurns Yahweh.

⁴The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, ^adoes not seek Him.

All his ¹thoughts are, “^bThere is no God.”

⁵His ways ^1aprosper at all times;

Your judgments are on high, ^bout of his sight;

As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.

⁶He says in his heart, “^aI will not be shaken;

¹From generation to generation ^bI will not be in adversity.”

Pe

⁷His ^amouth is full of curses and deceit and ^boppression;

^cUnder his tongue is mischief and wickedness.

Ayin

⁸He sits in the ^1aplaces of the villages where one lies in wait;

In the hiding places he ^bkills the innocent;

His eyes ²stealthily watch for the ^3cunfortunate.

⁹He lies in wait in a hiding place as ^aa lion in his ¹lair;

He ^blies in wait to catch ^cthe afflicted;

He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his ^dnet.

¹⁰He ¹crouches, he ²bows down,

And the ³unfortunate fall ⁴by his mighty ones.

¹¹He ^asays in his heart, “God has forgotten;

He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”

Qoph

¹²Arise, O Yahweh; O God, ^alift up Your hand.

^bDo not forget the afflicted.

¹³Why has the wicked ^aspurned God?

He has said in his heart, “You will not require it.”

Resh

¹⁴You have seen it, for You have beheld ^amischief and vexation to ¹take it into Your hand.

The ^2bunfortunate commits himself to You;

You have been the ^chelper of the orphan.

Shin

^15aBreak the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,

^1bSeek out his wickedness until You find none.

¹⁶Yahweh is ^aKing forever and ever;

^bNations have perished from His land.

Tav

¹⁷O Yahweh, You have heard the ^adesire of the ¹humble;

You will ^bstrengthen their heart, ^cYou will cause Your ear to give heed

¹⁸To give justice to the ^aorphan and the ^boppressed,

So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause ^cterror.

PSALM 11

Yahweh Is in His Holy Temple

For the choir director. Of David.

¹In Yahweh I ^atake refuge;

How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your ^bmountain;

²For, behold, the wicked ^abend the bow,

They ^1bmake ready their arrow upon the string

To ^cshoot in darkness at the upright in heart.

³“If the ^afoundations are destroyed,

What can the righteous do?”

⁴Yahweh is in His ^aholy temple; ¹Yahweh’s ^bthrone is in heaven;

His ^ceyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.

⁵Yahweh ^atests the righteous,

But ^bthe wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.

⁶May He ^arain ¹snares upon the wicked;

^bFire and brimstone and ^cburning wind will be the portion of ^dtheir cup.

⁷For Yahweh is ^arighteous, ^bHe loves ¹righteousness;

The upright will ^cbehold His face.

PSALM 12

Yahweh Will Set the Needy in Safety

For the choir director. According to the ^†Sheminith. A Psalm of David.

¹Save, O Yahweh, for ^athe holy man ceases to be,

For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

²They ^aspeak worthlessness to one another;

With a ^bflattering lip and with a double heart they speak.

³May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips,

The tongue that ^aspeaks great things;

⁴Who ^ahave said, “With our tongue we will prevail;

Our lips are ¹our own; who is lord over us?”

⁵“Because of the ^adevastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,

Now ^bI will arise,” says Yahweh; “I will ^cset him in the ¹safety for which he ²longs.”

⁶The ^awords of Yahweh are pure words;

As silver ^btried in a furnace on the ground, refined seven times.

⁷You, O Yahweh, will keep them;

You will ^aguard him from this generation forever.

⁸The ^awicked strut about on every side

When ^1bvileness is exalted among the sons of men.