Psalm 13–19

Psalm 13

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?

^aHow long will You hide Your face from me?

²How long shall I take counsel in my soul,

Having sorrow in my heart daily?

How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

³Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;

^bEnlighten my eyes,

^cLest I sleep the sleep of death;

⁴Lest my enemy say,

“I have prevailed against him”;

Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

⁵But I have trusted in Your mercy;

My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

⁶I will sing to the Lord,

Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Psalm 14

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹The ^afool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt,

They have done abominable works,

There is none who does good.

^2bThe Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men,

To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.

^3cThey have all turned aside,

They have together become corrupt;

There is none who does good,

No, not one.

⁴Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,

Who eat up my people as they eat bread,

And ^ddo not call on the Lord?

⁵There they are in great fear,

For God is with the generation of the righteous.

⁶You shame the counsel of the poor,

But the Lord is his ^erefuge.

^7fOh, ¹that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

^gWhen the Lord brings back ²the captivity of His people,

Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

Psalm 15

A Psalm of David.

¹Lord, ^awho may ¹abide in Your tabernacle?

Who may dwell in Your holy hill?

²He who walks uprightly,

And works righteousness,

And speaks the ^btruth in his heart;

³He who ^cdoes not backbite with his tongue,

Nor does evil to his neighbor,

^dNor does he ²take up a reproach against his friend;

^4eIn whose eyes a vile person is despised,

But he honors those who fear the Lord;

He who ^fswears to his own hurt and does not change;

⁵He who does not put out his money at usury,

Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things ^gshall never be moved.

Psalm 16

A Michtam of David.

¹Preserve ¹me, O God, for in You I put my trust.

²O my soul, you have said to the Lord,

“You are my Lord,

^bMy goodness is nothing apart from You.”

³As for the saints who are on the earth,

“They are the excellent ones, in ^cwhom is all my delight.”

⁴Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god;

Their drink offerings of ^dblood I will not offer,

^eNor take up their names on my lips.

⁵O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;

You ²maintain my lot.

⁶The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;

Yes, I have a good inheritance.

⁷I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;

My ³heart also instructs me in the night seasons.

^8fI have set the Lord always before me;

Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;

My flesh also will ⁴rest in hope.

^10gFor You will not leave my soul in ⁵Sheol,

Nor will You allow Your Holy One to ⁶see corruption.

¹¹You will show me the ^hpath of life;

In Your presence is fullness of joy;

At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 17

A Prayer of David.

¹Hear a just cause, O Lord,

Attend to my cry;

Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips.

²Let my vindication come from Your presence;

Let Your eyes look on the things that are upright.

³You have tested my heart;

You have visited me in the night;

^aYou have ¹tried me and have found ²nothing;

I have purposed that my mouth shall not ^btransgress.

⁴Concerning the works of men,

By the word of Your lips,

I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer.

^5cUphold my steps in Your paths,

That my footsteps may not slip.

^6dI have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God;

Incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech.

⁷Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand,

O You who ³save those who trust in You

From those who rise up against them.

⁸Keep me as the ⁴apple of Your eye;

Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,

⁹From the wicked who oppress me,

From my deadly enemies who surround me.

¹⁰They have closed up their ^efat hearts;

With their mouths they ^fspeak proudly.

¹¹They have now surrounded us in our steps;

They have set their eyes, crouching down to the earth,

¹²As a lion is eager to tear his prey,

And like a young lion lurking in secret places.

¹³Arise, O Lord,

Confront him, cast him down;

Deliver my life from the wicked with Your sword,

¹⁴With Your hand from men, O Lord,

From men of the world who have their portion in this life,

And whose belly You fill with Your hidden treasure.

They are satisfied with children,

And leave the rest of their possession for their babes.

¹⁵As for me, ^gI will see Your face in righteousness;

^hI shall be satisfied when I ⁱawake in Your likeness.

Psalm 18

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David The Servant of the Lord, Who Spoke to the Lord The Words of This Song on the Day that the Lord Delivered Him from the Hand of All His Enemies and from the Hand of Saul. And He Said:

¹I ^cwill love You, O Lord, my strength. ²The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

My God, my ¹strength, ^din whom I will trust;

My shield and the ²horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

³I will call upon the Lord, ^ewho is worthy to be praised;

So shall I be saved from my enemies.

^4fThe pangs of death surrounded me,

And the floods of ³ungodliness made me afraid.

⁵The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my distress I called upon the Lord,

And cried out to my God;

He heard my voice from His temple,

And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.

^7gThen the earth shook and trembled;

The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,

Because He was angry.

⁸Smoke went up from His nostrils,

And devouring fire from His mouth;

Coals were kindled by it.

^9hHe bowed the heavens also, and came down

With darkness under His feet.

¹⁰ⁱAnd He rode upon a cherub, and flew;

^jHe flew upon the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness His secret place;

^kHis canopy around Him was dark waters

And thick clouds of the skies.

^12lFrom the brightness before Him,

His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.

¹³The Lord thundered from heaven,

And the Most High uttered ^mHis voice,

⁴Hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴ⁿHe sent out His arrows and scattered ⁵the foe,

Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.

¹⁵Then the channels of the sea were seen,

The foundations of the world were uncovered

At Your rebuke, O Lord,

At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

^16oHe sent from above, He took me;

He drew me out of many waters.

¹⁷He delivered me from my strong enemy,

From those who hated me,

For they were too strong for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

But the Lord was my support.

^19pHe also brought me out into a broad place;

He delivered me because He delighted in me.

^20qThe Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;

According to the cleanness of my hands

He has recompensed me.

²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord,

And have not wickedly departed from my God.

²²For all His judgments were before me,

And I did not put away His statutes from me.

²³I was also blameless ⁶before Him,

And I kept myself from my iniquity.

^24rTherefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

^25sWith the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;

With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;

²⁶With the pure You will show Yourself pure;

And ^twith the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.

²⁷For You will save the humble people,

But will bring down ^uhaughty looks.

^28vFor You will light my lamp;

The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

²⁹For by You I can ⁷run against a troop,

By my God I can leap over a wall.

³⁰As for God, ^wHis way is perfect;

^xThe word of the Lord is ⁸proven;

He is a shield ^yto all who trust in Him.

^31zFor who is God, except the Lord?

And who is a rock, except our God?

³²It is God who ^aarms me with strength,

And makes my way perfect.

^33bHe makes my feet like the feet of deer,

And ^csets me on my high places.

^34dHe teaches my hands to make war,

So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;

Your right hand has held me up,

Your gentleness has made me great.

³⁶You enlarged my path under me,

^eSo my feet did not slip.

³⁷I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them;

Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.

³⁸I have wounded them,

So that they could not rise;

They have fallen under my feet.

³⁹For You have armed me with strength for the battle;

You have ⁹subdued under me those who rose up against me.

⁴⁰You have also given me the necks of my enemies,

So that I destroyed those who hated me.

⁴¹They cried out, but there was none to save;

^fEven to the Lord, but He did not answer them.

⁴²Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind;

I ^gcast them out like dirt in the streets.

⁴³You have delivered me from the strivings of the people;

^hYou have made me the head of the ¹nations;

ⁱA people I have not known shall serve me.

⁴⁴As soon as they hear of me they obey me;

The foreigners ²submit to me.

^45jThe foreigners fade away,

And come frightened from their hideouts.

⁴⁶The Lord lives!

Blessed be my Rock!

Let the God of my salvation be exalted.

⁴⁷It is God who avenges me,

^kAnd subdues the peoples under me;

⁴⁸He delivers me from my enemies.

^lYou also lift me up above those who rise against me;

You have delivered me from the violent man.

^49mTherefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the ³Gentiles,

And sing praises to Your name.

⁵⁰ⁿGreat deliverance He gives to His king,

And shows mercy to His anointed,

To David and his ⁴descendants forevermore.

Psalm 19

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹The ^aheavens declare the glory of God;

And the ^bfirmament ¹shows ²His handiwork.

²Day unto day utters speech,

And night unto night reveals knowledge.

³There is no speech nor language

Where their voice is not heard.

^4cTheir ³line has gone out through all the earth,

And their words to the end of the world.

In them He has set a ⁴tabernacle for the sun,

⁵Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

^dAnd rejoices like a strong man to run its race.

⁶Its rising is from one end of heaven,

And its circuit to the other end;

And…