Psalm 13–19

PSALM 13

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹How long, O Lord? Wilt thou forget me for ever?

How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

²How long must I bear pain in my soul,

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

³Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;

lighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;

⁴lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him”;

lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

⁵But I have trusted in thy steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.

⁶I will sing to the Lord,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.

PSALM 14

To the choirmaster. Of David.

¹The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,

there is none that does good.

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

to see if there are any that act wisely,

that seek after God.

³They have all gone astray, they are all alike corrupt;

there is none that does good,

no, not one.

⁴Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers

who eat up my people as they eat bread,

and do not call upon the Lord?

⁵There they shall be in great terror,

for God is with the generation of the righteous.

⁶You would confound the plans of the poor,

but the Lord is his refuge.

⁷O that deliverance for Israel would come out of Zion!

When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,

Jacob shall rejoice, Israel shall be glad.

PSALM 15

A Psalm of David.

¹O Lord, who shall sojourn in thy tent?

Who shall dwell on thy holy hill?

²He who walks blamelessly, and does what is right,

and speaks truth from his heart;

³who does not slander with his tongue,

and does no evil to his friend,

nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;

⁴in whose eyes a reprobate is despised,

but who honors those who fear the Lord;

who swears to his own hurt and does not change;

⁵who does not put out his money at interest,

and does not take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things shall never be moved.

PSALM 16

A Miktam of David.

¹Preserve me, O God, for in thee I take refuge.

²I say to the Lord, “Thou art my Lord;

I have no good apart from thee.”

³As for the saints in the land, they are the noble,

in whom is all my delight.

⁴Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;

their libations of blood I will not pour out

or take their names upon my lips.

⁵The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;

thou holdest my lot.

⁶The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

yea, I have a goodly heritage.

⁷I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;

in the night also my heart instructs me.

⁸I keep the Lord always before me;

because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

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

my body also dwells secure.

¹⁰For thou dost not give me up to Sheol,

or let thy godly one see the Pit.

¹¹Thou dost show me the path of life;

in thy presence there is fulness of joy,

in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.

PSALM 17

A Prayer of David.

¹Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry!

Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

²From thee let my vindication come!

Let thy eyes see the right!

³If thou triest my heart, if thou visitest me by night,

if thou testest me, thou wilt find no wickedness in me;

my mouth does not transgress.

⁴With regard to the works of men, by the word of thy lips

I have avoided the ways of the violent.

⁵My steps have held fast to thy paths,

my feet have not slipped.

⁶I call upon thee, for thou wilt answer me, O God;

incline thy ear to me, hear my words.

⁷Wondrously show thy steadfast love,

O savior of those who seek refuge

from their adversaries at thy right hand.

⁸Keep me as the apple of the eye;

hide me in the shadow of thy wings,

⁹from the wicked who despoil me,

my deadly enemies who surround me.

¹⁰They close their hearts to pity;

with their mouths they speak arrogantly.

¹¹They track me down; now they surround me;

they set their eyes to cast me to the ground.

¹²They are like a lion eager to tear,

as a young lion lurking in ambush.

¹³Arise, O Lord! confront them, overthrow them!

Deliver my life from the wicked by thy sword,

¹⁴from men by thy hand, O Lord,

from men whose portion in life is of the world.

May their belly be filled with what thou hast stored up for them;

may their children have more than enough;

may they leave something over to their babes.

¹⁵As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness;

when I awake, I shall be satisfied with beholding thy form.

PSALM 18

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

¹I love thee, O Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer,

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

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

³I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies.

⁴The cords of death encompassed me,

the torrents of perdition assailed me;

⁵the cords of Sheol entangled me,

the snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I cried for help.

From his temple he heard my voice,

and my cry to him reached his ears.

⁷Then the earth reeled and rocked;

the foundations also of the mountains trembled

and quaked, because he was angry.

⁸Smoke went up from his nostrils,

and devouring fire from his mouth;

glowing coals flamed forth from him.

⁹He bowed the heavens, and came down;

thick darkness was under his feet.

¹⁰He rode on a cherub, and flew;

he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness his covering around him,

his canopy thick clouds dark with water.

¹²Out of the brightness before him

there broke through his clouds

hailstones and coals of fire.

¹³The Lord also thundered in the heavens,

and the Most High uttered his voice,

hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them;

he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them.

¹⁵Then the channels of the sea were seen,

and the foundations of the world were laid bare,

at thy rebuke, O Lord,

at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

¹⁶He reached from on high, he took me,

he drew me out of many waters.

¹⁷He delivered me from my strong enemy,

and from those who hated me;

for they were too mighty for me.

¹⁸They came upon me in the day of my calamity;

but the Lord was my stay.

¹⁹He brought me forth into a broad place;

he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

²⁰The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.

²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord,

and have not wickedly departed from my God.

²²For all his ordinances were before me,

and his statutes I did not put away from me.

²³I was blameless before him,

and I kept myself from guilt.

²⁴Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵With the loyal thou dost show thyself loyal;

with the blameless man thou dost show thyself blameless;

²⁶with the pure thou dost show thyself pure;

and with the crooked thou dost show thyself perverse.

²⁷For thou dost deliver a humble people;

but the haughty eyes thou dost bring down.

²⁸Yea, thou dost light my lamp;

the Lord my God lightens my darkness.

²⁹Yea, by thee I can crush a troop;

and by my God I can leap over a wall.

³⁰This God—his way is perfect;

the promise of the Lord proves true;

he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

³¹For who is God, but the Lord?

And who is a rock, except our God? —

³²the God who girded me with strength,

and made my way safe.

³³He made my feet like hinds’ feet,

and set me secure on the heights.

³⁴He trains my hands for war,

so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation,

and thy right hand supported me,

and thy help made me great.

³⁶Thou didst give a wide place for my steps under me,

and my feet did not slip.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them;

and did not turn back till they were consumed.

³⁸I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;

they fell under my feet.

³⁹For thou didst gird me with strength for the battle;

thou didst make my assailants sink under me.

⁴⁰Thou didst make my enemies turn their backs to me,

and those who hated me I destroyed.

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was none to save,

they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.

⁴²I beat them fine as dust before the wind;

I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

⁴³Thou didst deliver me from strife with the peoples;

thou didst make me the head of the nations;

people whom I had not known served me.

⁴⁴As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;

foreigners came cringing to me.

⁴⁵Foreigners lost heart,

and came trembling out of their fastnesses.

⁴⁶The Lord lives; and blessed be my rock,

and exalted be the God of my salvation,

⁴⁷the God who gave me vengeance

and subdued peoples under me;

⁴⁸who delivered me from my enemies;

yea, thou didst exalt me above my adversaries;

thou didst deliver me from men of violence.

⁴⁹For this I will extol thee, O Lord, among the nations,

and sing praises to thy name.

⁵⁰Great triumphs he gives to his king,

and shows steadfast love to his anointed,

to David and his descendants for ever.

PSALM 19

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹The heavens are telling the glory of God;

and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

²Day to day pours forth speech,

and night to night declares knowledge.

³There is no speech, nor are there words;

their voice is not heard;

⁴yet their voice goes out through all the earth,

and their words to the end of the world.

In them he has set a tent for the sun,

⁵which comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,

and like a strong man runs its course with joy.

⁶Its rising is from the end of the heavens,

and its circuit to the end of them;

and there is nothing hid from its heat.

⁷The law of…