Psalm 50–52

¹A Psalm of Asaph. The God of gods—Jehovah—hath spoken, And He calleth to the earth From the rising of the sun unto its going in.

²From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shone.

³Our God cometh, and is not silent, Fire before Him doth devour, And round about him it hath been very tempestuous.

⁴He doth call unto the heavens from above, And unto the earth, to judge His people.

⁵Gather ye to Me My saints, Making covenant with Me over a sacrifice.

⁶And the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is judge. Selah.

⁷Hear, O My people, and I speak, O Israel, and I testify against thee, God, thy God am I.

⁸Not for thy sacrifices do I reprove thee, Yea, thy burnt-offerings Are before Me continually.

⁹I take not from thy house a bullock, From thy folds he goats.

¹⁰For Mine is every beast of the forest, The cattle on the hills of oxen.

¹¹I have known every fowl of the mountains, And the wild beast of the field is with Me.

¹²If I am hungry I tell not to thee, For Mine is the world and its fulness.

¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls, And drink the blood of he-goats?

¹⁴Sacrifice to God confession, And complete to the Most High thy vows.

¹⁵And call Me in a day of adversity, I deliver thee, and thou honourest Me.

¹⁶And to the wicked hath God said: What to thee—to recount My statutes? That thou liftest up My covenant on thy mouth?

¹⁷Yea, thou hast hated instruction, And dost cast My words behind thee.

¹⁸If thou hast seen a thief, Then thou art pleased with him, And with adulterers is thy portion.

¹⁹Thy mouth thou hast sent forth with evil, And thy tongue joineth deceit together,

²⁰Thou sittest, against thy brother thou speakest, Against a son of thy mother givest slander.

²¹These thou didst, and I kept silent, Thou hast thought that I am like thee, I reprove thee, and set in array before thine eyes.

²²Understand this, I pray you, Ye who are forgetting God, Lest I tear, and there is no deliverer.

²³He who is sacrificing praise honoureth Me, As to him who maketh a way, I cause him to look on the salvation of God!

Psalm 51

¹To the Overseer.—A Psalm of David, in the coming inn unto him of Nathan the prophet, when he hath gone in unto Bath-Sheba. Favour me, O God, according to Thy kindness, According to the abundance of Thy mercies, Blot out my transgressions.

²Thoroughly wash me from mine iniquity, And from my sin cleanse me,

³For my transgressions I do know, And my sin is before me continually.

⁴Against Thee, Thee only, I have sinned, And done the evil thing in Thine eyes, So that Thou art righteous in Thy words, Thou art pure in Thy judging.

⁵Lo, in iniquity I have been brought forth, And in sin doth my mother conceive me.

⁶Lo, truth Thou hast desired in the inward parts, And in the hidden part Wisdom Thou causest me to know.

⁷Thou cleansest me with hyssop and I am clean, Washest me, and than snow I am whiter.

⁸Thou causest me to hear joy and gladness, Thou makest joyful bones Thou hast bruised.

⁹Hide Thy face from my sin. And all mine iniquities blot out.

¹⁰A clean heart prepare for me, O God, And a right spirit renew within me.

¹¹Cast me not forth from Thy presence, And Thy Holy Spirit take not from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, And a willing spirit doth sustain me.

¹³I teach transgressors Thy ways, And sinners unto Thee do return.

¹⁴Deliver me from blood, O God, God of my salvation, My tongue singeth of Thy righteousness.

¹⁵O Lord, my lips thou dost open, And my mouth declareth Thy praise.

¹⁶For Thou desirest not sacrifice, or I give it, Burnt-offering Thou acceptest not.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A heart broken and bruised, O God, Thou dost not despise.

¹⁸Do good in Thy good pleasure with Zion, Thou dost build the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then Thou desirest sacrifices of righteousness, Burnt-offering, and whole burnt-offering, Then they offer bullocks on thine altar!

Psalm 52

¹To the Overseer.—An instruction, by David, in the coming in of Doeg the Edomite, and he declareth to Saul, and saith to him, ‘David came in unto the house of Ahimelech.’ What, boasteth thou in evil, O mighty one? The kindness of God is all the day.

²Mischiefs doth thy tongue devise, Like a sharp razor, working deceit.

³Thou hast loved evil rather than good, Lying, than speaking righteousness. Selah.

⁴Thou hast loved all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.

⁵Also—God doth break thee down for ever, Taketh thee, and pulleth thee out of the tent, And He hath uprooted thee Out of the land of the living. Selah.

⁶And the righteous see, And fear, and laugh at him.

⁷‘Lo, the man who maketh not God his strong place, And trusteth in the abundance of his riches, He is strong in his mischiefs.’

⁸And I, as a green olive in the house of God, I have trusted in the kindness of God, To the age and for ever,

⁹I thank Thee to the age, because Thou hast done it, And I wait on Thy name for it is good before Thy saints!

Psalm 53