Psalm 72–73

¹By Solomon. O God, Thy judgments to the king give, And Thy righteousness to the king’s son.

²He judgeth Thy people with righteousness, And Thy poor with judgment.

³The mountains bear peace to the people, And the heights by righteousness.

⁴He judgeth the poor of the people, Giveth deliverance to the sons of the needy, And bruiseth the oppressor.

⁵They fear Thee with the sun, and before the moon, Generation—generations.

⁶He cometh down as rain on mown grass, As showers—sprinkling the earth.

⁷Flourish in his days doth the righteous, And abundance of peace till the moon is not.

⁸And he ruleth from sea unto sea, And from the river unto the ends of earth.

⁹Before him bow do the inhabitants of the dry places, And his enemies lick the dust.

¹⁰Kings of Tarshish and of the isles send back a present. Kings of Sheba and Seba a reward bring near.

¹¹And all kings do bow themselves to him, All nations do serve him,

¹²For he delivereth the needy who crieth, And the poor when he hath no helper,

¹³He hath pity on the poor and needy, And the souls of the needy he saveth,

¹⁴From fraud and from violence he redeemeth their soul, And precious is their blood in his eyes.

¹⁵And he liveth, and giveth to him of the gold of Sheba, And prayeth for him continually, All the day he doth bless him.

¹⁶There is a handful of corn in the earth, On the top of mountains, Shake like Lebanon doth its fruit, And they flourish out of the city as the herb of the earth.

¹⁷His name is to the age, Before the sun is his name continued, And they bless themselves in him, All nations do pronounce him happy.

¹⁸Blessed is Jehovah God, God of Israel, He alone is doing wonders,

¹⁹And blessed is the Name of His honour to the age, And the whole earth is filled with His honour. Amen, and amen!

²⁰The prayers of David son of Jesse have been ended.

Psalm 73

¹A Psalm of Asaph. Only—good to Israel is God, to the clean of heart. And I—as a little thing, My feet have been turned aside,

²As nothing, have my steps slipped, For I have been envious of the boastful,

³The peace of the wicked I see, That there are no bands at their death,

⁴And their might is firm.

⁵In the misery of mortals they are not, And with common men they are not plagued.

⁶Therefore hath pride encircled them, Violence covereth them as a dress.

⁷Their eye hath come out from fat. The imaginations of the heart transgressed;

⁸They do corruptly, And they speak in the wickedness of oppression, From on high they speak.

⁹They have set in the heavens their mouth, And their tongue walketh in the earth.

¹⁰Therefore do His people return hither, And waters of fulness are wrung out to them.

¹¹And they have said, ‘How hath God known? And is there knowledge in the Most High?’

¹²Lo, these are the wicked and easy ones of the age, They have increased strength.

¹³Only—a vain thing! I have purified my heart, And I wash in innocency my hands,

¹⁴And I am plagued all the day, And my reproof is every morning.

¹⁵If I have said, ‘I recount thus,’ Lo, a generation of Thy sons I have deceived.

¹⁶And I think to know this, Perverseness it is in mine eyes,

¹⁷Till I come in to the sanctuaries of God, I attend to their latter end.

¹⁸Only, in slippery places Thou dost set them, Thou hast caused them to fall to desolations.

¹⁹How have they become a desolation as in a moment, They have been ended—consumed from terrors.

²⁰As a dream from awakening, O Lord, In awaking, their image Thou despisest.

²¹For my heart doth show itself violent, And my reins prick themselves,

²²And I am brutish, and do not know. A beast I have been with Thee.

²³And I am continually with Thee, Thou hast laid hold on my right hand.

²⁴With Thy counsel Thou dost lead me, And after honour dost receive me.

²⁵Whom have I in the heavens? And with Thee none I have desired in earth.

²⁶Consumed hath been my flesh and my heart, The rock of my heart and my portion is God to the age.

²⁷For, lo, those far from Thee do perish, Thou hast cut off every one, Who is going a whoring from Thee.

²⁸And I—nearness of God to me is good, I have placed in the Lord Jehovah my refuge, To recount all Thy works!

Psalm 74