PSALM 137

1 By the waterso of Babylon, there we sat down and wept,

when we remembered Zion.

2 On the willowsp there

we hung up our lyres.

3 For there our captors

required of us songs,

and our tormentors, mirth, saying,

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song

in a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

let my right hand wither!

6 Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem

above my highest joy!

7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites

the day of Jerusalem,

how they said, “Rase it, rase it!

Down to its foundations!”

8 O daughter of Babylon, you devastator!q

Happy shall he be who requites you

with what you have done to us!

9 Happy shall he be who takes your little ones

and dashes them against the rock!

PSALM 138

A Psalm of David.

1 I give thee thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

before the gods I sing thy praise;

2 I bow down toward thy holy temple

and give thanks to thy name for thy steadfast love and thy faithfulness;

for thou hast exalted above everything

thy name and thy word.r

3 On the day I called, thou didst answer me,

my strength of soul thou didst increase.s

4 All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord,

for they have heard the words of thy mouth;

5 and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,

for great is the glory of the Lord.

6 For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly;

but the haughty he knows from afar.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,

thou dost preserve my life;

thou dost stretch out thy hand against the wrath of my enemies,

and thy right hand delivers me.

8 The Lord will fulfil his purpose for me;

thy steadfast love, O Lord, endures for ever.

Do not forsake the work of thy hands.

PSALM 139

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1 O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me!

2 Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up;

thou discernest my thoughts from afar.

3 Thou searchest out my path and my lying down,

and art acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before a word is on my tongue,

lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.

5 Thou dost beset me behind and before,

and layest thy hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is high, I cannot attain it.

7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?

Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

8 If I ascend to heaven, thou art there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there!

9 If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 even there thy hand shall lead me,

and thy right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, “Let only darkness cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

12 even the darkness is not dark to thee,

the night is bright as the day;

for darkness is as light with thee.

13 For thou didst form my inward parts,

thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful.t

Wonderful are thy works!

Thou knowest me right well;

15 my frame was not hidden from thee,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.

16 Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance;

in thy book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious to me are thy thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

When I awake, I am still with thee.u

19 O that thou wouldst slay the wicked, O God,

and that men of blood would depart from me,

20 men who maliciously defy thee,

who lift themselves up against thee for evil!v

21 Do I not hate them that hate thee, O Lord?

And do I not loathe them that rise up against thee?

22 I hate them with perfect hatred;

I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

24 And see if there be any wickedw way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!*