Psalms 107 - 118
107
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
for his love endures for ever.
So let them say who were redeemed by the LORD,
redeemed by him from the power of the enemy
and gathered out of every land,
From east and west, from north and south.
Some lost their way in desert wastes;
they found no road to a city to live in;
hungry and thirsty,
their spirit sank within them.
So they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he rescued them from their distress;
he led them by a straight and easy way
until they came to a city to live in.
Let them thank the LORD for his enduring love
and for the marvellous things he has done for men:
he has satisfied the thirsty
and filled the hungry with good things.
Some sat in darkness, dark as death,
prisoners bound fast in iron,
because they had rebelled against God's commands
and flouted the purpose of the Most High.
Their spirit was subdued by hard labour;
they stumbled and fell with none to help them.
So they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress;
he brought them out of darkness, dark as death,
and broke their chains.
Let them thank the LORD for his enduring love
and for the marvellous thing he has done for men:
he has shattered doors of bronze,
bars of iron he has snapped in two.
Some were fools, they took rebellious ways,
and for their transgression they suffered punishment.
They sickened at the sight of food
and drew near to the very gates of death.
So they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress;
he sent his word to heal them
and bring them alive out of the pit of death.
Let them thank the LORD for his enduring love
and for the marvellous things he has done for men.
Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
and recite his deeds with shouts of joy.
Others there are who go to sea in ships
and make their living on the wide waters.
These men have seen the acts of the LORD
and his marvellous doings in the deep.
At his command the storm-wind rose
and lifted the waves high.
Carried up to heaven, plunged down to the depths,
tossed to and fro in peril,
they reeled and staggered like drunken men,
and their seamanship was all in vain.
So they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
The storm sank to a murmur
and the waves of the sea were stilled.
They were glad then that all was calm,
as he guided them to the harbour they desired.
Let them thank the LORD for his enduring love
and for the marvellous things he has done for men.
Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
and praise him in the council of the elders.
He turns rivers into desert
and springs of water into thirsty ground;
he turns fruitful land into salt waste,
because the men who dwell there are so wicked.
Desert he changes into standing pools,
and parched land into springs of water.
There he gives the hungry a home,
and they build themselves a city to live in;
they sow fields and plant vineyards
and reap a fruitful harvest.
He blesses them and their numbers increase,
and he does not let their herds lose strength.
Tyrants lose their strength and are brought low
in the grip of misfortune and sorrow;
he brings princes into contempt
and leaves them wandering in a trackless waste.
But the poor man he lifts clear out of his troubles
and makes families increase like flocks of sheep.
The upright see it and are glad,
while evildoers are filled with disgust.
Let the wise man lay these things to heart,
and ponder the record of the LORD's enduring love.
108
My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast.
I will sing and raise a psalm;
awake, my spirit,
awake, lute and harp,
I will awake at dawn of day.
I will confess thee, O LORD, among the people,
among the nations I will raise a psalm to thee;
for thy unfailing love is wider than the heavens
and thy truth reaches to the skies.
Show thyself, O God, high above the heavens;
let thy glory shine over all the earth.
Deliver those that are dear to thee;
save with thy right hand and answer.
God has spoken from his sanctuary:
'I will go up now and measure out Shechem;
I will divide the valley of Succoth into plots;
Gilead and Manasseh are mine;
Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my sceptre;
Moab is my washbowl, I fling my shoes at Edom;
Philistia is the target of my anger.'
Who can bring me to the impregnable city,
who can guide me to Edom,
since thou, O God, hast abandoned us
and goest not forth with our armies?
Grant us help against the enemy,
for deliverance by man is a vain hope.
with God's help we shall do valiantly,
and God himself will tread our enemies under foot.
109
O God of my praise, be silent no longer,
for wicked men heap calumnies upon me.
They have lied to my face
and ringed me round with words of hate.
They have attacked me without cause
and accused me though I have done nothing unseemly.
They have repaid me evil for good
and hatred in return for my love.
They say, 'Put up some rascal to denounce him,
an accuser to stand at his right side.'
But when judgement is given, that rascal will be exposed
and his follies accounted a sin.
May his days be few;
may his hoarded wealth fall to another!
May his children be fatherless,
his wife a widow!
May his children be vagabonds and beggars,
driven from their homes!
May the money-lender distrain on all his goods
and strangers seize his earnings!
May none remain loyal to him,
and none have mercy on his fatherless children!
May his line be doomed to extinction,
may their name be wiped out within a generation!
May the sins of his forefathers be remembered
and his mother's wickedness never be wiped out!
May they remain on record before the LORD,
but may he extinguish their name from the earth!
For that man never set himself
to be loyal to his friend
but persecuted the downtrodden and the poor
and hounded the broken-hearted to their death.
Curses he loved: may the curse fall on him!
He took no pleasure in blessing: may no blessing be his!
He clothed himself in cursing like a garment:
may it seep into his body like water
and into his bones like oil!
May it wrap him round like the clothes he puts on,
like the belt which he wears every day!
May the LORD so requite my accusers
and those who speak evil against me!
But thou, O LORD God,
deal with me as befits thy honour;
in the goodness of thy unfailing love deliver me,
for I am downtrodden and poor,
and my heart within me is distracted.
I fade like a passing shadow,
I am shaken off like a locust.
My knees are weak with fasting
and my flesh wastes away, so meagre is my fare.
I have become the victim of their taunts;
when they see me they toss their heads.
Help me, O LORD my God;
save me, by thy unfailing love,
that men may know this is thy doing
and thou alone, O LORD, hast done it.
They may curse, but thou dost bless;
may my opponents be put to shame,
but may thy servant rejoice!
May my accusers be clothed with dishonour,
wrapped in their shame as in a cloak!
I will lift up my voice to extol the LORD,
and before a great company I will praise him.
For he stands at the poor man's right side
to save him from his adversaries.
110
The LORD said to my lord,
'You shall sit at my right hand
when I make your enemies the footstool under your feet.'
When the LORD from Zion hands you the sceptre, the symbol of your power,
march forth through the ranks of your enemies.
At birth you were endowed with princely gifts
and resplendent in holiness.
You have shone with the dew of youth since your mother bore you.
The LORD has sworn and will not change his purpose:
'You are a priest for ever,
in the succession of Melchizedek.'
The LORD at your right hand
has broken kings in the day of his anger.
So the king in his majesty, sovereign of a mighty land,
will punish nations;
he will drink from the torrent beside the path
and therefore will hold his head high.
111
O praise the LORD.
With all my heart will I praise the LORD
in the company of good men, in the whole congregation.
Great are the doings of the LORD;
all men study them for their delight.
His acts are full of majesty and splendour;
righteousness is his for ever.
He has won a name by his marvellous deeds;
the LORD is gracious and compassionate.
He gives food to those who fear him,
he keeps his covenant always in mind.
He showed his people what his strength could do,
bestowing on them the lands of other nations.
His works are truth and justice;
his precepts all stand on firm foundations,
strongly based to endure for ever,
their fabric goodness and truth.
He sent and redeemed his people;
he decreed that his covenant should always endure.
Holy is his name, inspiring awe.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
and they who live by it grow in understanding.
Praise will be his for ever.
112
O praise the LORD.
Happy is the man who fears the LORD
and finds great joy in his commandments.
His descendants shall be the mightiest in the land,
a blessed generation of good men.
His house shall be full of wealth and riches;
righteousness shall be his for ever.
He is gracious, compassionate, good,
a beacon in darkness for honest men.
It is right for a man to be gracious in his lending,
to order his affairs with judgement.
Nothing shall ever shake him;
his goodness shall be remembered for all time.
Bad news shall have no terrors for him,
because his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
His confidence is strongly based, he will have no fear;
and in the end he will gloat over his enemies.
He gives freely to the poor;
righteousness shall be his for ever;
in honour he carries his head high.
The wicked man shall see it with rising anger
and grind his teeth in despair;
the hopes of wicked men shall come to nothing.
113
O praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD, you that are his servants,
praise the name of the LORD.
Blessed be the name of the LORD
now and evermore.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
may the LORD's name be praised.
High is the LORD above all nations,
his glory above the heavens.
There is none like the LORD our God
in heaven or on earth,
who sets his throne so high
but deigns to look down so low;
who lifts the weak out of the dust
and raises the poor from the dunghill,
giving them a place among princes,
among the princes of his people;
who makes the woman in a childless house
a happy mother of children.
114
O praise the LORD.
When Israel came out of Egypt,
Jacob from a people of outlandish speech,
Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
The sea looked and ran away;
Jordan turned back.
The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like young sheep.
What was it, sea? Why did you run?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
Why, mountains, did you skip like rams,
and you, hills, like young sheep?
Dance, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turned the rock into a pool of water,
the granite cliff into a fountain.
115
Not to us, O LORD, not to us,
but to thy name ascribe the glory,
for thy true love and for thy constancy.
Why do the nations ask,
'Where then is their God?'
Our God is in high heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
Their idols are silver and gold,
made by the hands of men.
They have mouths that cannot speak,
and eyes that cannot see;
they have ears that cannot hear,
nostrils, and cannot smell;
with their hands they cannot feel,
with their feet they cannot walk,
and no sound comes from their throats.
Their makers grow to be like them,
and so do all who trust in them.
But Israel trusts in the LORD;
he is their helper and their shield.
The house of Aaron trusts in the LORD;
he is their helper and their shield.
Those who fear the LORD trust in the LORD;
he is their helper and their shield.
The LORD remembers us, and he will bless us;
he will bless the house of Israel,
he will bless the house of Aaron.
The LORD will bless all who fear him,
high and low alike.
May the LORD give you increase,
both you and your sons.
You are blessed by the LORD,
the LORD who made heaven and earth.
The heavens, they are the LORD's;
the earth he has given to all mankind.
It is not the dead who praise the LORD,
not those who go down in silence;
but we, the living, bless the LORD,
now and for evermore.
O praise the LORD.
116
I love the LORD, for he has heard me
and listens to my prayer;
for he has given me a hearing
whenever I have cried to him.
The cords of death bound me,
Sheol held me in its grip.
Anguish and torment held me fast;
so I invoked the LORD by name,
'Deliver me, O LORD, I beseech thee;
for I am thy slave.'
Gracious is the LORD and righteous,
our God is full of compassion.
The LORD preserves the simple-hearted;
I was brought low and he saved me.
Be at rest once more, my heart,
for the LORD has showered gifts upon you.
He has rescued me from death
and my feet from stumbling.
I will walk in the presence of the LORD
in the land of the living.
I was sure that I should be swept away,
and my distress was bitter.
In panic I cried,
'How faithless all men are!'
How can I repay the LORD
for all his gifts to me?
I will take in my hands the cup of salvation
and invoke the LORD by name.
I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.
A precious thing in the LORD's sight
is the death of those who die faithful to him.
I am thy slave, thy slave-girl's son;
thou hast undone the bonds that bound me.
To thee will I bring a thank-offering
and invoke the LORD by name.
I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people,
in the courts of the LORD's house,
in the midst of you, Jerusalem.
O praise the LORD.
117
Praise the LORD, all nations,
extol him, all you peoples;
for his love protecting us is strong,
the LORD's constancy is everlasting.
O praise the LORD.
118
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
for his love endures for ever.
Declare it, house of Israel:
his love endures for ever.
Declare it, house of Aaron:
his love endures for ever.
Declare it, you that fear the LORD:
his love endures for ever.
When in my distress I called to the LORD,
his answer was to set me free.
The LORD is on my side, I have no fear;
what can man do to me?
The LORD is on my side, he is my helper,
and I shall gloat over my enemies.
It is better to find refuge in the LORD
than to trust in men.
It is better to find refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
All nations surround me,
but in the LORD's name I will drive them away,
They surround me on this side and on that,
but in the LORD's name I will drive them away.
They surround me like bees at the honey;
they attack me, as fire ants attack brushwood,
but in the LORD's name I will drive them away.
They thrust hard against me so that I nearly fall;
but the LORD has helped me.
The LORD is my refuge and defence,
and he has become my deliverer.
Hark! Shouts of deliverance
in the camp of the victors!
With his right hand the LORD does mighty deeds,
the right hand of the LORD rises up.
I shall not die but live
to proclaim the works of the LORD.
The LORD did indeed chasten me,
but he did not surrender to Death.
Open to me the gates of victory;
I will enter by them and praise the LORD.
This is the gate of the LORD;
the victors shall make their entry through it.
I will praise thee, for thou hast answered me
and hast become my deliverer.
The stone which the builders rejected
has become the chief corner-stone.
This is the LORD's doing;
it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day on which the LORD has acted:
let us exult and rejoice in it.
We pray thee, O LORD, deliver us;
we pray thee, O LORD, send us prosperity.
Blessed in the name of the LORD are all who come;
we bless you from the house of the LORD.
The LORD is God; he has given light to us,
the ordered line of pilgrims by the horns of the altar.
Thou art my God and I will praise thee;
my God, I will exalt thee.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
for his love endures for ever.
The New English Bible (with Apocrypha)
Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, 1970
Posted Jul 5, 2019, 8:46 PM UTC
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