Happy is the man who does not go in the company of sinners, or take his place in the way of evil-doers, or in the seat of those who do not give honour to the Lord.

But whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and whose mind is on his law day and night.

He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which gives its fruit at the right time, whose leaves will ever be green; and he will do well in all his undertakings.

Because the Lord sees the way of the upright, but the end of the sinner is destruction.

Why are the nations so violently moved, and why are the thoughts of the people so foolish?

The kings of the earth have taken their place, and the rulers are fixed in their purpose, against the Lord, and against the king of his selection, saying,

Let their chains be broken, and their cords taken from off us.

Then he whose seat is in the heavens will be laughing: the Lord will make sport of them.

But I have put my king on my holy hill of Zion.

Make your request to me, and I will give you the nations for your heritage, and the farthest limits of the earth will be under your hand.

They will be ruled by you with a rod of iron; they will be broken like a potter's vessel.

So now be wise, you kings: take his teaching, you judges of the earth.

Give answer to my cry, O God of my righteousness; make me free from my troubles; have mercy on me, and give ear to my prayer.

O you sons of men, how long will you go on turning my glory into shame? how long will you give your love to foolish things, going after what is false? (Selah.)

Give the offerings of righteousness, and put your faith in the Lord.

There are numbers who say, Who will do us any good? the light of his face has gone from us.

Let the voice of my cry come to you, my King and my God; for to you will I make my prayer.

The sons of pride have no place before you; you are a hater of all workers of evil.

You will send destruction on those whose words are false; the cruel man and the man of deceit are hated by the Lord.

But as for me, I will come into your house, in the full measure of your mercy; and in your fear I will give worship, turning my eyes to your holy Temple.

Be my guide, O Lord, in the ways of your righteousness, because of those who are against me; make your way straight before my face.

For no faith may be put in their words; their inner part is nothing but evil; their throat is like an open place for the dead; smooth are the words of their tongues.

Send them to destruction, O Lord; let their evil designs be the cause of their fall; let them be forced out by all their sins; because they have gone against your authority.

But let all those who put their faith in you be glad with cries of joy at all times, and let all the lovers of your name be glad in you.

O Lord, do not be bitter with me in your wrath; do not send punishment on me in the heat of your passion.

Come back, O Lord, make my soul free; O give me salvation because of your mercy.

For in death there is no memory of you; in the underworld who will give you praise?

The voice of my sorrow is a weariness to me; all the night I make my bed wet with weeping; it is watered by the drops flowing from my eyes.

My eyes are wasting away with trouble; they are becoming old because of all those who are against me.

Go from me, all you workers of evil; for the Lord has given ear to the voice of my weeping.

O Lord my God, I put my faith in you; take me out of the hands of him who is cruel to me, and make me free;

O Lord my God, if I have done this; if my hands have done any wrong;

If I have given back evil to him who did evil to me, or have taken anything from him who was against me without cause;

The meeting of the nations will be round you; take your seat, then, over them, on high.

The Lord will be judge of the peoples; give a decision for me, O Lord, because of my righteousness, and let my virtue have its reward.

O let the evil of the evil-doer come to an end, but give strength to the upright: for men's minds and hearts are tested by the God of righteousness.

God, who is the saviour of the upright in heart, is my breastplate.

God is the judge of the upright, and is angry with the evil-doers every day.

If a man is not turned from his evil, he will make his sword sharp; his bow is bent and ready.

He has made ready for him the instruments of death; he makes his arrows flames of fire.

That man is a worker of evil; the seed of wrongdoing has given birth to deceit.

I will give praise to the Lord for his righteousness; I will make a song to the name of the Lord Most High.

You have made clear your strength even out of the mouths of babies at the breast, because of those who are against you; so that you may put to shame the cruel and violent man.

When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have put in their places;

What is man, that you keep him in mind? the son of man, that you take him into account?

You have made him ruler over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet;

All sheep and oxen, and all the beasts of the field;

The birds of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatever goes through the deep waters of the seas.

I will give you praise, O Lord, with all my heart; I will make clear all the wonder of your works.

I will be glad and have delight in you: I will make a song of praise to your name, O Most High.

You have given their towns to destruction; the memory of them has gone; they have become waste for ever.

And he will be the judge of the world in righteousness, giving true decisions for the peoples.

The Lord will be a high tower for those who are crushed down, a high tower in times of trouble;

And those who have knowledge of your name will put their faith in you; because you, Lord, have ever given your help to those who were waiting for you.

Make songs of praise to the Lord, whose house is in Zion: make his doings clear to the people.

When he makes search for blood, he has them in his memory: he is not without thought for the cry of the poor.

Have mercy on me, O Lord, and see how I am troubled by my haters; let me be lifted up from the doors of death;

So that I may make clear all your praise in the house of the daughter of Zion: I will be glad because of your salvation.

The Lord has given knowledge of himself through his judging: the evil-doer is taken in the net which his hands had made. (Higgaion. Selah.)

The sinners and all the nations who have no memory of God will be turned into the underworld.

For the poor will not be without help; the hopes of those in need will not be crushed for ever.

Why do you keep far away, O Lord? why are you not to be seen in times of trouble?

The evil-doer in his pride is cruel to the poor; let him be taken by the tricks of his invention.

For the evil-doer is lifted up because of the purpose of his heart, and he whose mind is fixed on wealth is turned away from the Lord, saying evil against him.

His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and false words: under his tongue are evil purposes and dark thoughts.

He is waiting in the dark places of the towns: in the secret places he puts to death those who have done no wrong: his eyes are secretly turned against the poor.

He says in his heart, God has no memory of me: his face is turned away; he will never see it.

Why has the evil-doer a low opinion of God, saying in his heart, You will not make search for it?

You have seen it; for your eyes are on sorrow and grief, to take it into your hand: the poor man puts his faith in you; you have been the helper of the child who has no father.

Let the arm of the sinner and the evil-doer be broken; go on searching for his sin till there is no more.

Lord, you have given ear to the prayer of the poor: you will make strong their hearts, you will give them a hearing:

To give decision for the child without a father and for the broken-hearted, so that the man of the earth may no longer be feared.

See, the bows of the evil-doers are bent, they make ready their arrows on the cord, so that they may send them secretly against the upright in heart.

If the bases are broken down, what is the upright man to do?

The Lord is in his holy Temple, the Lord's seat is in heaven; his eyes are watching and testing the children of men.

The Lord puts the upright and the sinner to the test, but he has hate in his soul for the lover of violent acts.

For the Lord is upright; he is a lover of righteousness: the upright will see his face.

Send help, Lord, for mercy has come to an end; there is no more faith among the children of men.

Everyone says false words to his neighbour: their tongues are smooth in their talk, and their hearts are full of deceit.

The smooth lips and the tongue of pride will be cut off by the Lord.

Because of the crushing of the poor and the weeping of those in need, now will I come to his help, says the Lord; I will give him the salvation which he is desiring.

The words of the Lord are true words: like silver tested by fire and burned clean seven times.

The sinners are walking on every side, and evil is honoured among the children of men.

Will you for ever put me out of your memory, O Lord? will your face for ever be turned away from me?

Let my voice come before you, and give me an answer, O Lord my God; let your light be shining on me, so that the sleep of death may not overtake me;

The Lord was looking down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who had wisdom, searching after God.

They have all gone out of the way together; they are unclean, there is not one who does good, no, not one.

Have all the workers of evil no knowledge? they take my people for food as they would take bread; they make no prayer to the Lord.

Then were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the upright.

You have put to shame the thoughts of the poor, but the Lord is his support.

May the salvation of Israel come out of Zion! when the fate of his people is changed by the Lord, Jacob will have joy and Israel will be glad.

The Lord is my heritage and the wine of my cup; you are the supporter of my right.

Because of this my heart is glad, and my glory is full of joy: while my flesh takes its rest in hope.

For you will not let my soul be prisoned in the underworld; you will not let your loved one see the place of death.

You will make clear to me the way of life; where you are joy is complete; in your right hand there are pleasures for ever and ever.

The Lord is my Rock, my walled town, and my saviour; my God, my Rock, in him will I put my faith; my breastplate, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

The cords of death were round me, and the seas of evil put me in fear.

The cords of hell were round me: the nets of death came on me.

Then trouble and shock came on the earth; and the bases of the mountains were moved and shaking, because he was angry.

There went up a smoke from his nose, and a fire of destruction from his mouth: flames were lighted by it.