To the Overseer. -- 'Destroy not.' -- A Psalm of Asaph. -- A Song. We have given thanks to Thee, O God, We have given thanks, and near is Thy name, They have recounted Thy wonders.

Spoiled themselves have the mighty of heart, They have slept their sleep, And none of the men of might found their hands.

Vow and complete to Jehovah your God, All ye surrounding him. They bring presents to the Fearful One.

The waters have seen Thee, O God, The waters have seen Thee, They are afraid -- also depths are troubled.

And they are not like their fathers, A generation apostate and rebellious, A generation! it hath not prepared its heart, Nor stedfast with God is its spirit.

They have not kept the covenant of God, And in His law they have refused to walk,

And they forget His doings, And His wonders that He shewed them.

And they add still to sin against Him, To provoke the Most High in the dry place.

And they try God in their heart, To ask food for their lust.

And they speak against God -- they said: 'Is God able to array a table in a wilderness?'

For they have not believed in God, Nor have they trusted in His salvation.

And they eat, and are greatly satisfied, And their desire He bringeth to them.

They have not been estranged from their desire, Yet is their food in their mouth,

With all this they have sinned again, And have not believed in His wonders.

If He slew them, then they sought Him, And turned back, and sought God earnestly,

And they remember that God is their rock, And God Most High their redeemer.

And -- they deceive Him with their mouth, And with their tongue do lie to Him,

And their heart hath not been right with Him, And they have not been stedfast in His covenant.

And He remembereth that they are flesh, A wind going on -- and it returneth not.

How often do they provoke Him in the wilderness, Grieve Him in the desolate place?

Yea, they turn back, and try God, And the Holy One of Israel have limited.

They have not remembered His hand The day He ransomed them from the adversary.

And He turneth to blood their streams, And their floods they drink not.

And He leadeth them confidently, And they have not been afraid, And their enemies hath the sea covered.

And they tempt and provoke God Most High, And His testimonies have not kept.

And they turn back, And deal treacherously like their fathers, They have been turned like a deceitful bow,

A Psalm of Asaph. O God, nations have come into Thy inheritance, They have defiled Thy holy temple, They made Jerusalem become heaps,

They gave the dead bodies of Thy servants Food for the fowls of the heavens, The flesh of Thy saints For the wild beast of the earth.

They have shed their blood As water round about Jerusalem, And there is none burying.

For one hath devoured Jacob, And his habitation they have made desolate.

And turn Thou back to our neighbours, Sevenfold unto their bosom, their reproach, Wherewith they reproached Thee, O Lord.

Burnt with fire -- cut down, From the rebuke of Thy face they perish.

And I send them away in the enmity of their heart, They walk in their own counsels.

They knew not, nor do they understand, In darkness they walk habitually, Moved are all the foundations of earth.

Against Thy people they take crafty counsel, And consult against Thy hidden ones.

They have said, 'Come, And we cut them off from being a nation, And the name of Israel is not remembered any more.'

For they consulted in heart together, Against Thee a covenant they make,

Asshur also is joined with them, They have been an arm to sons of Lot. Selah.

They were destroyed at Endor, They were dung for the ground!

Fill their faces with shame, And they seek Thy name, O Jehovah.

They are ashamed and troubled for ever, Yea, they are confounded and lost.

And they know that Thou -- (Thy name is Jehovah -- by Thyself,) Art the Most High over all the earth!

O the happiness of those inhabiting Thy house, Yet do they praise Thee. Selah.

They go from strength unto strength, He appeareth unto God in Zion.

I hear what God Jehovah speaketh, For He speaketh peace unto His people, And unto His saints, and they turn not back to folly.

Among the dead -- free, As pierced ones lying in the grave, Whom Thou hast not remembered any more, Yea, they by Thy hand have been cut off.

To the dead dost Thou do wonders? Do Rephaim rise? do they thank Thee? Selah.

They have surrounded me as waters all the day, They have gone round against me together,

O the happiness of the people knowing the shout, O Jehovah, in the light of Thy face they walk habitually.

In Thy name they rejoice all the day, And in Thy righteousness they are exalted,

If My statutes they pollute, And My commands do not keep,

Wherewith Thine enemies reproached, O Jehovah, Wherewith they have reproached The steps of Thine anointed.

Thou hast inundated them, they are asleep, In the morning as grass he changeth.

On the hands they bear thee up, Lest thou smite against a stone thy foot.

Still they bring forth in old age, Fat and flourishing are they,

They utter -- they speak an old saw, All working iniquity do boast themselves.

Thy people, O Jehovah, they bruise, And Thine inheritance they afflict.

Widow and sojourner they slay, And fatherless ones they murder.

And they say, 'Jehovah doth not see, And the God of Jacob doth not consider.'

He knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.

They decree against the soul of the righteous, And innocent blood declare wicked.

Forty years I am weary of the generation, And I say, 'A people erring in heart -- they! And they have not known My ways:'

Where I sware in Mine anger, 'If they come in unto My rest !'

They praise Thy name, 'Great, and fearful, holy it is.'

Moses and Aaron among His priests, And Samuel among those proclaiming His name. They are calling unto Jehovah, And He doth answer them.

In a pillar of cloud He speaketh unto them, They have kept His testimonies, And the statute He hath given to them.

For Thy servants have been pleased with her stones, And her dust they favour.

They -- They perish, and Thou remainest, And all of them as a garment become old, As clothing Thou changest them, And they are changed.

From Thy rebuke they flee, From the voice of Thy thunder haste away.

They go up hills -- they go down valleys, Unto a place Thou hast founded for them.

A border Thou hast set, they pass not over, They turn not back to cover the earth.

Who is sending forth fountains in valleys, Between hills they go on.

They water every beast of the field, Wild asses break their thirst.

By them the fowl of the heavens doth dwell, From between the branches They give forth the voice.

The sun riseth, they are gathered, And in their dens they crouch.

Thou dost give to them -- they gather, Thou dost open Thy hand -- they are satisfied with good.

Thou hidest Thy face -- they are troubled, Thou gatherest their spirit -- they expire, And unto their dust they turn back.

Thou sendest out Thy Spirit, they are created, And Thou renewest the face of the ground.

Who is looking to earth, and it trembleth, He cometh against hills, and they smoke.

And they go up and down, from nation unto nation, From a kingdom unto another people.

They have afflicted with fetters his feet, Iron hath entered his soul,

They have set among them the matters of His signs, And wonders in the land of Ham.

He hath sent darkness, and it is dark, And they have not provoked His word.

They have asked, and He bringeth quails, And with bread of heaven satisfieth them.

He hath opened a rock, and waters issue, They have gone on in dry places -- a river.

And He giveth to them the lands of nations, And the labour of peoples they possess,

That they may observe His statutes, And His laws may keep. Praise ye Jehovah!

Our fathers in Egypt, Have not considered wisely Thy wonders, They have not remembered The abundance of Thy kind acts, And provoke by the sea, at the sea of Suph.

And they believe in His words, they sing His praise,

They have hasted -- forgotten His works, They have not waited for His counsel.

And they lust greatly in a wilderness, And try God in a desert.

And they are envious of Moses in the camp, Of Aaron, Jehovah's holy one.

They make a calf in Horeb, And bow themselves to a molten image,

They have forgotten God their saviour, The doer of great things in Egypt,

And they kick against the desirable land, They have not given credence to His word.

And they murmur in their tents, They have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah.

And they are coupled to Baal-Peor, And eat the sacrifices of the dead,

And they provoke to anger by their actions, And a plague breaketh forth upon them,

And they cause wrath by the waters of Meribah, And it is evil to Moses for their sakes,

For they have provoked his spirit, And he speaketh wrongfully with his lips.