I will never forget Your precepts,
For by them You have revived me and given me life.

I have seen that all [human] perfection has its limits [no matter how grand and perfect and noble];
Your commandment is exceedingly broad and extends without limits [into eternity].

Mem.
Oh, how I love Your law!
It is my meditation all the day.

How sweet are Your words to my taste,
Sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Consider how I love Your precepts;
Revive me and give me life, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.

In my trouble I cried to the Lord,
And He answered me.

He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber [briefly] nor sleep [soundly].

The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your life.

Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
And as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He is gracious and favorable toward us.

He who goes back and forth weeping, carrying his bag of seed [for planting],
Will indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

It is vain for you to rise early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of anxious labors—
For He gives [blessings] to His beloved even in his sleep.

The Lord is righteous;
He has cut in two the [thick] cords of the wicked [which enslaved the people of Israel].

And He will redeem Israel
From all his sins.

How he swore to the Lord
And vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:

The Lord swore to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“One of your descendants I will set upon your throne.

For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His dwelling place:

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!

It is like the precious oil [of consecration] poured on the head,
Coming down on the beard,
Even the beard of Aaron,
Coming down upon the edge of his [priestly] robes [consecrating the whole body].

It is like the dew of [Mount] Hermon
Coming down on the hills of Zion;
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing: life forevermore.

May the Lord bless you from Zion,
He who made heaven and earth.

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
Sing praises to His name, for it is gracious and lovely.

Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,
In the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all deeps—

For the Lord will judge His people
And He will have compassion on His servants [revealing His mercy].

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness (graciousness, mercy, compassion) endures forever.

How can we sing the Lord’s song
In a strange and foreign land?

O daughter of Babylon, you devastator,
How blessed will be the one
Who repays you [with destruction] as you have repaid us.

How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones
Against the rock.

Though the Lord is exalted,
He regards the lowly [and invites them into His fellowship];
But the proud and haughty He knows from a distance.

Such [infinite] knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high [above me], I cannot reach it.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

As when the one plows and breaks open the ground [and the soil scatters behind him],
Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol [by the injustices of the wicked].

For the enemy has persecuted me,
He has crushed my life down to the ground;
He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have been long dead.

My [steadfast] lovingkindness and my fortress,
My high tower and my rescuer,
My shield and He in whom I take refuge,
Who subdues my people under me.

Who gives salvation to kings,
Who sets David His servant free from the evil sword.

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear and worship Him [with awe-inspired reverence and obedience];
He also will hear their cry and will save them.

The Lord keeps all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.

When his spirit leaves him, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts and plans perish.

How blessed and graciously favored is he whose help is the God of Jacob (Israel),
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,

The Lord protects the strangers;
He supports the fatherless and the widow;
But He makes crooked the way of the wicked.

Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our [gracious and majestic] God;
Praise is becoming and appropriate.

The Lord is building up Jerusalem;
He is gathering [together] the exiles of Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted
And binds up their wounds [healing their pain and comforting their sorrow].

He counts the number of the stars;
He calls them all by their names.

The Lord lifts up the humble;
He casts the wicked down to the ground.

He gives to the beast its food,
And to the young ravens that for which they cry.

He does not delight in the strength (military power) of the horse,
Nor does He take pleasure in the legs (strength) of a man.

For He has strengthened the bars of your gates,
He has blessed your children within you.

He makes peace in your borders;
He satisfies you with the finest of the wheat.

He sends His command to the earth;
His word runs very swiftly.

He gives [to the earth] snow like [a blanket of] wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes.

He casts out His ice like fragments;
Who can stand before His cold?

He sends out His word and melts the ice;
He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.

He declares His word to Jacob,
His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.

He has not dealt this way with any [other] nation;
They have not known [understood, appreciated, heeded, or cherished] His ordinances.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For He commanded and they were created.

He has also established them forever and ever;
He has made a decree which shall not pass away.

He has lifted up a horn for His people [giving them strength, prosperity, dignity, and preeminence],
Praise for all His godly ones;
For the people of Israel, a people near to Him.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the humble with salvation.

Let the high praises of God be in their throats,
And a two-edged sword in their hands,

To execute on them the judgment written.
This is the honor for all His godly ones.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

The wise will hear and increase their learning,
And the person of understanding will acquire wise counsel and the skill [to steer his course wisely and lead others to the truth],

“How long, O naive ones [you who are easily misled], will you love being simple-minded and undiscerning?
How long will scoffers [who ridicule and deride] delight in scoffing,
How long will fools [who obstinately mock truth] hate knowledge?

He stores away sound wisdom for the righteous [those who are in right standing with Him];
He is a shield to those who walk in integrity [those of honorable character and moral courage],

He guards the paths of justice;
And He preserves the way of His saints (believers).

So find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.

In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].

For those whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

The Lord by His wisdom has founded the earth;
By His understanding He has established the heavens.

Do not quarrel with a man without cause,
If he has done you no harm.

The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked,
But He blesses the home of the just and righteous.

Though He scoffs at the scoffers and scorns the scorners,
Yet He gives His grace [His undeserved favor] to the humble [those who give up self-importance].

He taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
Keep my commandments and live.

And you say, “How I hated instruction and discipline,
And my heart despised correction and reproof!

For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the Lord,
And He carefully watches all of his paths [all of his comings and goings].

The iniquities done by a wicked man will trap him,
And he will be held with the cords of his sin.

He will die for lack of instruction (discipline),
And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray and be lost.

How long will you lie down, O lazy one?
When will you arise from your sleep [and learn self-discipline]?

A worthless person, a wicked man,
Is one who walks with a perverse (corrupt, vulgar) mouth.

Who winks with his eyes [in mockery], who shuffles his feet [to signal],
Who points with his fingers [to give subversive instruction];

Who perversely in his heart plots trouble and evil continually;
Who spreads discord and strife.

Therefore [the crushing weight of] his disaster will come suddenly upon him;
Instantly he will be broken, and there will be no healing or remedy [because he has no heart for God].

A false witness who breathes out lies [even half-truths],
And one who spreads discord (rumors) among brothers.

So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife;
Whoever touches her will not be found innocent or go unpunished.

People do not despise a thief if he steals
To satisfy himself when he is hungry;

But when he is found, he must repay seven times [what he stole];
He must give all the property of his house [if necessary to meet his fine].

But whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks common sense and sound judgment and an understanding [of moral principles];
He who would destroy his soul does it.

Wounds and disgrace he will find,
And his reproach (blame) will not be blotted out.

For jealousy enrages the [wronged] husband;
He will not spare [the guilty one] on the day of vengeance.

He will not accept any ransom [offered to buy him off from demanding full punishment];
Nor will he be satisfied though you offer him many gifts (bribes).

Passing through the street near her corner;
And he took the path to her house

“For my husband is not at home.
He has gone on a long journey;

He has taken a bag of money with him,
And he will come home on the appointed day.”

Suddenly he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter [not knowing the outcome],
Or as one in stocks going to the correction [to be given] to a fool,

Until an arrow pierced his liver [with a mortal wound];
Like a bird fluttering straight into the net,
He did not know that it would cost him his life.

While He had not yet made the earth and the fields,
Or the first of the dust of the earth.

“When He established the heavens, I [Wisdom] was there;
When He drew a circle upon the face of the deep,

When He made firm the skies above,
When the fountains and springs of the deep became fixed and strong,

When He set for the sea its boundary
So that the waters would not transgress [the boundaries set by] His command,
When He marked out the foundations of the earth—

“But he who fails to find me or sins against me injures himself;
All those who hate me love and court death.”