The wicked [those who live in disobedience to God’s law] are not so,
But they are like the chaff [worthless and without substance] which the wind blows away.

He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has fallen into the [very] pit which he made [as a trap].

When I see and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have established,

The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made;
In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.

In pride and arrogance the wicked hotly pursue and persecute the afflicted;
Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

“Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.”

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.

For they planned evil against You;
They devised a [malevolent] plot
And they will not succeed.

Let the lying lips be mute,
Which speak insolently and arrogantly against the [consistently] righteous
With pride and contempt.

How great is Your goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who [reverently] fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who take refuge in You,
Before the sons of man!

Do not be like the horse or like the mule which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bridle and rein to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.

Do not worry because of evildoers,
Nor be envious toward wrongdoers;

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonderful works which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of your wonders,
They would be too many to count.

Sacrifice and meal offering You do not desire, nor do You delight in them;
You have opened my ears and given me the capacity to hear [and obey Your word];
Burnt offerings and sin offerings You do not require.

All this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten You,
Nor have we been false to Your covenant [which You made with our fathers].

Against You, You only, have I sinned
And done that which is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak [Your sentence]
And faultless in Your judgment.

Make me hear joy and gladness and be satisfied;
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

So that it does not listen to the voice of charmers,
Or of the skillful enchanter casting [cunning] spells.

Let them flow away like water that runs off;
When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts.

Let them be as a snail which melts away (secretes slime) as it goes along,
Like the miscarriage of a woman which never sees the sun.

For the sin of their mouths and the words of their lips,
Let them even be trapped in their pride,
And on account of the curses and lies which they tell.

You have set up a banner for those who fear You [with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder—a banner to shield them from attack],
A banner that may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.

To You belongs silence [the submissive wonder of reverence], and [it bursts into] praise in Zion, O God;
And to You the vow shall be performed.

Which my lips uttered
And my mouth spoke as a promise when I was in distress.

God makes a home for the lonely;
He leads the prisoners into prosperity,
Only the stubborn and rebellious dwell in a parched land.

Why do you look with envy, mountains with many peaks,
At the mountain [of the city of Zion] which God has desired for His dwelling place?
Yes, the Lord will dwell there forever.

Be to me a rock of refuge and a sheltering stronghold to which I may continually come;
You have given the commandment to save me,
For You are my rock and my fortress.

My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You,
And my soul, which You have redeemed.

Like a dream [which seems real] until one awakens,
O Lord, when stirred, [You observe the wicked], You will despise their image.

Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance;
Remember Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.

Do not forget the [clamoring] voices of Your adversaries,
The uproar of those who rise against You, which ascends continually [to Your ears].

Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.

He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them,
And frogs which destroyed them.

So He brought them to His holy land,
To this mountain [Zion] which His right hand had acquired.

So that He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh,
The tent in which He had dwelled among men,

Moreover, He rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim [in which the tabernacle stood].

But He chose the tribe of Judah [as Israel’s leader],
Mount Zion, which He loved [to replace Shiloh as His capital].

And He built His sanctuary [exalted] like the heights [of the heavens],
Like the earth which He has established forever.

So David shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart;
And guided them with his skillful hands.

How long, O Lord? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your jealousy [which cannot endure a divided allegiance] burn like fire?

Why should the [Gentile] nations say, “Where is their God?”
Let there be known [without delay] among the nations in our sight [and to this generation],
Your vengeance for the blood of Your servants which has been poured out.

And return into the lap of our neighbors sevenfold
The taunts with which they have taunted You, O Lord.

Even the stock which Your right hand has planted,
And [look down on] the son that You have reared and strengthened for Yourself.

The rulers do not know nor do they understand;
They walk on in the darkness [of complacent satisfaction];
All the foundations of the earth [the fundamental principles of the administration of justice] are shaken.

You have withdrawn all Your wrath,
You have turned away from Your burning anger.

Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way [in which to walk].

The Lord loves the gates of Zion
More than all the dwellings of Jacob (Israel).

“Once [for all] I have sworn by My holiness, [My vow which cannot be violated];
I will not lie to David.

O Lord, where are Your former lovingkindnesses [so abundant in the days of David and Solomon],
Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?

With which Your enemies have taunted, O Lord,
With which they have mocked the footsteps of Your anointed.

You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep [forgotten as soon as they are gone];
In the morning they are like grass which grows anew—

You have placed our wickedness before you,
Our secret sins [which we tried to conceal, You have placed] in the [revealing] light of Your presence.

Make us glad in proportion to the days You have afflicted us,
And the years we have suffered evil.

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all the things it contains;

Light is sown [like seed] for the righteous and illuminates their path,
And [irrepressible] joy [is spread] for the upright in heart [who delight in His favor and protection].

For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And have mingled my drink with tears

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
To the place which You established for them.

You set a boundary [for the waters] that they may not cross over,
So that they will not return to cover the earth.

The trees of the Lord drink their fill,
The cedars of Lebanon which He has planted,

You [O Lord] make darkness and it becomes night,
In which prowls about every wild beast of the forest.

There is the sea, great and broad,
In which are swarms without number,
Creatures both small and great.

There the ships [of the sea] sail,
And Leviathan [the sea monster], which You have formed to play there.

Remember [with awe and gratitude] the wonderful things which He has done,
His amazing deeds and the judgments uttered by His mouth [on His enemies, as in Egypt],

He has remembered His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded and established to a thousand generations,

The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His sworn oath to Isaac,

Which He confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,

And served their idols,
Which became a [dreadful] snare to them.

For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind,
Which lifted up the waves of the sea.

And sow fields and plant vineyards,
And produce an abundant harvest.

God has spoken in His holiness:
“I will rejoice, I will portion out Shechem [as I divide Canaan among My people],
And measure out the Valley of Succoth.

Let it be to him as a robe with which he covers himself,
And as a sash with which he is constantly bound.

The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief corner stone.

This [day in which God has saved me] is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Establish Your word and confirm Your promise to Your servant,
As that which produces [awe-inspired] reverence for You.

Turn away my reproach which I dread,
For Your ordinances are good.

For I shall delight in Your commandments,
Which I love.

And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments,
Which I love;
And I will meditate on Your statutes.

Zayin.
Remember [always] the word and promise to Your servant,
In which You have made me hope.

For I have become like a wineskin [blackened and shriveled] in the smoke [in which it hangs],
Yet I do not forget Your statutes.

How many are the days of Your servant [which he must endure]?
When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?

Jerusalem, that is built
As a city that is firmly joined together;

To which the [twelve] tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord,
[As was decreed as] an ordinance for Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.

Those who trust in and rely on the Lord [with confident expectation]
Are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but remains forever.

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

Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
Which withers before it grows up,

With which the reaper does not fill his hand,
Nor the binder of sheaves his arms,

All the kings of the land will give thanks and praise You, O Lord,
When they have heard of the promises of Your mouth [which were fulfilled].

The Lord will accomplish that which concerns me;
Your [unwavering] lovingkindness, O Lord, endures forever—
Do not abandon the works of Your own hands.

“Let burning coals fall upon them;
Let them be thrown into the fire,
Into deep [water] pits from which they cannot rise.

Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me,
And from the snares of those who do evil.

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

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

Let the godly ones exult in glory;
Let them sing for joy on their beds.