Psalm 73-83

English Standard Version

⁴ For they have no pangs until death;
    their bodies are fat and sleek.
⁵ They are not in trouble as others are;
    they are not ^(G)stricken like the rest of mankind.
⁶ Therefore pride is ^(H)their necklace;
    violence covers them as ^(I)a garment.
⁷ Their ^(J)eyes swell out through fatness;
    their hearts overflow with follies.
⁸ They scoff and ^(K)speak with malice;
    loftily they threaten oppression.
⁹ They set their mouths against the heavens,
    and their tongue struts through the earth.
¹⁰ Therefore his people turn back to them,
    and find ^(L)no fault in them.^[a]
11 And they say, ^(M)“How can God know?
    Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
¹² Behold, these are the wicked;
    always at ease, they ^(N)increase in riches.
¹³ All in vain have I ^(O)kept my heart clean
    and ^(P)washed my hands in innocence.
¹⁴ For all the day long I have been ^(Q)stricken
    and ^(R)rebuked ^(S)every morning.
¹⁵ If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
    I would have betrayed ^(T)the generation of your children.

¹⁶ But when I thought how to understand this,
    it seemed to me ^(U)a wearisome task,
¹⁷ until I went into ^(V)the sanctuary of God;
    then I discerned their ^(W)end.

¹⁸ Truly you set them in ^(X)slippery places;
    you make them fall to ruin.
¹⁹ How they are destroyed ^(Y)in a moment,
    swept away utterly by ^(Z)terrors!
²⁰ Like ^(AA)a dream when one awakes,
    O Lord, when ^(AB)you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
²¹ When my soul was embittered,
    when I was pricked in heart,
²² I was ^(AC)brutish and ignorant;
    I was like ^(AD)a beast toward you.

²³ Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
    you ^(AE)hold my right hand.
²⁴ You ^(AF)guide me with your counsel,
    and afterward you will ^(AG)receive me to glory.
^25 (AH)Whom have I in heaven but you?
    And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
^26 (AI)My flesh and my heart may fail,
    but God is ^(AJ)the strength^[b] of my heart and my ^(AK)portion ^(AL)forever.

²⁷ For behold, those who are ^(AM)far from you shall perish;
    you put an end to everyone who is ^(AN)unfaithful to you.
²⁸ But for me it is good to ^(AO)be near God;
    I have made the Lord God my ^(AP)refuge,
    that I may ^(AQ)tell of all your works.

⁴ Your foes have ^(BB)roared in the midst of your meeting place;
    ^(BC)they set up their ^(BD)own signs for ^(BE)signs.
⁵ They were like those who swing ^(BF)axes
    in a forest of trees.^[d]
6 And all its ^(BG)carved wood
    they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
⁷ They ^(BH)set your sanctuary on fire;
    they ^(BI)profaned ^(BJ)the dwelling place of your name,
    bringing it down to the ground.
⁸ They ^(BK)said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
    they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.

⁹ We do not see our ^(BL)signs;
    ^(BM)there is no longer any prophet,
    and there is none among us who knows how long.
¹⁰ How long, O God, ^(BN)is the foe to scoff?
    Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
¹¹ Why ^(BO)do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
    Take it from the fold of your garment^[e] and destroy them!

¹² Yet ^(BP)God my King is from of old,
    working salvation in the midst of the earth.
¹³ You ^(BQ)divided the sea by your might;
    you ^(BR)broke the heads of ^(BS)the sea monsters^[f] on the waters.
¹⁴ You crushed the heads of ^(BT)Leviathan;
    you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
¹⁵ You ^(BU)split open springs and brooks;
    you ^(BV)dried up ever-flowing streams.
¹⁶ Yours is the day, yours also the night;
    you have established ^(BW)the heavenly lights and the sun.
¹⁷ You have ^(BX)fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
    you have made ^(BY)summer and winter.

^18 (BZ)Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
    and ^(CA)a foolish people reviles your name.
¹⁹ Do not deliver the soul of your ^(CB)dove to the wild beasts;
    ^(CC)do not forget the life of your poor forever.

²⁰ Have regard for ^(CD)the covenant,
    for ^(CE)the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
²¹ Let not ^(CF)the downtrodden ^(CG)turn back in shame;
    let ^(CH)the poor and needy praise your name.

²² Arise, O God, ^(CI)defend your cause;
    ^(CJ)remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!
²³ Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
    ^(CK)the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!

² “At ^(CO)the set time that I appoint
    I will judge ^(CP)with equity.
³ When the earth ^(CQ)totters, and all its inhabitants,
    it is I who keep steady its ^(CR)pillars. Selah
⁴ I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
    and to the wicked, ^(CS)‘Do not lift up your horn;
⁵ do not lift up your horn on high,
    or speak with haughty neck.’”

⁶ For not from the east or from the west
    and not from the wilderness comes ^(CT)lifting up,
⁷ but it is ^(CU)God who executes judgment,
    ^(CV)putting down one and lifting up another.
^8 (CW)For in the hand of the Lord there is ^(CX)a cup
    with foaming wine, ^(CY)well mixed,
and he pours out from it,
    and all the wicked of the earth
    shall ^(CZ)drain it down to the dregs.

⁹ But I will declare it forever;
    I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
^10 (DA)All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
    ^(DB)but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

⁴ Glorious are you, more majestic
    ^(DJ)than the mountains full of ^(DK)prey.
^5 (DL)The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;
    ^(DM)they sank into sleep;
all the men of war
    were unable to use their hands.
⁶ At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
    both ^(DN)rider and horse lay stunned.

^7 (DO)But you, you are to be feared!
    Who can ^(DP)stand before you
    when once your anger is roused?
⁸ From the heavens you uttered judgment;
    ^(DQ)the earth feared and was still,
⁹ when God ^(DR)arose to establish judgment,
    to save all the humble of the earth. Selah

¹⁰ Surely ^(DS)the wrath of man shall praise you;
    the remnant^[h] of wrath you will put on like a belt.
^11 (DT)Make your vows to the Lord your God and perform them;
    let all around him ^(DU)bring gifts
    to him who ^(DV)is to be feared,
¹² who ^(DW)cuts off the spirit of princes,
    who ^(DX)is to be feared by the kings of the earth.

⁴ You hold my eyelids open;
    I am so ^(EG)troubled that I cannot speak.
⁵ I consider ^(EH)the days of old,
    the years long ago.
⁶ I said,^[i] “Let me remember my ^(EI)song in the night;
    let me ^(EJ)meditate in my heart.”
    Then my spirit made a diligent search:
⁷ “Will the Lord ^(EK)spurn forever,
    and never again ^(EL)be favorable?
⁸ Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
    Are his ^(EM)promises at an end for all time?
^9 (EN)Has God forgotten to be gracious?
    ^(EO)Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah

¹⁰ Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
    to the years of the ^(EP)right hand of the Most High.”^[j]

¹¹ I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
    yes, I will ^(EQ)remember your wonders of old.
¹² I will ponder all your ^(ER)work,
    and meditate on your ^(ES)mighty deeds.
¹³ Your way, O God, is ^(ET)holy.
    ^(EU)What god is great like our God?
¹⁴ You are the God who ^(EV)works wonders;
    you have ^(EW)made known your might among the peoples.
¹⁵ You ^(EX)with your arm redeemed your people,
    the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

¹⁶ When ^(EY)the waters saw you, O God,
    when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
    indeed, the deep trembled.
¹⁷ The clouds poured out water;
    the skies ^(EZ)gave forth thunder;
    your ^(FA)arrows flashed on every side.
^18 (FB)The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    ^(FC)your lightnings lighted up the world;
    the earth ^(FD)trembled and shook.
¹⁹ Your ^(FE)way was through the sea,
    your path through the great waters;
    yet your footprints ^(FF)were unseen.^[k]
20 You ^(FG)led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

⁵ He established ^(FP)a testimony in ^(FQ)Jacob
    and appointed a law in ^(FR)Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
    to teach to their children,
⁶ that ^(FS)the next generation might know them,
    the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
⁷     so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget ^(FT)the works of God,
    but ^(FU)keep his commandments;
⁸ and that they should not be ^(FV)like their fathers,
    ^(FW)a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation ^(FX)whose heart was not steadfast,
    whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁹ The Ephraimites, armed with^[m] the bow,
    ^(FY)turned back on the day of battle.
¹⁰ They ^(FZ)did not keep God's covenant,
    but refused to walk according to his law.
¹¹ They ^(GA)forgot his works
    and ^(GB)the wonders that he had shown them.
¹² In the sight of their fathers ^(GC)he performed wonders
    in the land of Egypt, in ^(GD)the fields of Zoan.
¹³ He ^(GE)divided the sea and let them pass through it,
    and made the waters ^(GF)stand like a heap.
^14 (GG)In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
    and all the night with a fiery light.
¹⁵ He ^(GH)split rocks in the wilderness
    and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
¹⁶ He made streams come out of ^(GI)the rock
    and caused waters to flow down like rivers.

¹⁷ Yet they sinned still more against him,
    ^(GJ)rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
¹⁸ They ^(GK)tested God in their heart
    by demanding the food they craved.
¹⁹ They spoke against God, saying,
    ^(GL)“Can God ^(GM)spread a table in the wilderness?
^20 (GN)He struck the rock so that water gushed out
    and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread
    or provide meat for his people?”

²¹ Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
    ^(GO)a fire was kindled against Jacob;
    his anger rose against Israel,
²² because they ^(GP)did not believe in God
    and did not trust his saving power.
²³ Yet he commanded the skies above
    and ^(GQ)opened the doors of heaven,
²⁴ and he ^(GR)rained down on them manna to eat
    and gave them ^(GS)the grain of heaven.
²⁵ Man ate of the bread of ^(GT)the angels;
    he sent them food ^(GU)in abundance.
²⁶ He ^(GV)caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
    and by his power he led out the south wind;
²⁷ he rained meat on them like ^(GW)dust,
    winged birds like ^(GX)the sand of the seas;
²⁸ he ^(GY)let them fall in the midst of their camp,
    all around their dwellings.
²⁹ And they ^(GZ)ate and were well filled,
    for he gave them what they ^(HA)craved.
³⁰ But before they had satisfied their craving,
    ^(HB)while the food was still in their mouths,
³¹ the anger of God rose against them,
    and he killed ^(HC)the strongest of them
    and laid low ^(HD)the young men of Israel.

³² In spite of all this, they ^(HE)still sinned;
    ^(HF)despite his wonders, they did not believe.
³³ So he made ^(HG)their days ^(HH)vanish like^[n] a breath,^[o]
    and their years in terror.
³⁴ When he killed them, they ^(HI)sought him;
    they repented and sought God earnestly.
³⁵ They remembered that God was their ^(HJ)rock,
    the Most High God their ^(HK)redeemer.
³⁶ But they ^(HL)flattered him with their mouths;
    they ^(HM)lied to him with their tongues.
³⁷ Their ^(HN)heart was not ^(HO)steadfast toward him;
    they were not faithful to his covenant.
³⁸ Yet he, being ^(HP)compassionate,
    ^(HQ)atoned for their iniquity
    and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often
    and did not stir up all his wrath.
³⁹ He ^(HR)remembered that they were but ^(HS)flesh,
    ^(HT)a wind that passes and comes not again.
⁴⁰ How often they ^(HU)rebelled against him in the wilderness
    and ^(HV)grieved him in ^(HW)the desert!
⁴¹ They ^(HX)tested God again and again
    and provoked ^(HY)the Holy One of Israel.
⁴² They ^(HZ)did not remember his power^[p]
    or the day when he redeemed them from the foe,
^43 (IA)when he performed his ^(IB)signs in Egypt
    and his ^(IC)marvels in ^(ID)the fields of Zoan.
⁴⁴ He ^(IE)turned their rivers to blood,
    so that they could not drink of their streams.
⁴⁵ He sent among them swarms of ^(IF)flies, which devoured them,
    and ^(IG)frogs, which destroyed them.
⁴⁶ He gave their crops to ^(IH)the destroying locust
    and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
⁴⁷ He destroyed their vines with ^(II)hail
    and their sycamores with frost.
⁴⁸ He gave over their ^(IJ)cattle to the hail
    and their flocks to thunderbolts.
⁴⁹ He let loose on them his burning anger,
    wrath, indignation, and distress,
    a company of ^(IK)destroying angels.
⁵⁰ He made a path for his anger;
    he did not spare them from death,
    but gave their lives over to the plague.
⁵¹ He struck down every ^(IL)firstborn in Egypt,
    the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of ^(IM)Ham.
⁵² Then he led out his people ^(IN)like sheep
    and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
^53 (IO)He led them in safety, so that they ^(IP)were not afraid,
    but ^(IQ)the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
⁵⁴ And he brought them to his ^(IR)holy land,
    ^(IS)to the mountain which his right hand had ^(IT)won.
⁵⁵ He ^(IU)drove out nations before them;
    he ^(IV)apportioned them for a possession
    and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

⁵⁶ Yet they ^(IW)tested and ^(IX)rebelled against the Most High God
    and did not keep his testimonies,
⁵⁷ but turned away and acted treacherously like their fathers;
    they twisted like ^(IY)a deceitful bow.
⁵⁸ For they ^(IZ)provoked him to anger with their ^(JA)high places;
    they ^(JB)moved him to jealousy with their ^(JC)idols.
⁵⁹ When God heard, he was full of ^(JD)wrath,
    and he utterly rejected Israel.
⁶⁰ He ^(JE)forsook his dwelling at ^(JF)Shiloh,
    the tent where he dwelt among mankind,
⁶¹ and delivered his ^(JG)power to captivity,
    his ^(JH)glory to the hand of the foe.
⁶² He ^(JI)gave his people over to the sword
    and ^(JJ)vented his wrath on his heritage.
^63 (JK)Fire devoured their young men,
    and their young women had no ^(JL)marriage song.
⁶⁴ Their ^(JM)priests fell by the sword,
    and their ^(JN)widows made no lamentation.
⁶⁵ Then the Lord ^(JO)awoke as from sleep,
    like a strong man shouting because of wine.
⁶⁶ And he ^(JP)put his adversaries to rout;
    he put them to everlasting shame.

⁶⁷ He rejected the tent of ^(JQ)Joseph;
    he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
⁶⁸ but he chose the tribe of Judah,
    Mount Zion, which he ^(JR)loves.
⁶⁹ He ^(JS)built his sanctuary like the high heavens,
    like the earth, which he has founded forever.
⁷⁰ He ^(JT)chose David his servant
    and took him from the sheepfolds;
⁷¹ from ^(JU)following the nursing ewes he brought him
    to ^(JV)shepherd Jacob his people,
    Israel his ^(JW)inheritance.
⁷² With ^(JX)upright heart he shepherded them
    and ^(JY)guided them with his skillful hand.

^5 (KK)How long, O Lord? Will you be angry ^(KL)forever?
    Will your ^(KM)jealousy ^(KN)burn like fire?
^6 (KO)Pour out your anger on the nations
    that ^(KP)do not know you,
and on the kingdoms
    that ^(KQ)do not call upon your name!
⁷ For they have devoured Jacob
    and laid waste his habitation.

^8 (KR)Do not remember against us ^(KS)our former iniquities;^[q]
    let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
    for we are ^(KT)brought very low.
^9 (KU)Help us, O God of our salvation,
    for the glory of your name;
deliver us, and ^(KV)atone for our sins,
    for your ^(KW)name's sake!
^10 (KX)Why should the nations say,
    “Where is their God?”
Let ^(KY)the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
    be known among the nations before our eyes!

¹¹ Let ^(KZ)the groans of the prisoners come before you;
    according to your great power, preserve those ^(LA)doomed to die!
¹² Return ^(LB)sevenfold into the ^(LC)lap of our neighbors
    the ^(LD)taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!
¹³ But we your people, the ^(LE)sheep of your pasture,
    will ^(LF)give thanks to you forever;
    from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

^3 (LP)Restore us,^[r] O God;
    ^(LQ)let your face shine, that we may be saved!

⁴ O ^(LR)Lord God of hosts,
    ^(LS)how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?
⁵ You have fed them with ^(LT)the bread of tears
    and given them tears to drink in full measure.
^6 (LU)You make us an object of contention for our ^(LV)neighbors,
    and our enemies laugh among themselves.

^7 (LW)Restore us, O God of hosts;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved!

⁸ You brought ^(LX)a vine out of Egypt;
    you ^(LY)drove out the nations and planted it.
⁹ You ^(LZ)cleared the ground for it;
    it took deep root and filled the land.
¹⁰ The mountains were covered with its shade,
    the mighty cedars with its branches.
¹¹ It sent out its branches to ^(MA)the sea
    and its shoots to ^(MB)the River.^[s]
12 Why then have you ^(MC)broken down its walls,
    so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
^13 (MD)The boar from the forest ravages it,
    and all that move in the field feed on it.

¹⁴ Turn again, O God of hosts!
    ^(ME)Look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
¹⁵     the stock that your right hand planted,
    and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
¹⁶ They have ^(MF)burned it with fire; they have ^(MG)cut it down;
    may they perish at ^(MH)the rebuke of your face!
¹⁷ But ^(MI)let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
    the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
¹⁸ Then we shall not turn back from you;
    ^(MJ)give us life, and we will call upon your name!

^19 (MK)Restore us, O Lord God of hosts!
    Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

⁴ For it is a statute for Israel,
    a rule^[u] of the God of Jacob.
⁵ He made it ^(MT)a decree in ^(MU)Joseph
    when he ^(MV)went out over^[v] the land of Egypt.
^(MW)I hear a language ^(MX)I had not known:
⁶ “I ^(MY)relieved your^[w] shoulder of ^(MZ)the burden;
    your hands were freed from the basket.
⁷ In distress you ^(NA)called, and I delivered you;
    I ^(NB)answered you in the secret place of thunder;
    I ^(NC)tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
^8 (ND)Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
    O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
⁹ There shall be no ^(NE)strange god among you;
    you shall not bow down to a ^(NF)foreign god.
^10 (NG)I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
    ^(NH)Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

¹¹ “But my people did not listen to my voice;
    Israel ^(NI)would not submit to me.
¹² So I ^(NJ)gave them over to their ^(NK)stubborn hearts,
    to follow their own ^(NL)counsels.
^13 (NM)Oh, that my people would listen to me,
    that Israel would ^(NN)walk in my ways!
¹⁴ I would soon subdue their enemies
    and ^(NO)turn my hand against their foes.
¹⁵ Those who hate the Lord would ^(NP)cringe toward him,
    and their fate would last forever.
¹⁶ But he would feed you^[x] with ^(NQ)the finest of the wheat,
    and with ^(NR)honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

^5 (OE)They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
    ^(OF)they walk about in darkness;
    ^(OG)all the foundations of the earth are ^(OH)shaken.

^6 (OI)I said, “You are gods,
    sons of the Most High, all of you;
⁷ nevertheless, like men ^(OJ)you shall die,
    and fall like any prince.”^[y]

^8 (OK)Arise, O God, judge the earth;
    for you shall ^(OL)inherit all the nations!

⁹ Do to them as you did to ^(PE)Midian,
    as to ^(PF)Sisera and Jabin at ^(PG)the river Kishon,
¹⁰ who were destroyed at ^(PH)En-dor,
    who became ^(PI)dung for the ground.
¹¹ Make their nobles like ^(PJ)Oreb and Zeeb,
    all their princes like ^(PK)Zebah and Zalmunna,
¹² who said, ^(PL)“Let us take possession for ourselves
    of the pastures of God.”

¹³ O my God, make them like ^(PM)whirling dust,^[z]
    like ^(PN)chaff before the wind.
¹⁴ As ^(PO)fire consumes the forest,
    as the flame ^(PP)sets the mountains ablaze,
¹⁵ so may you pursue them ^(PQ)with your tempest
    and terrify them with your hurricane!
^16 (PR)Fill their faces with shame,
    that they may seek your name, O Lord.
¹⁷ Let them be ^(PS)put to shame and dismayed forever;
    let them perish in disgrace,
¹⁸ that they may ^(PT)know that you alone,
    ^(PU)whose name is the Lord,
    are ^(PV)the Most High over all the earth.