Psalm 3-17

English Standard Version

³ But you, O Lord, are ^(E)a shield ^(F)about me,
    my glory, and ^(G)the lifter of my head.
⁴ I ^(H)cried aloud to the Lord,
    and he ^(I)answered me from his ^(J)holy hill. Selah

⁵ I ^(K)lay down and slept;
    I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
⁶ I ^(L)will not be afraid of many thousands of people
    who have ^(M)set themselves against me all around.

^7 (N)Arise, O Lord!
    Save me, O my God!
For you ^(O)strike all my enemies on the cheek;
    you ^(P)break the teeth of the wicked.

^8 (Q)Salvation belongs to the Lord;
    your blessing be on your people! Selah

² O men,^[b] how long shall my honor be turned into shame?
    How long will you love vain words and seek after ^(V)lies? Selah
³ But know that the Lord has ^(W)set apart ^(X)the godly for himself;
    the Lord hears when I call to him.

^4 (Y)Be angry,^[c] and do not sin;
    ^(Z)ponder in your own hearts ^(AA)on your beds, and be silent. Selah
⁵ Offer ^(AB)right sacrifices,
    and put your ^(AC)trust in the Lord.

⁶ There are many who say, “Who will show us some good?
    ^(AD)Lift up ^(AE)the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”
⁷ You have put ^(AF)more joy in my heart
    than they have when their grain and wine abound.

⁸ In peace I will both ^(AG)lie down and sleep;
    for you alone, O Lord, make me ^(AH)dwell in safety.

⁴ For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
    evil may not dwell with you.
⁵ The ^(AN)boastful shall not ^(AO)stand before your eyes;
    you ^(AP)hate all evildoers.
⁶ You destroy those who speak ^(AQ)lies;
    the Lord abhors ^(AR)the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

⁷ But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
    will enter your house.
I will ^(AS)bow down ^(AT)toward your ^(AU)holy temple
    in the fear of you.
^8 (AV)Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies;
    ^(AW)make your way straight before me.

⁹ For there is no truth in their mouth;
    their inmost self is ^(AX)destruction;
^(AY)their throat is ^(AZ)an open grave;
    they ^(BA)flatter with their tongue.
^10 (BB)Make them bear their guilt, O God;
    let them ^(BC)fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
    for they have rebelled against you.

¹¹ But let all who ^(BD)take refuge in you ^(BE)rejoice;
    let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may ^(BF)exult in you.
¹² For you ^(BG)bless the righteous, O Lord;
    you ^(BH)cover him with favor as with ^(BI)a shield.

⁴ Turn, O Lord, deliver my life;
    save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
⁵ For in ^(BQ)death there is no remembrance of you;
    in Sheol who will give you praise?

⁶ I am ^(BR)weary with my ^(BS)moaning;
    every night I flood my bed with tears;
    I drench my couch with my weeping.
⁷ My ^(BT)eye wastes away because of grief;
    it grows weak because of all my foes.

^8 (BU)Depart from me, all you ^(BV)workers of evil,
    for the Lord ^(BW)has heard the sound of my weeping.
⁹ The Lord has heard my ^(BX)plea;
    the Lord accepts my prayer.
¹⁰ All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled;
    they shall ^(BY)turn back and be put to shame in a moment.

³ O Lord my God, ^(CE)if I have done this,
    if there is ^(CF)wrong in my hands,
⁴ if I have repaid ^(CG)my friend^[g] with evil
    or ^(CH)plundered my enemy without cause,
⁵ let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
    and let him ^(CI)trample my life to the ground
    and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

^6 (CJ)Arise, O Lord, in your anger;
    ^(CK)lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
    ^(CL)awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
⁷ Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
    over it return on high.

⁸ The Lord ^(CM)judges the peoples;
    ^(CN)judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
    and according to the integrity that is in me.
⁹ Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
    and may you establish the righteous—
you who ^(CO)test ^(CP)the minds and hearts,^[h]
    O righteous God!
¹⁰ My shield is ^(CQ)with God,
    who saves ^(CR)the upright in heart.
¹¹ God is ^(CS)a righteous judge,
    and a God who feels ^(CT)indignation every day.

¹² If a man^[i] does not repent, God^[j] will ^(CU)whet his sword;
    he has ^(CV)bent and ^(CW)readied his bow;
¹³ he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
    making his ^(CX)arrows ^(CY)fiery shafts.
¹⁴ Behold, the wicked man ^(CZ)conceives evil
    and is ^(DA)pregnant with mischief
    and gives birth to lies.
¹⁵ He makes ^(DB)a pit, digging it out,
    and falls into the hole that he has made.
¹⁶ His ^(DC)mischief returns upon his own head,
    and on his own skull his violence descends.

¹⁷ I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
    and I will ^(DD)sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

³ When I ^(DK)look at your heavens, the work of your ^(DL)fingers,
    the moon and the stars, ^(DM)which you have set in place,
^4 (DN)what is man that you are ^(DO)mindful of him,
    and ^(DP)the son of man that you ^(DQ)care for him?

⁵ Yet you have made him a little lower than ^(DR)the heavenly beings^[l]
    and crowned him with ^(DS)glory and honor.
⁶ You have given him ^(DT)dominion over the works of your hands;
    ^(DU)you have put all things under his feet,
⁷ all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
⁸ the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

⁹ O Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

³ When my enemies turn back,
    they stumble and perish before^[o] your presence.
⁴ For you have ^(DZ)maintained my just cause;
    you have ^(EA)sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

⁵ You have ^(EB)rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
    you have ^(EC)blotted out their name forever and ever.
⁶ The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
    their cities you rooted out;
    the very memory of them has perished.

⁷ But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
    he has established his throne for justice,
⁸ and he ^(ED)judges the world with righteousness;
    he ^(EE)judges the peoples with uprightness.

⁹ The Lord is ^(EF)a stronghold for ^(EG)the oppressed,
    a stronghold in ^(EH)times of trouble.
¹⁰ And those who ^(EI)know your name put their trust in you,
    for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

¹¹ Sing praises to the Lord, who ^(EJ)sits enthroned in Zion!
    Tell among the peoples his ^(EK)deeds!
¹² For he who ^(EL)avenges blood is mindful of them;
    he ^(EM)does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

^13 (EN)Be gracious to me, O Lord!
    See my affliction from those who hate me,
    O you who lift me up from ^(EO)the gates of death,
¹⁴ that I may recount all your praises,
    that in the gates of ^(EP)the daughter of Zion
    I may ^(EQ)rejoice in your salvation.

¹⁵ The nations have sunk in ^(ER)the pit that they made;
    in ^(ES)the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
¹⁶ The Lord has made himself ^(ET)known; he has executed judgment;
    the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion.^[p] Selah

¹⁷ The wicked shall ^(EU)return to Sheol,
    all the nations that ^(EV)forget God.

¹⁸ For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
    and ^(EW)the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

^19 (EX)Arise, O Lord! Let not ^(EY)man prevail;
    let the nations be judged before you!
²⁰ Put them in fear, O Lord!
    Let the nations know that they are but ^(EZ)men! Selah

² In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;
    let them ^(FD)be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
³ For the wicked ^(FE)boasts of the desires of his soul,
    and the one greedy for gain ^(FF)curses^[q] and ^(FG)renounces the Lord.
⁴ In the pride of his face^[r] the wicked does not ^(FH)seek him;^[s]
    all his thoughts are, ^(FI)“There is no God.”
⁵ His ways prosper at all times;
    your judgments are on high, ^(FJ)out of his sight;
    as for all his foes, he ^(FK)puffs at them.
⁶ He ^(FL)says in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
    throughout all generations I ^(FM)shall not meet adversity.”
^7 (FN)His mouth is filled with cursing and ^(FO)deceit and ^(FP)oppression;
    ^(FQ)under his tongue are ^(FR)mischief and ^(FS)iniquity.
⁸ He sits in ambush in the villages;
    in ^(FT)hiding places he murders the innocent.
His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
⁹     he lurks in ambush like ^(FU)a lion in his ^(FV)thicket;
he ^(FW)lurks that he may seize the poor;
    he seizes the poor when he draws him into his ^(FX)net.
¹⁰ The helpless are crushed, sink down,
    and fall by his might.
¹¹ He says in his heart, “God has forgotten,
    he has ^(FY)hidden his face, he ^(FZ)will never see it.”

^12 (GA)Arise, O Lord; O God, ^(GB)lift up your hand;
    ^(GC)forget not the afflicted.
¹³ Why does the wicked ^(GD)renounce God
    and say in his heart, “You will not ^(GE)call to account”?
¹⁴ But you do see, for you ^(GF)note mischief and vexation,
    that you may take it into your hands;
to you the helpless ^(GG)commits himself;
    you have been ^(GH)the helper of the fatherless.
^15 (GI)Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
    ^(GJ)call his wickedness to account till you find none.

^16 (GK)The Lord is king forever and ever;
    the ^(GL)nations perish from his land.
¹⁷ O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you will ^(GM)strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
¹⁸ to ^(GN)do justice to the fatherless and ^(GO)the oppressed,
    so that ^(GP)man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

^4 (GU)The Lord is in his holy temple;
    the Lord's ^(GV)throne is in heaven;
    his eyes see, his eyelids ^(GW)test the children of man.
⁵ The Lord ^(GX)tests the righteous,
    but ^(GY)his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
⁶ Let him rain coals on the wicked;
    ^(GZ)fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be ^(HA)the portion of their cup.
⁷ For the Lord is righteous;
he ^(HB)loves righteous deeds;
    ^(HC)the upright shall behold his face.

³ May the Lord cut off all ^(HH)flattering lips,
    the tongue that makes ^(HI)great boasts,
⁴ those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
    our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

⁵ “Because ^(HJ)the poor are plundered, because the needy groan,
    ^(HK)I will now arise,” says the Lord;
    “I will place him in the ^(HL)safety for which he longs.”
^6 (HM)The words of the Lord are pure words,
    like silver refined in a furnace on the ground,
    purified seven times.

⁷ You, O Lord, will keep them;
    you will guard us^[v] from this generation forever.
⁸ On every side the wicked prowl,
    as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

^3 (HR)Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
    ^(HS)light up my eyes, lest ^(HT)I sleep the sleep of death,
^4 (HU)lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”
    lest my foes rejoice because I am ^(HV)shaken.

⁵ But I have ^(HW)trusted in your steadfast love;
    my heart shall ^(HX)rejoice in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing to the Lord,
    because he has dealt bountifully with me.

² The Lord ^(ID)looks down from heaven on the children of man,
    to see if there are any who understand,^[w]
    who ^(IE)seek after God.

³ They have all turned aside; together they have become ^(IF)corrupt;
    there is none who does good,
    not even one.

⁴ Have they no ^(IG)knowledge, all the evildoers
    who ^(IH)eat up my people as they eat bread
    and ^(II)do not call upon the Lord?

⁵ There they are in great terror,
    for God is with ^(IJ)the generation of the righteous.
⁶ You would shame the plans of the poor,
    but^[x] the Lord is his ^(IK)refuge.

⁷ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When the Lord ^(IL)restores the fortunes of his people,
    let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

² He who ^(IP)walks blamelessly and ^(IQ)does what is right
    and ^(IR)speaks truth in his heart;
³ who ^(IS)does not slander with his tongue
    and does no evil to his neighbor,
    nor ^(IT)takes up a reproach against his friend;
^4 (IU)in whose eyes a vile person is despised,
    but who honors those who fear the Lord;
who ^(IV)swears to his own hurt and does not change;
⁵ who ^(IW)does not put out his money at interest
    and ^(IX)does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things shall never be ^(IY)moved.

³ As for ^(JC)the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,
    in whom is all my delight.^[z]

⁴ The sorrows of those who run after^[aa] another god shall multiply;
    their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
    or ^(JD)take their names on my lips.

⁵ The Lord is ^(JE)my chosen portion and my ^(JF)cup;
    you hold my ^(JG)lot.
^6 (JH)The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

⁷ I bless the Lord who ^(JI)gives me counsel;
    in ^(JJ)the night also my ^(JK)heart instructs me.^[ab]
8 (JL)I have ^(JM)set the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my ^(JN)right hand, I shall not be ^(JO)shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my ^(JP)whole being^[ac] rejoices;
    my flesh also dwells secure.
¹⁰ For you will not abandon my soul to ^(JQ)Sheol,
    ^(JR)or let your ^(JS)holy one see ^(JT)corruption.^[ad]

¹¹ You make known to me ^(JU)the path of life;
    in your presence there is ^(JV)fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are ^(JW)pleasures forevermore.

³ You have ^(KA)tried my heart, you have ^(KB)visited me by ^(KC)night,
    you have ^(KD)tested me, and you will find nothing;
    I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
⁴ With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
    I have avoided the ways of the violent.
⁵ My steps have ^(KE)held fast to your paths;
    my feet have not slipped.

⁶ I ^(KF)call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
    ^(KG)incline your ear to me; hear my words.
^7 (KH)Wondrously show^[ae] your steadfast love,
    O Savior of those who seek refuge
    from ^(KI)their adversaries at your right hand.

⁸ Keep me as ^(KJ)the apple of your eye;
    hide me in ^(KK)the shadow of your wings,
⁹ from the wicked who do me violence,
    my deadly enemies who ^(KL)surround me.

^10 (KM)They close their hearts to pity;
    with their mouths they ^(KN)speak arrogantly.
¹¹ They have now surrounded our ^(KO)steps;
    they set their eyes to ^(KP)cast us to the ground.
¹² He is like a lion eager to tear,
    as a young lion ^(KQ)lurking in ambush.

¹³ Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!
    Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
¹⁴ from men by your hand, O Lord,
    from ^(KR)men of the world whose ^(KS)portion is in this life.^[af]
You fill their womb with treasure;^[ag]
    they are satisfied with ^(KT)children,
    and they leave their abundance to their infants.

¹⁵ As for me, I shall ^(KU)behold your face in righteousness;
    when I ^(KV)awake, I shall be ^(KW)satisfied with your likeness.