Bible in 90 Days

¹⁵ They are brought with joyful celebration.
They enter the palace of the king.

¹⁶ Your sons will take the place of your fathers.
You will make them princes in all the earth.
¹⁷ I will preserve the memory of your name through all generations.
Therefore peoples will praise you forever and ever.

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
a helper who can always be found in times of trouble.
² That is why we will not fear when the earth dissolves
and when the mountains tumble into the heart of the sea.
³ Its waters roar and foam.
The mountains quake when it rises. Interlude

⁴ There is a river—its streams bring joy to the city of God,
to the holy dwelling of the Most High.
⁵ God is in her. She will not fall.
God will help her at daybreak.
⁶ Nations are in turmoil. Kingdoms fall.
God raises his voice. The earth melts.
⁷ The Lord of Armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is a fortress for us. Interlude
⁸ Come, look at the works of the Lord.
What a wasteland he has made of the earth!
⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth.
He shatters the bow. He cuts up the spear.
He burns the carts^[b] with fire.
¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted on the earth.”

¹ All you peoples, clap your hands!
Shout to God! Sing a loud song!

¹ The Lord is great. He deserves to be praised
    in the city of our God, on his holy mountain.
² His mountain is lofty and beautiful, the joy of the whole earth.
Mount Zion, the northern mountain, is the city of the Great King.
³ God is in her citadels.
He is famous as her fortress.

⁴ Look! See! The kings came together.
They advanced together.
⁵ They saw. Yes, they were amazed.
They were terrified. They were put to flight.
⁶ Trembling seized them there,
pain like a woman giving birth.
⁷ You shattered them with an east wind, like ships of Tarshish.

⁸ What we have heard, we now have also seen:
    In the city of the Lord of Armies,
    in the city of our God, Interlude
    God establishes her forever.
⁹ Inside your temple, O God, we meditate on your mercy.
¹⁰ Your praise, O God, reaches to the ends of the earth,
just as your fame does.
Righteousness fills your right hand.
¹¹ Mount Zion rejoices.
The daughters of Judah^[d] celebrate because of your judgments.
¹² Go around Zion. Yes, go all the way around her.
Count her towers. ¹³ Consider her rampart.^[e]
View her citadels, so that you may tell the next generation about them.
¹⁴ For this God is our God forever and ever.
He will guide us beyond death.^[f]

¹ Hear this, all you peoples.
Pay attention, all you inhabitants of this world,
² all you children of Adam, all mankind,
rich and poor alike.
³ My mouth will speak wisdom.
The meditation of my heart will give understanding.
⁴ I will listen carefully to wise teaching.
With a lyre I will explain deep truths.

⁵ Why should I fear days of trouble,
days when the wickedness of my pursuers surrounds me?^[g]
6 They trust in their wealth.
They place their confidence in the abundance of their riches.
⁷ But no one can by any means redeem himself.^[h]
He cannot give God a ransom for himself—
⁸ (Yes, the ransom for their souls is costly.
Any payment would fall short.)^[i]
9 —so that he could live on forever and not see the pit.
¹⁰ Yes, we can see that wise men die.
The fool and the senseless alike perish,
and they leave their wealth to others.
¹¹ They think their houses will remain forever,
their dwellings for generation after generation^[j]
because they named lands after themselves.
¹² But man, though he has riches, does not even spend a night here.
He is like the animals that perish.
¹³ This way of theirs is foolishness,
but their followers approve of what they say. Interlude
¹⁴ They are like a flock destined for the grave.
Death will be their shepherd.
The upright will rule over them in the morning.
Their bodies will be consumed by the grave,
    far from their mansions.^[k]

¹⁵ But surely God will redeem my life from the power of the grave.
Yes, he will take me to himself. Interlude

¹⁶ Do not be afraid when a man grows rich,
when the glory of his house increases,
¹⁷ because when he dies, he cannot take anything along.
His glory will not go down with him.
¹⁸ Throughout his life he congratulates himself:
“People praise you because you have done so well for yourself.”
¹⁹ He will go to the gathering place of his fathers.
They will never see the light!
²⁰ A man who has riches but does not understand
    is like the animals that perish.

¹ God, God the Lord, has spoken.
He calls to the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
² From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined.
³ Our God comes and he will not be silent.
Fire devours in front of him.
Around him a storm rages.
⁴ He calls to the heavens above and to the earth
    to judge his people.
⁵ “Gather to me my favored ones,
who make a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
⁶ So the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
    because God himself is judge. Interlude

⁷ Listen, my people, and let me speak, O Israel.
Then I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.

⁸ It is not because of your sacrifices that I rebuke you
or because of your burnt offerings that are always in front of me.
⁹ I do not need to take a bull from your barn
    or goats from your pens,
¹⁰ because every animal in the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand mountains.
¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains,
and everything that moves in the field is with me.
¹² If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
because the world is mine, and all that fills it.
¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
or do I drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴ Sacrifice a thank offering to God,
and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
¹⁵ Call on me in the day of distress.
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.

¹⁶ But to the wicked, God says:
What right do you have to recite my statutes
or to take up my covenant with your mouth?
¹⁷ As for you—you hate discipline,
and you throw my words behind your back.
¹⁸ If you see a thief, you approve of him,
and you cast your lot with adulterers.
¹⁹ You devote your mouth to evil,
and your tongue weaves deceit.
²⁰ You sit and speak against your brother.
You slander your own mother’s son.

²¹ These things you have done, and I kept silent.
You thought I was just like you.
I will indict you and accuse you to your face.
²² Now consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces,
and there will be no one to rescue you.

²³ The one who sacrifices a thank offering honors me,
and he sets up the way by which I will show him the salvation of God.

¹ Be gracious to me, God,
    according to your mercy.
Erase my acts of rebellion
    according to the greatness of your compassion.
² Scrub me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.

³ For I admit my rebellious acts.
My sin is always in front of me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned,
and I have done this evil in your eyes.
So you are justified when you sentence me.
You are blameless when you judge.
⁵ Certainly, I was guilty when I was born.
I was sinful when my mother conceived me.

⁶ Since you desire truth on the inside,
in my hidden heart you teach me wisdom.

¹³ I will teach rebels your ways,
and sinners will turn to you.
¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
    the God who saves me.
My tongue will shout for joy about your righteousness.
¹⁵ Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶ For you do not delight in sacrifice,
or I would give it.
You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
¹⁷ The sacrifices God wants are a broken spirit.
A broken and crushed heart, O God, you will not despise.

¹⁸ As it pleases you, do good for Zion.
Build up the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then you will be pleased with righteous sacrifices,
    burnt offerings and whole offerings.
Then bulls will be offered up on your altar.

¹ Why do you boast about evil, you hero?
The mercy of God endures all day long.
² Your tongue plans destruction.
It is like a sharpened razor, you scheming liar.
³ You love evil rather than good. Interlude
You love lying rather than speaking what is right.
⁴ You lying tongue, you love every word that devours!

⁵ But God will tear you down forever.
He will grab you and pull you out of your tent. Interlude
He will uproot you from the land of the living.
⁶ Then the righteous will see and fear.
Then they will laugh at him:
⁷ “Look, here is the man who did not make God his stronghold,
but trusted in the greatness of his wealth.
He grew strong by his destructive deeds!”

⁸ But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.
I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.
⁹ I will thank you forever because you have done this.
I will hope in your name in the presence of your favored ones
    because it is good.

¹ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

⁴ Don’t they know, all those evildoers,
    who devour my people as if they were eating bread?
They do not call on God.
⁵ There they are, terrified, where there was nothing to fear.
For God scattered the bones of those who camped against you.
You put them to shame, because God despised them.

⁶ Who will provide salvation for Israel from Zion?^[q]
When God restores his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

¹ God, save me by your name.
By your power judge me justly.
² God, hear my prayer.
Turn your ear to the words of my mouth.

³ For strangers have risen up against me.
Ruthless men seek my life. Interlude
They pay no attention to God.

⁴ Indeed, God is my helper.
The Lord is the one who preserves my life.
⁵ Let evil return on those who oppress me.
In your faithfulness destroy them.

⁶ I will sacrifice willingly to you.
I will praise your name, O Lord, because it is good.
⁷ Surely, from all my distress he has delivered me.
My eyes have looked down on my enemies.

¹ Turn your ear to my prayer, O God.
Do not hide from my plea for mercy.
² Pay attention to me and answer me.

I am troubled in my thoughts and I groan
³     because of talk from the enemy,
    because of oppression from the wicked,
    because they dump evil on me,
    and in anger they hold a grudge against me.
⁴ My heart is in anguish within me.
The terrors of death fall on me.
⁵ Fear and trembling come over me.
Horror covers me.
⁶ So I say, “I wish I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and find a place to rest.
⁷ Yes, I would flee far away. Interlude
I would stay in the wilderness.
⁸ I would hurry to find shelter,
    far from the violent wind, far from the storm.”
⁹ Swallow them up, O Lord.
Confuse their speech,
for I see violence and contention in the city.
¹⁰ Day and night they sneak around on its walls.
Evil and trouble are in the city.
¹¹ Destruction lurks within it.
Treachery and deceit never leave its streets.
¹² For it is not an enemy who insults me—
I could bear that.
It is not someone who hated me who rises up against me—
I could hide from him.
¹³ But it is you, a man who served with me,
    my colleague and my associate,
¹⁴     with whom I shared pleasant discussions
    as we walked with the excited crowd at God’s house.

¹⁵ Let deadly destruction come on them.
Let them go down to the grave alive,
because evil is at home in their hearts.

¹⁶ As for me, I call to God,
and the Lord saves me.
¹⁷ Evening, morning, and noon I cry out and I sigh,
and he hears my voice.
¹⁸ In peace he redeems my life from the assault against me,
    even when many are against me.
¹⁹ God will hear, and he will punish them— Interlude
yes, he is seated on his throne from eternity!
—because they never change, and they do not fear God.

²⁰ The traitor reaches out his hand against those at peace with him.
He breaks his agreement.^[s]
21 His flattery is as smooth as butter,
yet war is in his heart.
His words are more soothing than oil,
yet they are drawn daggers.

²² Place your burden on the Lord,
and he will support you.
He will never allow the righteous to fall.
²³ But you, O God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction.
Bloody and deceitful men will not live half their days.
But as for me, I will trust in you.

¹ Be merciful to me, O God, for a man pants as he pursues me.^[w]
All day long an attacker presses against me.
² Those who spy on me pant as they pursue me all day long.
Yes, many are attacking me boldly.^[x]

³ On the day when I am afraid, I will trust in you.
⁴ In God I praise his word.
In God I trust. I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?

⁵ All day long they hurt my cause.^[y]
All their thoughts against me are evil.
⁶ They gather together. They hide.
They try to trip me by grabbing my heels
    while they wait to take my life.

⁷ Because of their wickedness do not let them escape.^[z]
In your anger bring down the peoples, O God.
⁸ You keep a record of my tossing and turning.^[aa]
Keep my tears in your bottle.
Aren’t they all listed in your book?
⁹ Then my enemies will turn back on the day when I call.
This is how I will know that God is for me.
¹⁰ In God I praise a word.^[ab]
In the Lord I praise a word.
¹¹ In God I trust. I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

¹² My vows to you are binding, O God.
I will complete my thank offerings to you,
¹³ because you have delivered my life from death.
Have you not delivered my feet from stumbling
    so I can walk before God in the light of life?

¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
have mercy on me,
because my soul has taken refuge in you.
In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge
    until destruction has passed by.
² I call to God Most High,
to God, who completes his plans for me.^[ae]
3 He will send from heaven, and he will save me. Interlude
He puts to shame the one who pants as he pursues me.^[af]
God will send his mercy and his faithfulness.

⁴ My life is spent among lions.
I lie down among ferocious men,
whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongue is a sharp sword.
⁵ Be exalted above the heavens, O God.
May your glory be over all the earth.
⁶ They spread a net for my steps.
My soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in front of me. Interlude
They have fallen into it.

⁷ My heart is steadfast, O God.
My heart is steadfast.
I will sing and I will make music.
⁸ Awake, my soul!^[ag]
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
⁹ I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O Lord.
I will make music to you among the nations,^[ah]
10 because your great mercy reaches above the heavens,
and your faithfulness to the skies.
¹¹ Be exalted above the heavens, O God.
Let your glory be over all the earth.

¹ Do you “gods” really speak righteously?^[aj]
Do you sons of Adam judge rightly?
² No, in your heart you commit injustices.
On the earth your hands distribute violence.
³ The wicked go off course already from the womb.
From the belly they go astray. They speak lies.
⁴ Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like a deaf cobra that has stopped its ears,
⁵ that will not listen to the sound of the charmers,
however skillful the spellbinder may be.

⁶ O God, break their teeth in their mouths.
Tear out the fangs of the young lions, Lord!
⁷ Let them vanish like water that flows away.
When he draws his bow, let his arrows be cut off.^[ak]
8 As a slug melts away as it crawls along, so let him disappear.
Like a stillborn child may they not see the sun.
⁹ Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
whether the thorns are green or dry—they will be swept away.^[al]

¹⁰ The righteous one will be glad when he sees vengeance.
He will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
¹¹ Then people will say, “Surely there is fruit for the righteous.
Surely there is a God judging on the earth.”

¹ Deliver me from my enemies, my God.
You set me high above those who rise up against me.
² Deliver me from evildoers.
Save me from bloodthirsty men.

³ Yes, look how they lie in ambush to take my life!
Strong men gather against me,
but it is not because I have rebelled,
not because I have sinned, O Lord.
⁴ I am not guilty,
yet they run to take up their positions against me.
Rise up to meet me and see!
⁵ You, O Lord, God of Armies, the God of Israel,
wake up and confront all the nations. Interlude
Do not show mercy to all the wicked traitors.
⁶ They return at evening. They growl like dogs.
They prowl around the city.
⁷ Look, they gush from their mouths.
Their lips are swords,
so they say, “Who hears?”

⁸ But you laugh at them, Lord.
You scoff at all those nations.
⁹ O my Strength, I watch for you,
because God is my high fortress.

¹⁰ My merciful God will go ahead of me.
God will make me look down on those who slander me.

¹¹ Do not kill them, or my people may forget.
In your might make them wander about.
Bring them down, O Lord, our shield.
¹² The sin of their mouth is the words of their lips,
so let them be caught in their pride,
because of the curses and lies they proclaim.
¹³ Consume them in wrath.
Consume them till they are no more.
Then they will know to the ends of the earth Interlude
    that God rules over Jacob.
¹⁴ They return at evening. They growl like dogs.
They prowl around the city.
¹⁵ They wander about for food.
If not satisfied, they howl.

¹⁶ But I will sing about your strength.
In the morning I will shout about your mercy,
because you are a high fortress for me,
a refuge in the day of my distress.
¹⁷ O my Strength, to you I make music,
because God is my high fortress, my merciful God.

¹ God, you have rejected us.
You have broken us down.
You have been angry. Return to us!
² You have shaken the earth. You have torn it open.
Heal its fractures, for it is about to collapse.
³ You have made your people suffer hardship.
You gave us wine to drink that makes us stagger.
⁴ You have set up a signal flag for those who fear you, Interlude
    to be raised up against the bow.^[aq]
5 Save us with your right hand and answer us,
so that those you love may be delivered.

⁶ God has spoken in his holiness:^[ar]
“I will triumph. I will distribute Shechem,
and I will measure off the Valley of Succoth.
⁷ Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim is my helmet. Judah is my scepter.
⁸ Moab is my washbasin. On Edom I toss my sandal.
I shout aloud over Philistia.”^[as][at]

⁹ Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
¹⁰ God, is it not you, who have rejected us?
God, is it not you, who no longer go out with our armies?
¹¹ Give us help against the foe,
for human help is worthless.
¹² In God we will do mighty deeds.
He is the one who will trample our foes.

¹ Hear my cry, O God.
Pay attention to my prayer.
² From the end of the earth I call to you
    when my heart is overwhelmed.
Lead me up onto the rock that is higher than I.
³ For you have been a refuge for me,
a tower of strength in the face of the enemy.
⁴ I want to keep living in your tent forever. Interlude
I will take refuge under the cover of your wings.
⁵ For you, God, have heard my vows.
You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
⁶ Add days to the days of the king.
His years will last through all generations.
⁷ Let him be seated in God’s presence forever.
Appoint your mercy and truth to protect him.
⁸ Then will I make music to your name forever,
    to fulfill my vows day after day.

¹ My soul rests quietly in God alone.
My salvation is from him.
² He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.
I will not be disturbed.
³ How long will you threaten a man?
Do all of you want to murder him,
    like a leaning wall, like a fence to be pushed down?
⁴ Yes, they plan to push him down from his lofty place.
They are delighted with deceit.
With their mouths they bless,
but inside they curse. Interlude

⁵ My soul, rest quietly in God alone,
for my hope comes from him.
⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress.
I will not be disturbed.
⁷ My salvation and my honor depend on God, my strong rock.
My refuge is in God.
⁸ Trust in him at all times, you people.
Pour out your hearts before him. Interlude
God is a refuge for us.

⁹ Yes, the sons of Adam are only a breath.
The sons of man are a delusion.
On a scale they weigh nothing.
They are nothing but air.^[av]
10 Do not trust in extortion.
Do not put empty confidence in stolen goods.
If your wealth grows, do not set your heart on it.
¹¹ One thing God has spoken,
two things that I have heard:
    that God has strength
¹²     and that you, Lord, have mercy.
Surely you will repay each person
    according to what he has done.

¹ God, you are my God. Eagerly I seek you.
My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you,
    in a dry and dreary land without water.
² Yes, in the sanctuary I have watched you
    to see your power and your glory.

³ Because your mercy is better than life,
    my lips will worship you.
⁴ Yes, I will bless you as long as I live.
In your name I will lift up my hands.
⁵ My soul will be satisfied with rich food.^[ax]
My mouth will praise you with lips filled with songs.
⁶ Whenever I remember you on my bed,
throughout the watches of the night I meditate on you.
⁷ Because you are a help for me,
I sing for joy under the shade of your wings.
⁸ My soul clings to you.
Your right hand upholds me.

⁹ But those who seek my life will go to destruction.
They will go into the depths of the earth.
¹⁰ They will be given over to the power of the sword.
They will become food for foxes.^[ay]
11 But the king will rejoice in God.
All who swear by him will praise him,
but the mouths of those speaking lies will be shut.

¹ Hear my voice, O God, when I complain.
Protect my life from the terror caused by the enemy.
² Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
from the noisy mob of evildoers.

³ They sharpen their tongues like a sword.
They shoot poison words like arrows.
⁴ They shoot at the innocent from hiding places.
Suddenly they shoot at him. They have no fear.
⁵ They strengthen each other in an evil plot.
They discuss where to hide snares.
They say, “Who will see them?”
⁶ They plot evil deeds and they say,
“We have come up with a perfect plot!”
The mind and heart of man are devious!

⁷ But God will shoot them.
Suddenly they are wounded with an arrow.
⁸ Their own tongues cause their downfall.^[az]
Everyone who sees them will shake his head.

⁹ Then all people will be afraid.
They will proclaim the work of God.
They will consider what he has done.
¹⁰ Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him.
Let all the upright in heart be confident!

¹ Praise waits for you,^[ba] O God, in Zion.
To you vows will be fulfilled.
² You who hear prayer, to you all mortals^[bb] will come.

³ The record of my guilt overpowered me.
You atone for our rebellious acts.
⁴ How blessed is the one you choose and bring near!
He will dwell in your courtyards.
We will be satisfied by the goodness of your house,
by the holiness of your temple.

⁵ In righteousness you answer us with awesome deeds,
    O God who saves us.
He is trusted by all the farthest ends of the earth and the sea.
⁶ He establishes the mountains by his power.
He has wrapped himself with strength.
⁷ He stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the turmoil of the peoples.

⁹ You visit the earth and water it.
You make it very rich.
God’s stream is filled with water.
You provide grain for them, just as you planned.
¹⁰ You drench the land’s furrows. You flatten its plowed ground.
You soften it with showers. You bless its crops.
¹¹ You crown the year with your goodness.
The tracks made by your carts overflow with riches.^[bc]
12 The pastures of the wilderness drip.
The hills are wrapped with joy.
¹³ The meadows are clothed with flocks.
The valleys are dressed with grain.
They shout for joy. Yes! They sing.

¹ Shout praise to God, all the earth!
² Make music to the glory of his name!
Make his praise glorious!
³ Say to God, “How awesome^[bd] are your deeds!”
Because of your great power your enemies must cower before you.
⁴ All the earth bows down to you.
They make music to you.
They make music to your name. Interlude

⁵ Come and see the works of God.
How awesome his deeds for all people!
⁶ He turned the sea into dry land.
They crossed through the river on foot.
Let us rejoice in him there.
⁷ He rules by his power forever.
His eyes watch the nations. Interlude
Do not let the rebellious rise up against him.
⁸ Bless our God, you peoples.
Let the sound of his praise be heard.
⁹ He is the one who has preserved our lives.
He did not let our feet slip.
¹⁰ Indeed, you tested us, God.
You refined us as silver is refined.
¹¹ You led us into a trap.
You laid a burden on our backs.
¹² You let men ride over our heads.
We went through fire and through water,
but you brought us out to a well-watered place.

¹³ I will come to your house with whole burnt offerings.
I will fulfill my vows to you,
¹⁴     which my lips uttered,
    which my mouth spoke during my trouble.
¹⁵ I will offer fat animals to you as whole burnt offerings,
    along with the smoke from rams. Interlude
I will offer cattle with goats.
¹⁶ Come, listen, all you who fear God,
and let me tell what he has done to save my life.
¹⁷ To him I cried out with my mouth.
High praise was on my tongue.
¹⁸ If I had contemplated evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened,
¹⁹ but God has surely listened.
He has paid attention to the sound of my prayer.
²⁰ Blessed be God, who has not turned aside my prayer
or turned aside his mercy from me!

¹ May God be gracious to us and bless us. Interlude
May his face shine on us—
² so that your way may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
³ May the peoples praise you, O God.
May the peoples praise you—all of them.
⁴ May the countries be glad and sing for joy,
because you rule the peoples with fairness, Interlude
and you guide the countries of the earth.
⁵ May the peoples praise you, O God.
May the peoples praise you—all of them.
⁶ The earth will yield its harvest.
God, our God, will bless us.
⁷ God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth will fear him.

¹ May God arise. May his enemies scatter.
May those who hate him flee from his presence.
² As smoke is blown away, may you blow them away.
As wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.

³ But the righteous rejoice and celebrate in the presence of God.
They will be happy and joyful.
⁴ Sing to God. Make music to his name.
Lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts.^[be]
His name is the Lord.^[bf] Celebrate before him.

⁷ God, when you went out in front of your people,
when you marched through the wasteland, Interlude
⁸ the earth shook.
Yes, the heavens poured down rain,
    before God, this one from Sinai,
    before God, the God of Israel.
⁹ You dispersed plentiful showers, O God.
You strengthened your inheritance when it was weary.^[bg]
10 Your people settled in it.
In your goodness you provided for the oppressed, O God.

¹¹ The Lord provided the message.
The women who proclaimed it were a great army:^[bh]
12 “Kings with armies flee—they flee!”
The woman who stays home shares in the plunder.
¹³ Even while you lie among the campfires,
the wings of a dove are sheathed with silver,
and its feathers with yellow gold.^[bi]
14 When the Almighty scattered the kings there,
it snowed on Zalmon.

¹⁵ The mountain of Bashan is a mountain of God.
The mountain of Bashan is a mountain with many peaks.^[bj]
16 O mountains with many peaks, why do you look jealously
    at the mountain God desires for his home?
Indeed, the Lord will dwell there forever.
¹⁷ The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
thousands upon thousands.
Among them the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.^[bk]
18 You ascended on high. You led captivity captive.
You received gifts among men,
so that even among the rebellious the Lord^[bl] God might dwell.

¹⁹ Blessed be the Lord.
Day by day he bears our burdens.
He is the God who saves us. Interlude

²⁰ Our God is a God who saves.
From God the Lord comes escape from death.
²¹ Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies,
the scalps of those who walk around in their guilt.
²² The Lord says, “I will bring them from Bashan.
I will bring them from the depths of the sea,
²³ so that you may stomp your foot in blood.
The tongues of your dogs get their share of the enemies’ blood.”

²⁴ They see your processions, O God,
the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.
²⁵ The singers lead the way.
After them come the musicians.
In the middle are virgins playing hand drums.
²⁶ In the assemblies bless God, the Lord,
    who is the Fountain of Israel.^[bm]
27 There is little Benjamin, leading them.
The officers of Judah are their noisy crowd.
There are the officers of Zebulun and the officers of Naphtali.

²⁸ Your God commands your strength.
Show strength, O God, as you have done for us before.

²⁹ Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings will bring tribute to you.
³⁰ Threaten the beast among the reeds,
the herd of strong bulls among the calves (that is, the peoples),
    until they submit with bars of silver.^[bn]
He scatters the peoples who delight in battles.
³¹ Envoys^[bo] will come from Egypt.
Cush^[bp] will run to stretch out its hands to God.
³² Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth. Interlude
Make music to the Lord,
³³ to him who rides in the highest heavens,
    in the ancient heavens.
Yes, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
³⁴ Proclaim God’s strength.
His majesty is over Israel,
and his power is in the skies.

³⁵ You are awesome, O God, from your sanctuary.
The God of Israel, he is the one
    who gives power and strength to the people.
Blessed be God!

¹ Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
² I sink into the deep mud, where there is no place to stand.
I have entered deep waters, and the rapids rush over me.
³ I am worn out from my crying. My throat is sore.
My eyes are blurry, as I wait for my God.

⁴ Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs on my head.
Those who want to destroy me, my lying enemies, are strong.
I must repay things I did not steal.

⁵ God, you know my folly,
and my guilt is not hidden from you.
⁶ May those who place their confidence in you^[br]
    not be put to shame because of me,
    O Lord, the Lord of Armies.
May those who seek you not be disgraced because of me,
    O God of Israel.
⁷ It is for your sake that I bear scorn.
Shame covers my face.
⁸ I have become a stranger to my brothers,
a foreigner to my mother’s sons.
⁹ Yes, zeal for your house consumes me.
The scorn of those who scorn you falls on me.
¹⁰ I wept as I fasted,
but this only brought insults to me.
¹¹ When I wore sackcloth as my clothing,
I was a joke to them.
¹² Those who sit in the gatehouse gossip about me,
and the songs of the drunks are about me.

¹³ But I direct my prayer to you, O Lord, for a time of favor.
God, in the greatness of your mercy,
    answer me with the certainty of salvation from you.
¹⁴ Rescue me from the mud, so I do not sink.
Let me escape from those who hate me and from the deep waters.
¹⁵ Do not let the rapids rush over me.
Do not let the deep swallow me up.
Do not let the pit close its mouth over me.
¹⁶ Answer me, Lord, for your mercy is good.
According to your great compassion, turn to me.
¹⁷ Do not hide your face from your servant.
Because I am in distress, hurry, answer me.
¹⁸ Come near. Redeem my soul.
Ransom me because of my enemies.

¹⁹ You know my disgrace, my shame, and my confusion.
All my foes are in front of you.
²⁰ Disgrace has broken my heart, and I am helpless.
I waited for sympathy, but there was none.
I waited for comforters, but I did not find any.
²¹ Instead they put bitter poison in my food.
For my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.