10  I said, ^xIn the middle⁴ of my days

I must depart;

I am consigned to the gates of Sheol

for the rest of my years.

11  I said, I shall not see the Lord,

the Lord ^yin the land of the living;

I shall look on man no more

among the inhabitants of the world.

12  My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me

^zlike a shepherd’s tent;

^alike a weaver ^bI have rolled up my life;

^che cuts me off from the loom;

^dfrom day to night you bring me to an end;

13  ^eI calmed myself⁵ until morning;

like a lion ^fhe breaks all my bones;

from day to night you bring me to an end.

14  Like ^ga swallow or a crane I chirp;

^hI moan like a dove.

ⁱMy eyes are weary with looking upward.

O Lord, I am oppressed; ^jbe my pledge of safety!

15  What shall I say? For he has spoken to me,

and he himself has done it.

^kI walk slowly all my years

because of the bitterness of my soul.

16  ^lO Lord, by these things men live,

and in all these is the life of my spirit.

Oh restore me to health and make me live!

17  ^mBehold, it was for my welfare

that I had great bitterness;

ⁿbut in love you have delivered my life

from the pit of destruction,

ⁿfor you have cast all my sins

behind your back.

18  ^oFor Sheol does not thank you;

death does not praise you;

those who go down to the pit do not hope

for your faithfulness.

19  The living, the living, he thanks you,

as I do this day;

^pthe father makes known to the children

your faithfulness.

20  The Lord will save me,

and we will play my music on stringed instruments

all the days of our lives,

^qat the house of the Lord.

1  ^zComfort, comfort my people, says your God.

2  ^aSpeak tenderly to Jerusalem,

and cry to her

that ^bher warfare⁶ is ended,

that her iniquity is pardoned,

that she has received from the Lord’s hand

double for all her sins.

3  ^cA voice cries:⁷

^d“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;

^emake straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4  ^fEvery valley shall be lifted up,

and every mountain and hill be made low;

the uneven ground shall become level,

and the rough places a plain.

5  ^gAnd the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

and all flesh shall see it together,

^hfor the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

6  A voice says, “Cry!”

And I said,⁸ “What shall I cry?”

ⁱAll flesh is grass,

and all its beauty⁹ is like the flower of the field.

7  The grass withers, the flower fades

when the breath of the Lord blows on it;

surely the people are grass.

8  ^jThe grass withers, the flower fades,

but the word of our God will stand forever.

9  Go on up to a high mountain,

O Zion, ^kherald of good news;¹⁰

lift up your voice with strength,

O Jerusalem, herald of good news;¹¹

lift it up, fear not;

say to the cities of Judah,

“Behold your God!”

10  ^lBehold, the Lord God comes with might,

and his arm rules for him;

^mbehold, his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him.

11  ⁿHe will tend his flock like a shepherd;

^ohe will gather the lambs in his arms;

^phe will carry them in his bosom,

and gently lead those that are with young.

12  ^qWho has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand

and marked off the heavens with a span,

enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure

and weighed the mountains in scales

and the hills in a balance?

13  ^rWho has measured¹² the Spirit of the Lord,

or what man shows him his counsel?

14  Whom did he consult,

and who made him understand?

^sWho taught him the path of justice,

and taught him knowledge,

and showed him the way of understanding?

15  Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

and are accounted ^tas the dust on the scales;

behold, he takes up ^uthe coastlands like fine dust.

16  Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,

nor are ^vits beasts enough for a burnt offering.

17  ^wAll the nations are as nothing before him,

they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

18  ^xTo whom then will you liken God,

^yor what likeness compare with him?

19  ^yAn idol! A craftsman casts it,

and a goldsmith overlays it with gold

and casts for it silver chains.

20  ^zHe who is too impoverished for an offering

chooses wood¹³ that will not rot;

he seeks out a skillful craftsman

to set up an idol that will not move.

21  ^aDo you not know? Do you not hear?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22  It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,

and its inhabitants are ^blike grasshoppers;

^cwho stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;

23  ^dwho brings princes to nothing,

and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

24  Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,

when he blows on them, and they wither,

^eand the tempest carries them off like stubble.

25  ^fTo whom then will you compare me,

that I should be like him? says the Holy One.

26  Lift up your eyes on high and see:

who created these?

^gHe who brings out their host by number,

calling them all by name;

by the greatness of his might

and because he is strong in power,

not one is missing.

27  Why do you say, O Jacob,

and speak, O Israel,

^h“My way is hidden from the Lord,

ⁱand my right is disregarded by my God”?

28  Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is ^jthe everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

^khis understanding is unsearchable.

29  He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increases strength.

30  Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

31  but ^lthey who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings ^mlike eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

1  ^eGod shall arise, his enemies shall be ^fscattered;

and those who hate him shall flee before him!

2  As ^gsmoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;

^has wax melts before fire,

so the wicked shall perish before God!

3  But ⁱthe righteous shall be glad;

they shall exult before God;

they shall be jubilant with joy!

4  Sing to God, ^jsing praises to his name;

^klift up a song to him who ^lrides through ^mthe deserts;

his name is ⁿthe Lord;

exult before him!

5  ^oFather of the fatherless and ^pprotector of widows

is God in his holy habitation.

6  God ^qsettles the solitary in a home;

he ^rleads out the prisoners to prosperity,

but ^sthe rebellious dwell in ^ta parched land.

7  O God, when you ^uwent out before your people,

^vwhen you marched through ^wthe wilderness, Selah

8  ^xthe earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,

before God, the One of Sinai,

before God,¹ the God of Israel.

9  ^yRain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;

you restored your inheritance as it languished;

10  your flock² found a dwelling in it;

in your goodness, O God, you ^zprovided for the needy.

11  The Lord gives ^athe word;

^bthe women who announce the news are a great host:

12  ^c“The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”

The women at home ^ddivide the spoil—

13  though you men lie among ^ethe sheepfolds—

the wings of a dove covered with silver,

its pinions with shimmering gold.

14  When the Almighty scatters kings there,

let snow fall on ^fZalmon.

15  O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;

O many-peaked³ mountain, mountain of Bashan!

16  Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,

at the mount that God ^gdesired for his abode,

yes, where the Lord will dwell forever?

17  ^hThe chariots of God are twice ten thousand,

thousands upon thousands;

the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.

18  ⁱYou ascended on high,

^jleading a host of captives in your train

and ^kreceiving gifts among men,

even among ^lthe rebellious, ^mthat the Lord God may dwell there.

19  Blessed be the Lord,

who daily ⁿbears us up;

God is our salvation. Selah

20  Our God is a God of salvation,

^oand to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.

21  ^pBut God will strike the heads of his enemies,

the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.

22  The Lord said,

“I will bring them back ^qfrom Bashan,

^rI will bring them back from the depths of the sea,

23  that you may ^sstrike your feet in their blood,

that ^tthe tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.”

24  Your procession is⁴ seen, O God,

the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—

25  ^uthe singers in front, ^vthe musicians last,

between them ^wvirgins playing tambourines:

26  ^x“Bless God in the great congregation,

the Lord, O you⁵ who are of ^yIsrael’s fountain!”

27  There is ^zBenjamin, the least of them, in the lead,

the princes of Judah in their throng,

the princes of ^aZebulun, the princes of Naphtali.

28  ^bSummon your power, O God,⁶

the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.

29  Because of your temple at Jerusalem

kings shall ^cbear gifts to you.

30  Rebuke ^dthe beasts that dwell among the reeds,

the herd of ^ebulls with the calves of the peoples.

^fTrample underfoot those who lust after tribute;

scatter the peoples who delight in war.⁷

31  Nobles shall come from ^gEgypt;

^hCush shall hasten to ⁱstretch out her hands to God.

32  ^jO kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;

sing praises to the Lord, Selah

33  to him ^kwho rides in ^lthe heavens, the ancient heavens;

behold, he ^msends out his voice, his mighty voice.

34  ⁿAscribe power to God,

whose majesty is over Israel,

and whose ^opower is in ^pthe skies.

35  ^qAwesome is God from his^{8 r}sanctuary;

the God of Israel—he is the one who gives ^spower and strength to his people.

Blessed be God!