143  Hear my prayer, O Lord;

^cgive ear to my pleas for mercy!

In your ^dfaithfulness answer me, in your ^drighteousness!

2  ^eEnter not into judgment with your servant,

for no one living is righteous ^fbefore you.

3  For the enemy has pursued my soul;

^ghe has crushed my life to the ground;

^hhe has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.

4  Therefore my spirit ⁱfaints within me;

my heart within me is appalled.

5  ^jI remember the days of old;

^kI meditate on all that you have done;

I ponder the work of your hands.

6  ^lI stretch out my hands to you;

^mmy soul thirsts for you like ⁿa parched land. Selah

7  ^oAnswer me quickly, O Lord!

^pMy spirit fails!

^qHide not your face from me,

^rlest I be like those who go down to the pit.

8  ^sLet me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,

for in you I ^ttrust.

^uMake me know the way I should go,

^vfor to you I lift up my soul.

9  ^wDeliver me from my enemies, O Lord!

I have fled to you for refuge.¹

10  ^xTeach me to do your will,

for you are my God!

^yLet your good Spirit ^zlead me

on ^alevel ground!

11  ^bFor your name’s sake, O Lord, ^cpreserve my life!

In your righteousness ^dbring my soul out of trouble!

12  And in your steadfast love you will ^ecut off my enemies,

and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul,

for I am your ^fservant.

144  Blessed be the Lord, my ^grock,

^hwho trains my hands for war,

and my fingers for battle;

2  he is my ⁱsteadfast love and my ^jfortress,

my ^kstronghold and my deliverer,

my ^lshield and he in whom I take refuge,

who ^msubdues peoples¹ under me.

3  O Lord, ⁿwhat is man that you ^oregard him,

or the son of man that you think of him?

4  ^pMan is like a breath;

his days are like ^qa passing ^rshadow.

5  ^sBow your heavens, O Lord, and come down!

^tTouch the mountains so that they smoke!

6  ^uFlash forth the lightning and scatter them;

^usend out your arrows and rout them!

7  ^vStretch out your hand from on high;

^wrescue me and deliver me from the many waters,

from the hand ^xof foreigners,

8  whose mouths speak ^ylies

and whose right hand is ^za right hand of falsehood.

9  I will sing ^aa new song to you, O God;

upon ^aa ten-stringed harp I will play to you,

10  who gives victory to kings,

who ^brescues David his servant from the cruel sword.

11  Rescue me and deliver me

from the hand ^xof foreigners,

whose mouths speak ^ylies

and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

12  May our sons in their youth

be like ^cplants full grown,

our daughters like ^dcorner pillars

cut for the structure of a palace;

13  ^emay our granaries be full,

^fproviding all kinds of produce;

may our sheep bring forth thousands

and ten thousands in our fields;

14  may our cattle be heavy with young,

suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;²

may there be no ^gcry of distress in our streets!

15  ^hBlessed are the people to whom such blessings fall!

ⁱBlessed are the people whose God is the Lord!

145  ^jI will extol you, my God and ^kKing,

and bless your name forever and ever.

2  Every day I will bless you

^land praise your name forever and ever.

3  ^mGreat is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,

and his ⁿgreatness is unsearchable.

4  ^oOne generation shall commend your works to another,

and shall declare your mighty acts.

5  On ^pthe glorious splendor of your majesty,

and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

6  They shall speak of ^qthe might of your awesome deeds,

and I will declare your greatness.

7  They shall pour forth the fame of your ^rabundant goodness

and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8  The Lord is ^sgracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9  The Lord is ^tgood to all,

and his mercy is over all that he has made.

10  ^uAll your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,

and all your ^vsaints shall bless you!

11  They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom

and tell of your power,

12  to ^wmake known to the children of man your^{2 x}mighty deeds,

and ^ythe glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13  ^zYour kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

[The Lord is faithful in all his words

and kind in all his works.]³

14  The Lord ^aupholds all who are falling

and ^braises up all who are bowed down.

15  The eyes of all ^clook to you,

and you give them their food in due season.

16  You ^dopen your hand;

you ^esatisfy the desire of every living thing.

17  The Lord is ^frighteous in all his ways

and ^gkind in all his works.

18  The Lord is ^hnear to all who call on him,

to all who call on him ⁱin truth.

19  He ^jfulfills the desire of those who fear him;

he also ^khears their cry and saves them.

20  The Lord ^lpreserves all who love him,

but all the wicked he will destroy.

21  My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,

and ^mlet all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

146  ⁿPraise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

2  I will praise the Lord ^oas long as I live;

^pI will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

3  ^qPut not your trust in princes,

^rin a son of man, in whom there is ^sno salvation.

4  When ^this breath departs, he returns to the earth;

on that very day his plans perish.

5  ^uBlessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose ^vhope is in the Lord his God,

6  ^wwho made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

^xwho keeps faith forever;

7  ^ywho executes justice for the oppressed,

^zwho gives food to the hungry.

^aThe Lord sets the prisoners free;

8  ^bthe Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

^cThe Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

^dthe Lord loves the righteous.

9  ^eThe Lord watches over the sojourners;

^fhe upholds the widow and the fatherless,

but ^gthe way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10  ^hThe Lord will reign forever,

your God, O Zion, to all generations.

ⁿPraise the Lord!

147  ⁱPraise the Lord!

For ^jit is good to sing praises to our God;

for ^kit is pleasant,¹ and ^la song of praise is fitting.

2  The Lord ^mbuilds up Jerusalem;

he ⁿgathers the outcasts of Israel.

3  He heals ^othe brokenhearted

and ^pbinds up their wounds.

4  He ^qdetermines the number of the stars;

he ^rgives to all of them their names.

5  ^sGreat is our Lord, and ^tabundant in power;

^uhis understanding is beyond measure.

6  The Lord ^vlifts up the humble;²

he casts the wicked to the ground.

7  ^wSing to the Lord with thanksgiving;

make melody to our God on ^xthe lyre!

8  He covers the heavens with clouds;

he prepares ^yrain for the earth;

he makes ^zgrass grow on the hills.

9  He ^agives to the beasts their food,

and to ^bthe young ravens that cry.

10  His delight is not in ^cthe strength of the horse,

nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,

11  but the Lord ^dtakes pleasure in those who fear him,

in those who ^ehope in his steadfast love.

12  Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!

Praise your God, O Zion!

13  For he strengthens ^fthe bars of your gates;

he blesses your children within you.

14  He ^gmakes peace in your borders;

he ^hfills you with the ⁱfinest of the wheat.

15  He ^jsends out his command to the earth;

his word runs swiftly.

16  He gives ^ksnow like wool;

he scatters ^lfrost like ashes.

17  He hurls down his crystals of ^mice like crumbs;

who can stand before his ⁿcold?

18  He ^osends out his word, and melts them;

he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.

19  He declares his word to Jacob,

his ^pstatutes and rules³ to Israel.

20  He ^qhas not dealt thus with any other nation;

they do not know his rules.⁴

^rPraise the Lord!