Zion, the City of Our God
A Song. A Psalm of kthe Sons of Korah.
1 lGreat is the Lord and greatly to be praised
in mthe city of our God!
His nholy mountain, 2 obeautiful in elevation,
is pthe joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
qthe city of the great King.
3 Within her citadels God
has made himself known as a fortress.
4 For behold, rthe kings assembled;
they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic; they took to flight.
6 sTrembling took hold of them there,
anguish tas of a woman in labor.
7 By uthe east wind you vshattered
the ships of wTarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in mthe city of our God,
which God will xestablish forever. Selah
9 We have thought on your ysteadfast love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.
10 As your zname, O God,
so your praise reaches to athe ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Let Mount bZion be glad!
Let bthe daughters of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments!
12 Walk about Zion, go around her,
number her towers,
13 consider well her cramparts,
go through her citadels,
dthat you may tell the next generation
14 that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of fthe Sons of Korah.
1 gHear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 hboth low and high,
rich and poor together!
3 My mouth shall speak iwisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to ja proverb;
I will solve my kriddle to the music of the lyre.
5 lWhy should I fear in mtimes of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who ntrust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man ocan ransom another,
or pgive to God qthe price of his life,
8 for rthe ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and snever see the pit.
10 For he sees tthat even the wise die;
uthe fool and the stupid alike must perish
and vleave their wealth to others.
11 Their wgraves are their homes forever,2
their dwelling places xto all generations,
though they ycalled lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp zwill not remain;
ahe is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have bfoolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.3 Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright cshall rule over them in the morning.
dTheir form shall be consumed ein Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15 But God will fransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will greceive me. Selah
16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 hFor when he dies he will icarry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself jblessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will kgo to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again lsee light.
20 mMan in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord
To the choirmaster: according to pThe Gittith.1 A Psalm of qthe Sons of Korah.
1 How rlovely is your sdwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
2 My soul tlongs, yes, ufaints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to vthe living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
wmy King and my God.
4 xBlessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever ysinging your praise! Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
zin whose heart are the highways to Zion.2
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
athe early rain also covers it with bpools.
7 They go cfrom strength to strength;
each one dappears before God in Zion.
8 O eLord God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
look on the face of your anointed!
10 For a day hin your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be ia doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is ja sun and gshield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor.
kNo good thing does he withhold
from those who lwalk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
mblessed is the one who trusts in you!
Revive Us Again
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of nthe Sons of Korah.
1 Lord, you were ofavorable to your land;
you prestored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You qforgave the iniquity of your people;
you qcovered all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you rturned from your hot anger.
4 sRestore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us!
5 tWill you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not urevive us again,
that your people may vrejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
8 wLet me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will xspeak peace to his people, to his ysaints;
but let them not zturn back to afolly.
9 Surely his bsalvation is near to those who fear him,
that cglory may dwell in our land.
10 dSteadfast love and faithfulness meet;
erighteousness and peace kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
12 Yes, fthe Lord will give what is good,
and our land gwill yield its increase.
13 hRighteousness will go before him
and make his footsteps a way.
Glorious Things of You Are Spoken
A Psalm of lthe Sons of Korah. A Song.
1 On mthe holy mount nstands the city he founded;
2 the Lord oloves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
3 pGlorious things of you are spoken,
O qcity of God. Selah
4 Among those who rknow me I mention sRahab and Babylon;
behold, Philistia and Tyre, with tCush1—
“This one was born there,” they say.
5 And of Zion it shall be said,
“This one and that one were born in her”;
for the Most High himself will uestablish her.
6 The Lord records as he vregisters the peoples,
“This one was born there.” Selah
7 wSingers and xdancers alike say,
“All my ysprings are in you.”