1  ^eBlessed is the one who considers the poor!¹

^fIn the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;

2  the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;

he is called blessed in the land;

you ^gdo not give him up to the will of his enemies.

3  The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;

in his illness you restore him to full health.²

4  As for me, I said, “O Lord, ^hbe gracious to me;

ⁱheal me,³ for I have sinned against you!”

5  My enemies say of me in malice,

“When will he die, and his name perish?”

6  And when one comes to see me, ^jhe utters empty words,

while his heart gathers iniquity;

when he goes out, he tells it abroad.

7  All who hate me whisper together about me;

they imagine the worst for me.⁴

8  They say, “A deadly thing is poured out⁵ on him;

he will not rise again from where he lies.”

9  Even my ^kclose friend in whom I trusted,

who ^late my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

10  But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,

and raise me up, that I may repay them!

11  By this I know that ^myou delight in me:

my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.

12  But ⁿyou have upheld me because of ^omy integrity,

and ^pset me in your presence ^qforever.

13  ^rBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

Amen and Amen.

1  Give the king your ^rjustice, O God,

and your righteousness to the royal son!

2  May he ^sjudge your people with righteousness,

and your poor with justice!

3  Let the mountains bear ^tprosperity for the people,

and the hills, in righteousness!

4  May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,

give deliverance to the children of the needy,

and crush the oppressor!

5  May they fear you¹ while ^uthe sun endures,

and as long as the moon, ^vthroughout all generations!

6  May he be like ^wrain that falls on ^xthe mown grass,

like ^yshowers that water the earth!

7  In his days may ^zthe righteous flourish,

and ^apeace abound, till the moon be no more!

8  May he have dominion from ^bsea to sea,

and from ^bthe River² to the ^cends of the earth!

9  May desert tribes ^dbow down before him,

and his enemies ^elick the dust!

10  May the kings of ^fTarshish and of ^gthe coastlands

render him ^htribute;

may the kings of ⁱSheba and ^jSeba

bring gifts!

11  May all kings ^kfall down before him,

all nations serve him!

12  For he delivers ^lthe needy when he calls,

the poor and him who has no helper.

13  He has pity on the weak and the needy,

and saves the lives of the needy.

14  From oppression and violence he redeems their life,

and ^mprecious is their blood in his sight.

15  Long may he live;

may ⁿgold of Sheba be given to him!

May prayer be made ^ofor him continually,

and blessings invoked for him all the day!

16  May there be abundance of grain in the land;

on the tops of the mountains may it wave;

may its fruit be like Lebanon;

and may people ^pblossom in the cities

like the ^qgrass of the field!

17  ^rMay his name endure forever,

his fame continue as long as the sun!

^sMay people be blessed in him,

^tall nations call him blessed!

18  ^uBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

who alone does ^vwondrous things.

19  Blessed be his ^wglorious name forever;

may ^xthe whole earth be filled with his glory!

^yAmen and Amen!

20  ^zThe prayers of ^aDavid, the son of Jesse, are ended.

1  ⁱI will sing of ^jthe steadfast love of the Lord, forever;

with my mouth I will make known your ^kfaithfulness to all generations.

2  For I said, ^j“Steadfast love will be built up forever;

in the heavens ^lyou will establish your ^kfaithfulness.”

3  You have said, “I have made ^ma covenant with my ⁿchosen one;

I have ^osworn to David my servant:

4  ‘I will establish your ^poffspring forever,

and build your ^qthrone for all generations.’” Selah

5  Let ^rthe heavens praise your ^swonders, O Lord,

your faithfulness in the assembly of ^tthe holy ones!

6  For ^uwho in the skies can be compared to the Lord?

^uWho among the heavenly beings² is like the Lord,

7  a God greatly ^vto be feared in the council of ^tthe holy ones,

and awesome above all ^wwho are around him?

8  O Lord God of hosts,

^xwho is mighty as you are, O ^yLord,

with your faithfulness all around you?

9  You rule the raging of the sea;

when its waves rise, you ^zstill them.

10  You ^acrushed ^bRahab like a carcass;

you ^cscattered your enemies with your mighty arm.

11  ^dThe heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;

^ethe world and all that is in it, you have ^ffounded them.

12  ^gThe north and the south, you have created them;

^hTabor and ⁱHermon ^jjoyously praise your name.

13  You have a mighty arm;

strong is your hand, high your right hand.

14  ^kRighteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;

^lsteadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

15  Blessed are the people who know ^mthe festal shout,

who walk, O Lord, in ⁿthe light of your face,

16  who exult in your ^oname all the day

and in your righteousness are ^pexalted.

17  For you are ^qthe glory of their strength;

by your favor our ^rhorn is exalted.

18  For our ^sshield belongs to the Lord,

our king to ^tthe Holy One of Israel.

19  ^uOf old you spoke in a vision to your godly one,³ and said:

“I have ^vgranted help to one who is ^wmighty;

I have exalted one ^xchosen from the people.

20  ^yI have found David, my servant;

with my holy oil I have ^zanointed him,

21  so that my ^ahand shall be established with him;

my arm also shall strengthen him.

22  The enemy shall not outwit him;

^bthe wicked shall not humble him.

23  I will ^ccrush his foes before him

and strike down those who hate him.

24  My ^dfaithfulness and my ^dsteadfast love shall be with him,

and in my name shall his ^ehorn be exalted.

25  I will set his hand on ^fthe sea

and his right hand on ^fthe rivers.

26  He shall cry to me, ‘You are my ^gFather,

my God, and ^hthe Rock of my salvation.’

27  And I will make him the ⁱfirstborn,

^jthe highest of the kings of the earth.

28  My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,

and my ^kcovenant will stand firm⁴ for him.

29  I will establish his ^loffspring forever

and his ^lthrone as ^mthe days of the heavens.

30  ⁿIf his children forsake my law

and do not walk according to my rules,⁵

31  if they violate my statutes

and do not keep my commandments,

32  then I will punish their transgression with ^othe rod

and their iniquity with stripes,

33  but I will not remove from him my steadfast love

or be false to my faithfulness.

34  I will not violate my ^kcovenant

or alter the word that went forth from my lips.

35  Once for all I have sworn ^pby my holiness;

I will not ^qlie to David.

36  His ^loffspring shall endure forever,

^rhis ^lthrone as long as ^sthe sun before me.

37  Like ^sthe moon it shall be established forever,

^ta faithful witness in the skies.” Selah

38  But now you have ^ucast off and rejected;

you are full of wrath against your ^vanointed.

39  You have ^wrenounced ^xthe covenant with your servant;

you have ^ydefiled his ^zcrown in the dust.

40  You have ^abreached all his walls;

you have laid his strongholds in ruins.

41  ^aAll who pass by plunder him;

he has become ^bthe scorn of his neighbors.

42  You have exalted the right hand of his foes;

you have made all his enemies rejoice.

43  You have also turned back the edge of his sword,

and you have not made him stand in battle.

44  You have made his splendor to cease

and cast his throne to the ground.

45  You have cut short ^cthe days of his youth;

you have ^dcovered him with shame. Selah

46  ^eHow long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?

How long will your wrath ^fburn like fire?

47  ^gRemember ^hhow short my ⁱtime is!

For what vanity you have created all the children of man!

48  ^jWhat man can live and never ^ksee death?

Who can deliver his soul from the power of ^lSheol? Selah

49  Lord, where is your ^msteadfast love of old,

which by your ^mfaithfulness you swore to David?

50  ⁿRemember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,

and how I bear in my ^oheart the insults⁶ of all the many nations,

51  with which your enemies mock, O Lord,

with which they mock ^pthe footsteps of your ^qanointed.

52  ^rBlessed be the Lord forever!

Amen and Amen.

1  ⁱPraise the Lord!

^jOh give thanks to the Lord, ^kfor he is good,

^lfor his steadfast love endures forever!

2  Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,

or declare all his praise?

3  Blessed are they who observe justice,

who ^mdo righteousness at all times!

4  ⁿRemember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;

help me when you save them,¹

5  that I may look upon the prosperity of your ^ochosen ones,

that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,

that I may glory with your inheritance.

6  ^pBoth we and ^qour fathers have sinned;

we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.

7  Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,

did not consider your wondrous works;

they ^rdid not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,

but ^srebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

8  Yet he saved them ^tfor his name’s sake,

^uthat he might make known his mighty power.

9  He ^vrebuked the Red Sea, and it ^wbecame dry,

and he ^xled them through the deep as through a desert.

10  So he ^ysaved them from the hand of the foe

and ^zredeemed them from the power of the enemy.

11  And ^athe waters covered their adversaries;

not one of them was left.

12  Then ^bthey believed his words;

they ^csang his praise.

13  But they soon ^dforgot his works;

they did not wait for ^ehis counsel.

14  But they had ^fa wanton craving in the wilderness,

and ^gput God to the test in the desert;

15  he ^hgave them what they asked,

but sent ⁱa wasting disease among them.

16  When men in the camp ^jwere jealous of Moses

and Aaron, ^kthe holy one of the Lord,

17  ^lthe earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,

and covered the company of Abiram.

18  ^mFire also broke out in their company;

the flame burned up the wicked.

19  They ⁿmade a calf in Horeb

and worshiped a metal image.

20  They ^oexchanged the glory of God²

for the image of an ox that eats grass.

21  They ^pforgot God, their Savior,

who had done great things in Egypt,

22  wondrous works in ^qthe land of Ham,

and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

23  Therefore ^rhe said he would destroy them—

had not Moses, his ^schosen one,

^tstood in the breach before him,

to turn away his wrath from destroying them.

24  Then they ^udespised ^vthe pleasant land,

having ^wno faith in his promise.

25  They ^xmurmured in their tents,

and did not obey the voice of the Lord.

26  Therefore he ^yraised his hand and swore to them

that he would make them fall in the wilderness,

27  and would make their offspring fall among the nations,

^zscattering them among the lands.

28  Then they ^ayoked themselves to the ^aBaal of Peor,

and ate sacrifices offered to ^bthe dead;

29  they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,

and a plague broke out among them.

30  Then ^cPhinehas stood up and intervened,

and the plague was stayed.

31  And that was ^dcounted to him as righteousness

from generation to generation forever.

32  They ^eangered him at the waters of Meribah,

and it went ill with Moses on their account,

33  for they ^fmade his spirit bitter,³

and he ^gspoke rashly with his lips.

34  They did not ^hdestroy the peoples,

ⁱas the Lord commanded them,

35  but they ^jmixed with the nations

and learned to do as they did.

36  They served their idols,

which became ^ka snare to them.

37  They ^lsacrificed their sons

and their daughters to ^mthe demons;

38  they poured out innocent blood,

the blood of their sons and daughters,

whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,

and the land was ⁿpolluted with blood.

39  Thus they ^obecame unclean by their acts,

and ^pplayed the whore in their deeds.

40  Then ^qthe anger of the Lord was kindled against ^rhis people,

and he abhorred his ^rheritage;

41  he ^sgave them into the hand of the nations,

so that those who hated them ruled over them.

42  Their enemies ^toppressed them,

and they were brought into subjection under their power.

43  ^uMany times he delivered them,

but they were rebellious in their ^vpurposes

and were ^wbrought low through their iniquity.

44  Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,

when he ^xheard their cry.

45  For their sake he ^yremembered his covenant,

and ^zrelented according to ^athe abundance of his steadfast love.

46  He caused them to be ^bpitied

by all those who held them captive.

47  ^cSave us, O Lord our God,

and ^dgather us from among the nations,

that we may give thanks to your holy name

and glory in your praise.

48  ^eBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

^eAnd let all the people say, “Amen!”

^fPraise the Lord!