Of understanding, for Ethan the Ezrahite.

The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever. I will shew forth thy truth with my mouth to generation and generation.

For thou hast said: Mercy shall be built up for ever in the heavens: thy truth shall be prepared in them.

I have made a covenant with my elect: I have sworn to David my servant:

Thy seed will I settle for ever. And I will build up thy throne unto generation and generation.

The heavens shall confess thy wonders, O Lord: and thy truth in the church of the saints.

For who in the clouds can be compared to the Lord: or who among the sons of God shall be like to God?

God, who is glorified in the assembly of the saints: great and terrible above all them that are about him.

O Lord God of hosts, who is like to thee? thou art mighty, O Lord, and thy truth is round about thee.

Thou rulest the power of the sea: and appeasest the motion of the waves thereof.

Thou hast humbled the proud one, as one that is slain: with the arm of thy strength thou hast scattered thy enemies.

Thine are the heavens, and thine is the earth: the world and the fulness thereof thou hast founded:

The north and the sea thou hast created. Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name:

Thy arm is with might. Let thy hand be strengthened, and thy right hand exalted:

Justice and judgment are the preparation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before thy face:

Blessed is the people that knoweth jubilation. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance:

And in thy name they shall rejoice all the day, and in thy justice they shall be exalted.

For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy good pleasure shall our horn be exalted.

For our protection is of the Lord, and of our king the holy one of Israel.

Then thou spokest in a vision to thy saints, and saidst: I have laid help upon one that is mighty, and have exalted one chosen out of my people.

I have found David my servant: with my holy oil I have anointed him.

For my hand shall help him: and my arm shall strengthen him.

The enemy shall have no advantage over him: nor the son of iniquity have power to hurt him.

And I will cut down his enemies before his face; and them that hate him I will put to flight.

And my truth and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

And I will set his hand in the sea; and his right hand in the rivers.

He shall cry out to me: Thou art my father: my God, and the support of my salvation.

And I will make him my firstborn, high above the kings of the earth.

I will keep my mercy for him for ever: and my covenant faithful to him.

And I will make his seed to endure for evermore: and his throne as the days of heaven.

And if his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments:

If they profane my justices: and keep not my commandments:

I will visit their iniquities with a rod and their sins with stripes.

But my mercy I will not take away from him: nor will I suffer my truth to fail.

Neither will I profane my covenant: and the words that proceed from my mouth I will not make void.

Once have I sworn by my holiness: I will not lie unto David:

His seed shall endure for ever.

And his throne as the sun before me: and as the moon perfect for ever, and a faithful witness in heaven.

But thou hast rejected and despised: thou hast been angry with my anointed.

Thou hast overthrown the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his sanctuary on the earth.

Thou hast broken down all his hedges: thou hast made his strength fear.

All that pass by the way have robbed him: he is become a reproach to his neighbours.

Thou hast set up the right hand of them that oppress him: thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

Thou hast turned away the help of his sword; and hast not assisted him in battle.

Thou hast made his purification to cease: and thou hast cast his throne down to the ground.

Thou hast shortened the days of his time: thou hast covered him with confusion.

How long, O Lord, turnest thou away unto the end? shall thy anger burn like fire?

Remember what my substance is: for hast thou made all the children of men in vain?

Who is the man that shall live, and not see death: that shall deliver his soul from the hand of hell?

Lord, where are thy ancient mercies, according to what thou didst swear to David in thy truth?

Be mindful, O Lord, of the reproach of thy servants (which I have held in my bosom) of many nations:

Wherewith thy enemies have reproached, O Lord; wherewith they have reproached the change of thy anointed.

Blessed be the Lord for evermore. So be it. So be it.

A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, thou hast been our refuge from generation to generation.

Before the mountains were made, or the earth and the world was formed; from eternity and to eternity thou art God.

Turn not man away to be brought low: and thou hast said: Be converted, O ye sons of men.

For a thousand years in thy sight are as yesterday, which is past. And as a watch in the night,

Things that are counted nothing, shall their years be.

In the morning man shall grow up like grass; in the morning he shall flourish and pass away: in the evening he shall fall, grow dry, and wither.

For in thy wrath we have fainted away: and are troubled in thy indignation.

Thou hast set our iniquities before thy eyes: our life in the light of thy countenance.

For all our days are spent; and in thy wrath we have fainted away. Our years shall be considered as a spider:

The days of our years in them are threescore and ten years. But if in the strong they be fourscore years: and what is more of them is labour and sorrow. For mildness is come upon us: and we shall be corrected.

Who knoweth the power of thy anger, and for thy fear

Can number thy wrath? So make thy right hand known: and men learned in heart, in wisdom.

Return, O Lord, how long? and be entreated in favour of thy servants.

We are filled in the morning with thy mercy: and we have rejoiced, and are delighted all our days.

We have rejoiced for the days in which thou hast humbled us: for the years in which we have seen evils.

Look upon thy servants and upon their works: and direct their children.

And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us: and direct thou the works of our hands over us; yea, the work of our hands do thou direct.

The praise of a canticle for David. He that dwelleth in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.

He shall say to the Lord: Thou art my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.

For he hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.

He will overshadow thee with his shoulders: and under his wings thou shalt trust.

His truth shall compass thee with a shield: thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night.

Of the arrow that flieth in the day, of the business that walketh about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee.

But thou shalt consider with thy eyes: and shalt see the reward of the wicked.

Because thou, O Lord, art my hope: thou hast made the most High thy refuge.

There shall no evil come to thee: nor shall the scourge come near thy dwelling.

For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways.

In their hands they shall bear thee up: lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon.

Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he hath known my name.

He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.

I will fill him with length of days; and I will shew him my salvation.

A psalm of a canticle on the sabbath day.

It is good to give praise to the Lord: and to sing to thy name, O most High.

To shew forth thy mercy in the morning, and thy truth in the night:

Upon an instrument of ten strings, upon the psaltery: with a canticle upon the harp.

For thou hast given me, O Lord, a delight in thy doings: and in the works of thy hands I shall rejoice.

O Lord, how great are thy works! thy thoughts are exceeding deep.

The senseless man shall not know: nor will the fool understand these things.

When the wicked shall spring up as grass: and all the workers of iniquity shall appear: That they may perish for ever and ever:

But thou, O Lord, art most high for evermore.

For behold thy enemies, O lord, for behold thy enemies shall perish: and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

But my horn shall be exalted like that of the unicorn: and my old age in plentiful mercy.

My eye also hath looked down upon my enemies: and my ear shall hear of the downfall of the malignant that rise up against me.

The just shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus.

They that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of the house of our God.

They shall still increase in a fruitful old age: and shall be well treated,

That they may shew, That the Lord our God is righteous, and there is no iniquity in him.

The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded himself. For he hath established the world which shall not be moved.

My throne is prepared from of old: thou art from everlasting.

The floods have lifted up, O Lord: the floods have lifted up their voice. The floods have lifted up their waves,

With the noise of many waters. Wonderful are the surges of the sea: wonderful is the Lord on high.

Thy testimonies are become exceedingly credible: holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, unto length of days.

The Lord is the God to whom revenge belongeth: the God of revenge hath acted freely.

Lift up thyself, thou that judgest the earth: render a reward to the proud.

How long shall sinners, O Lord: how long shall sinners glory?

Shall they utter, and speak iniquity: shall all speak who work injustice?

Thy people, O Lord, they have brought low: and they have afflicted thy inheritance.

They have slain the widow and the stranger: and they have murdered the fatherless.

And they have said: The Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob understand.

Understand, ye senseless among the people: and, you fools, be wise at last.

He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he that formed the eye, doth he not consider?

He that chastiseth nations, shall he not rebuke: he that teacheth man knowledge?

The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, that they are vain.

Blessed is the man whom thou shalt instruct, O Lord: and shalt teach him out of thy law.

That thou mayst give him rest from the evil days: till a pit be dug for the wicked.

For the Lord will not cast off his people: neither will he forsake his own inheritance.

Until justice be turned into judgment: and they that are near it are all the upright in heart.

Who shall rise up for me against the evildoers? or who shall stand with me against the workers of iniquity?

Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost dwelt in hell.

If I said: My foot is moved: thy mercy, O Lord, assisted me.

According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy comforts have given joy to my soul.

Doth the seat of iniquity stick to thee, who framest labour in commandment?

They will hunt after the soul of the just, and will condemn innocent blood.

But the Lord is my refuge: and my God the help of my hope.

And he will render them their iniquity: and in their malice he will destroy them: the Lord our God will destroy them.

Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his.

For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.

Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us.

For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.

To day if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:

As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.

Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart.

And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.