Verse 1. Of understanding, for Ethan the Ezrahite.
Verse 2. The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever. I will shew forth thy truth with my mouth to generation and generation.
Verse 3. For thou hast said: Mercy shall be built up for ever in the heavens: thy truth shall be prepared in them.
Verse 4. I have made a covenant with my elect: I have sworn to David my servant:
Verse 5. Thy seed will I settle for ever. And I will build up thy throne unto generation and generation.
Verse 6. The heavens shall confess thy wonders, O Lord: and thy truth in the church of the saints.
Verse 7. For who in the clouds can be compared to the Lord: or who among the sons of God shall be like to God?
Verse 8. God, who is glorified in the assembly of the saints: great and terrible above all them that are about him.
Verse 9. O Lord God of hosts, who is like to thee? thou art mighty, O Lord, and thy truth is round about thee.
Verse 10. Thou rulest the power of the sea: and appeasest the motion of the waves thereof.
Verse 11. Thou hast humbled the proud one, as one that is slain: with the arm of thy strength thou hast scattered thy enemies.
Verse 12. Thine are the heavens, and thine is the earth: the world and the fulness thereof thou hast founded:
Verse 13. The north and the sea thou hast created. Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name:
Verse 14. Thy arm is with might. Let thy hand be strengthened, and thy right hand exalted:
Verse 15. Justice and judgment are the preparation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before thy face:
Verse 16. Blessed is the people that knoweth jubilation. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance:
Verse 17. And in thy name they shall rejoice all the day, and in thy justice they shall be exalted.
Verse 18. For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy good pleasure shall our horn be exalted.
Verse 19. For our protection is of the Lord, and of our king the holy one of Israel.
Verse 20. 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.
Verse 21. I have found David my servant: with my holy oil I have anointed him.
Verse 22. For my hand shall help him: and my arm shall strengthen him.
Verse 23. The enemy shall have no advantage over him: nor the son of iniquity have power to hurt him.
Verse 24. And I will cut down his enemies before his face; and them that hate him I will put to flight.
Verse 25. And my truth and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
Verse 26. And I will set his hand in the sea; and his right hand in the rivers.
Verse 27. He shall cry out to me: Thou art my father: my God, and the support of my salvation.
Verse 28. And I will make him my firstborn, high above the kings of the earth.
Verse 29. I will keep my mercy for him for ever: and my covenant faithful to him.
Verse 30. And I will make his seed to endure for evermore: and his throne as the days of heaven.
Verse 31. And if his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments:
Verse 32. If they profane my justices: and keep not my commandments:
Verse 33. I will visit their iniquities with a rod: and their sins with stripes.
Verse 34. But my mercy I will not take away from him: nor will I suffer my truth to fail.
Verse 35. Neither will I profane my covenant: and the words that proceed from my mouth I will not make void.
Verse 36. Once have I sworn by my holiness: I will not lie unto David:
Verse 37. His seed shall endure for ever.
Verse 38. And his throne as the sun before me: and as the moon perfect for ever, and a faithful witness in heaven.
Verse 39. But thou hast rejected and despised: thou hast been angry with thy anointed.
Verse 40. Thou hast overthrown the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his sanctuary on the earth.
Verse 41. Thou hast broken down all his hedges: thou hast made his strength fear.
Verse 42. All that pass by the way have robbed him: he is become a reproach to his neighbours.
Verse 43. Thou hast set up the right hand of them that oppress him: thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
Verse 44. Thou hast turned away the help of his sword; and hast not assisted him in battle.
Verse 45. Thou hast made his purification to cease: and thou hast cast his throne down to the ground.
Verse 46. Thou hast shortened the days of his time: thou hast covered him with confusion.
Verse 47. How long, O Lord, turnest thou away unto the end? shall thy anger burn like fire?
Verse 48. Remember what my substance is for hast thou made all the children of men in vain?
Verse 49. Who is the man that shall live, and not see death: that shall deliver his soul from the hand of hell?
Verse 50. Lord, where are thy ancient mercies, according to what thou didst swear to David in thy truth?
Verse 51. Be mindful, O Lord, of the reproach of thy servants (which I have held in my bosom) of many nations:
Verse 52. Wherewith thy enemies have reproached, O Lord; wherewith they have reproached the change of thy anointed.
Verse 53. Blessed be the Lord for evermore. So be it. So be it.