June 26
Psalms 45:1 — 49:20
To the director upon The Lilies. Of the sons of Korah. Maskil. A song of the beloved women.
45 My heart has become astir with a goodly matter.
I am saying: “My works are concerning a king.”
May my tongue be the stylus of a skilled copyist.
2 You are indeed more handsome than the sons of men.
Charm has been poured out upon your lips.
That is why God has blessed you to time indefinite.
3 Gird your sword upon [your] thigh, O mighty one,
[With] your dignity and your splendor.
4 And in your splendor go on to success;
Ride in the cause of truth and humility [and] righteousness,
And your right hand will instruct you in fear-inspiring things.
5 Your arrows are sharp—under you peoples keep falling—
In the heart of the enemies of the king.
6 God is your throne to time indefinite, even forever;
The scepter of your kingship is a scepter of uprightness.
7 You have loved righteousness and you hate wickedness.
That is why God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of exultation more than your partners.
8 All your garments are myrrh and aloeswood [and] cassia;
Out from the grand ivory palace stringed instruments themselves have made you rejoice.
9 The daughters of kings are among your precious women.
The queenly consort has taken her stand at your right hand in gold of Ophir.
10 Listen, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear;
And forget your people and your father’s house.
11 And the king will long for your prettiness,
For he is your lord,
So bow down to him.
12 The daughter of Tyre also with a gift—
The rich ones of the people will soften your own face.
13 The king’s daughter is all glorious within [the house];
Her clothing is with settings of gold.
14 In woven apparel she will be brought to the king.
The virgins in her train as her companions are being brought in to you.
15 They will be brought with rejoicing and joyfulness;
They will enter into the palace of the king.
16 In place of your forefathers there will come to be your sons,
Whom you will appoint as princes in all the earth.
17 I will make mention of your name throughout all generations to come.
That is why peoples themselves will laud you to time indefinite, even forever.
To the director. Of the sons of Korah upon The Maidens. A song.
46 God is for us a refuge and strength,
A help that is readily to be found during distresses.
2 That is why we shall not fear, though the earth undergo change
And though the mountains totter into the heart of the vast sea;
3 Though its waters be boisterous, foam over,
Though the mountains rock at its uproar. Selah.
4 There is a river the streams of which make the city of God rejoice,
The holiest grand tabernacle of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of [the city]; it will not be made to totter.
God will help it at the appearance of morning.
6 The nations became boisterous, the kingdoms tottered;
He sounded with his voice, the earth proceeded to melt.
7 Jehovah of armies is with us;
The God of Jacob is a secure height for us. Selah.
8 Come, YOU people, behold the activities of Jehovah,
How he has set astonishing events on the earth.
9 He is making wars to cease to the extremity of the earth.
The bow he breaks apart and does cut the spear in pieces;
The wagons he burns in the fire.
10 “Give in, YOU people, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 Jehovah of armies is with us;
The God of
Jacob is a secure height for us. Selah.
To the director. Of the sons of Korah. A melody.
47 All YOU peoples, clap YOUR hands.
Shout in triumph to God with the sound of a joyful cry.
2 For Jehovah, the Most High, is fear-inspiring,
A great King over all the earth.
3 He will subdue peoples under us
And national groups under our feet.
4 He will choose for us our inheritance,
The pride of Jacob, whom he has loved. Selah.
5 God has ascended with joyful shouting,
Jehovah with the sound of the horn.
6 MAKE melody to God, make melody.
Make melody to our King, make melody.
7 For God is King of all the earth;
MAKE melody, acting with discretion.
8 God has become king over the nations.
God himself has taken his seat upon his holy throne.
9 The nobles of the peoples themselves have gathered together,
[With] the people of the God of Abraham.
For to God the shields of the earth belong.
He is very high in his ascent.
A song. A melody of the sons of Korah.
48 Jehovah is great and much to be praised
In the city of our God, [in] his holy mountain.
2 Pretty for loftiness, the exultation of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion on the remote sides of the north,
The town of the grand King.
3 In her dwelling towers God himself has become known as a secure height.
4 For, look! the kings themselves have met by appointment,
They have passed by together.
5 They themselves saw; [and] so they were amazed.
They got disturbed, they were sent running in panic.
6 Trembling itself took hold of them there,
Birth pangs like those of a woman giving birth.
7 With an east wind you wreck the ships of Tarshish.
8 Just as we have heard, so we have seen
In the city of Jehovah of armies, in the city of our God.
God himself will firmly establish it to time indefinite. Selah.
9 We have pondered, O God, over your loving-kindness
In the midst of your temple.
10 Like your name, O God, so your praise is
To the borders of the earth.
Your right hand is full of righteousness itself.
11 May Mount Zion rejoice,
May the dependent towns of Judah be joyful, on account of your judicial decisions.
12 March around Zion, YOU people, and go about it,
Count its towers.
13 Set YOUR hearts upon its rampart.
Inspect its dwelling towers,
In order that YOU may recount it to the future generation.
14 For this God is our God to time indefinite, even forever.
He himself will guide us until [we] die.
To the director. Of the sons of Korah. A melody.
49 Hear this, all YOU peoples.
Give ear, all YOU inhabitants of the system of things,
2 YOU sons of humankind as well as YOU sons of man,
You rich one and you poor one together.
3 My own mouth will speak things of wisdom,
And the meditation of my heart will be of things of understanding.
4 To a proverbial utterance I shall incline my ear;
On a harp I shall open up my riddle.
5 Why should I be afraid in the days of evil,
[When] the very error of my supplanters surrounds me?
6 Those who are trusting in their means of maintenance,
And who keep boasting about the abundance of their riches,
7 Not one of them can by any means redeem even a brother,
Nor give to God a ransom for him;
8 (And the redemption price of their soul is so precious
That it has ceased to time indefinite)
9 That he should still live forever [and] not see the pit.
10 For he sees that even the wise ones die,
Together the stupid one and the unreasoning one perish,
And they must leave to others their means of maintenance.
11 Their inward wish is that their houses may be to time indefinite,
Their tabernacles to generation after generation.
They have called their landed estates by their names.
12 And yet earthling man, though in honor, cannot keep lodging;
He is indeed comparable with the beasts that have been destroyed.
13 This is the way of those who have stupidity,
And of those coming after them who take pleasure in their very mouthings. Selah.
14 Like sheep they have been appointed to Sheol itself;
Death itself will shepherd them;
And the upright ones will have them in subjection in the morning,
And their forms are due to wear away;
Sheol rather than a lofty abode is for each one.
15 However, God himself will redeem my soul from the hand of Sheol,
For he will receive me. Selah.
16 Do not be afraid because some man gains riches,
Because the glory of his house increases,
17 For at his death he cannot take along anything at all;
His glory will not go down along with him himself.
18 For during his lifetime he kept blessing his own soul;
(And people will laud you because you do well for yourself)
19 [His soul] finally comes only as far as the generation of his forefathers.
Nevermore will they see the light.
20 Earthling man, although in honor, who does not understand,
Is indeed comparable with the beasts that have been destroyed.