The Bible (Old and New Testaments)

O turn unto me, and be gracious unto me; give Thy strength unto Thy servant, and save the son of Thy handmaid.

Work in my behalf a sign for good; that they that hate me may see it, and be put to shame, because Thou, LORD, hast helped me, and comforted me.

A Psalm of the sons of Korah; a Song. His foundation is in the holy mountains.

The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

Glorious things are spoken of Thee, O city of God. Selah

'I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon as among them that know Me; behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this one was born there.'

But of Zion it shall be said: 'This man and that was born in her; and the Most High Himself doth establish her.'

The LORD shall count in the register of the peoples: 'This one was born there.' Selah

And whether they sing or dance, all my thoughts are in Thee.

A Song, a Psalm of the sons of Korah; for the Leader; upon Mahalath Leannoth. Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD, God of my salvation, what time I cry in the night before Thee,

Let my prayer come before Thee, incline Thine ear unto my cry.

For my soul is sated with troubles, and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

I am counted with them that go down into the pit; I am become as a man that hath no help;

Set apart among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom Thou rememberest no more; and they are cut off from Thy hand.

Thou hast laid me in the nethermost pit, in dark places, in the deeps.

Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and all Thy waves Thou pressest down. Selah

Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me; Thou hast made me an abomination unto them; I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

Mine eye languisheth by reason of affliction; I have called upon Thee, O LORD, every day, I have spread forth my hands unto Thee.

Wilt Thou work wonders for the dead? Or shall the shades arise and give Thee thanks? Selah

Shall Thy mercy be declared in the grave? or Thy faithfulness in destruction?

Shall Thy wonders be known in the dark? and Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

But as for me, unto Thee, O LORD, do I cry, and in the morning doth my prayer come to meet Thee.

LORD, why castest Thou off my soul? Why hidest Thou Thy face from me?

I am afflicted and at the point of death from my youth up; I have borne Thy terrors, I am distracted.

Thy fierce wrath is gone over me; Thy terrors have cut me off.

They came round about me like water all the day; they compassed me about together.

Friend and companion hast Thou put far from me, and mine acquaintance into darkness.

Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever; to all generations will I make known Thy faithfulness with my mouth.

For I have said: 'For ever is mercy built; in the very heavens Thou dost establish Thy faithfulness.

I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn unto David My servant:

For ever will I establish thy seed, and build up thy throne to all generations.' Selah

So shall the heavens praise Thy wonders, O LORD, Thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.

For who in the skies can be compared unto the LORD, who among the sons of might can be likened unto the LORD,

A God dreaded in the great council of the holy ones, and feared of all them that are about Him?

O LORD God of hosts, who is a mighty one, like unto Thee, O LORD? And Thy faithfulness is round about Thee.

Thou rulest the proud swelling of the sea; when the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them.

Thou didst crush Rahab, as one that is slain; Thou didst scatter Thine enemies with the arm of Thy strength.

Thine are the heavens, Thine also the earth; the world and the fulness thereof, Thou hast founded them.

The north and the south, Thou hast created them; Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Thy name.

Thine is an arm with might; strong is Thy hand, and exalted is Thy right hand.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Thy throne; mercy and truth go before Thee.

Happy is the people that know the joyful shout; they walk, O LORD, in the light of Thy countenance.

In Thy name do they rejoice all the day; and through Thy righteousness are they exalted.

For Thou art the glory of their strength; and in Thy favour our horn is exalted.

For of the LORD is our shield; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.

Then Thou spokest in vision to Thy godly ones, and saidst: 'I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

I have found David My servant; with My holy oil have I anointed him;

With whom My hand shall be established; Mine arm also shall strengthen him.

The enemy shall not exact from him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

And I will beat to pieces his adversaries before him, and smite them that hate him.

But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him; and through My name shall his horn be exalted.

I will set his hand also on the sea, and his right hand on the rivers.

He shall call unto Me: Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

I also will appoint him first-born, the highest of the kings of the earth.

For ever will I keep for him My mercy, and My covenant shall stand fast with him.

His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

If his children forsake My law, and walk not in Mine ordinances;

If they profane My statutes, and keep not My commandments;

Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with strokes.

But My mercy will I not break off from him, nor will I be false to My faithfulness.

My covenant will I not profane, nor alter that which is gone out of My lips.

Once have I sworn by My holiness: Surely I will not be false unto David;

His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before Me.

It shall be established for ever as the moon; and be stedfast as the witness in sky.' Selah

But Thou hast cast off and rejected, Thou hast been wroth with Thine anointed.

Thou hast abhorred the covenant of Thy servant; Thou hast profaned his crown even to the ground.

Thou hast broken down all his fences; Thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin.

All that pass by the way spoil him; he is become a taunt to his neighbours.

Thou hast exalted the right hand of his adversaries; Thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

Yea, Thou turnest back the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.

Thou hast made his brightness to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.

The days of his youth hast Thou shortened; Thou hast covered him with shame. Selah

How long, O LORD, wilt Thou hide Thyself for ever? How long shall Thy wrath burn like fire?

O remember how short my time is; for what vanity hast Thou created all the children of men!

What man is he that liveth and shall not see death, that shall deliver his soul from the power of the grave? Selah

Where are Thy former mercies, O Lord, which Thou didst swear unto David in Thy faithfulness?

Remember, Lord, the taunt of Thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the taunt of so many peoples;

Wherewith Thine enemies have taunted, O LORD, wherewith they have taunted the footsteps of Thine anointed.

Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen.

BOOK IV A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.

Thou turnest man to contrition; and sayest: 'Return, ye children of men.'

For a thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep; in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.

In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.

For we are consumed in Thine anger, and by Thy wrath are we hurried away.

Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance.

For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath; we bring our years to an end as a tale that is told.

The days of our years are threescore years and ten, or even by reason of strength fourscore years; yet is their pride but travail and vanity; for it is speedily gone, and we fly away.

Who knoweth the power of Thine anger, and Thy wrath according to the fear that is due unto Thee?

So teach us to number our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom.

Return, O LORD; how long? And let it repent Thee concerning Thy servants.

O satisfy us in the morning with Thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

Make us glad according to the days wherein Thou hast afflicted us, according to the years wherein we have seen evil.

Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory upon their children.

And let the graciousness of the Lord our God be upon us; establish Thou also upon us the work of our hands; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.

O thou that dwellest in the covert of the Most High, and abidest in the shadow of the Almighty;

I will say of the LORD, who is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust,

That He will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

He will cover thee with His pinions, and under His wings shalt thou take refuge; His truth is a shield and a buckler.