Psalms 97-103

Psalm 97

¹The Lord is King, let the earth have joy; let all the sea-lands be glad.

²Dark clouds are round him; his kingdom is based on righteousness and right judging.

³Fire goes before him, burning up all those who are against him round about.

⁴His bright flames give light to the world; the earth saw it with fear.

⁵The mountains became like wax at the coming of the Lord, at the coming of the Lord of all the earth.

⁶The heavens gave out the news of his righteousness, and all the people saw his glory.

⁷Shamed be all those who give worship to images, and take pride in false gods; give him worship, all you gods.

⁸Zion gave ear and was glad; and the daughters of Judah were full of joy, because of your decisions, O Lord.

⁹For you, Lord, are most high over the earth; you are lifted up over all other gods.

¹⁰You who are lovers of the Lord, be haters of evil; he keeps the souls of his saints; he takes them out of the hand of sinners.

¹¹Light is shining on the lovers of righteousness, and for the upright in heart there is joy.

¹²Be glad in the Lord, you upright men; praising the memory of his holy name.

Psalm 98

¹A Psalm. O make a new song to the Lord, because he has done works of wonder; with his right hand, and with his holy arm, he has overcome.

²The Lord has given to all the knowledge of his salvation; he has made clear his righteousness in the eyes of the nations.

³He has kept in mind his mercy and his unchanging faith to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

⁴Let all the earth send out a glad cry to the Lord; sounding with a loud voice, and praising him with songs of joy.

⁵Make melody to the Lord with instruments of music; with a corded instrument and the voice of song.

⁶With wind instruments and the sound of the horn, make a glad cry before the Lord, the King.

⁷Let the sea be thundering, with all its waters; the world, and all who are living in it;

⁸Let the streams make sounds of joy with their hands; let the mountains be glad together,

⁹Before the Lord, for he has come as judge of the earth; judging the world in righteousness, and giving true decisions for the peoples.

Psalm 99

¹The Lord is King; let the peoples be in fear: his seat is on the winged ones; let the earth be moved.

²The Lord is great in Zion; he is high over all the nations.

³Let them give praise to your name, for it is great and to be feared; holy is he.

⁴The king's power is used for righteousness; you give true decisions, judging rightly in the land of Jacob.

⁵Give high honour to the Lord our God, worshipping at his feet; holy is he.

⁶Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who gave honour to his name; they made prayers to the Lord, and he gave answers to them.

⁷His voice came to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept his witness, and the law which he gave them.

⁸You gave them an answer, O Lord our God; you took away their sin, though you gave them punishment for their wrongdoing.

⁹Give high honour to the Lord our God, worshipping with your faces turned to his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.

Psalm 100

¹A Psalm of Praise. Make a glad sound to the Lord, all the earth.

²Give worship to the Lord with joy; come before him with a song.

³Be certain that the Lord is God; it is he who has made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep to whom he gives food.

⁴Come into his doors with joy, and into his house with praise; give him honour, blessing his name.

⁵For the Lord is good, and his mercy is never-ending; his faith is unchanging through all generations.

Psalm 101

¹A Psalm. Of David. I will make a song of mercy and righteousness; to you, O Lord, will I make melody.

²I will do wisely in the way of righteousness: O when will you come to me? I will be walking in my house with a true heart.

³I will not put any evil thing before my eyes; I am against all turning to one side; I will not have it near me.

⁴The false heart I will send away from me: I will not have an evil-doer for a friend.

⁵I will put to death anyone who says evil of his neighbour secretly; the man with a high look and a heart of pride is disgusting to me.

⁶My eyes will be on those of good faith in the land, so that they may be living in my house; he who is walking in the right way will be my servant.

⁷The worker of deceit will not come into my house; the false man will have no place before my eyes.

⁸Morning by morning will I put to death all the sinners in the land, so that all evil-doers may be cut off from Jerusalem.

Psalm 102

¹A Prayer of the man who is in trouble, when he is overcome, and puts his grief before the Lord. Give ear to my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come to you.

²Let not your face be veiled from me in the day of my trouble; give ear to me, and let my cry be answered quickly.

³My days are wasted like smoke, and my bones are burned up as in a fire.

⁴My heart is broken; it has become dry and dead like grass, so that I give no thought to food.

⁵Because of the voice of my sorrow, my flesh is wasted to the bone.

⁶I am like a bird living by itself in the waste places; like the night-bird in a waste of sand.

⁷I keep watch like a bird by itself on the house-top.

⁸My haters say evil of me all day; those who are violent against me make use of my name as a curse.

⁹I have had dust for bread and my drink has been mixed with weeping:

¹⁰Because of your passion and your wrath, for I have been lifted up and then made low by you.

¹¹My days are like a shade which is stretched out; I am dry like the grass.

¹²But you, O Lord, are eternal; and your name will never come to an end.

¹³You will again get up and have mercy on Zion: for the time has come for her to be comforted.

¹⁴For your servants take pleasure in her stones, looking with love on her dust.

¹⁵So the nations will give honour to the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth will be in fear of his glory:

¹⁶When the Lord has put up the walls of Zion, and has been been in his glory;

¹⁷When he has given ear to the prayer of the poor, and has not put his request on one side.

¹⁸This will be put in writing for the coming generation, and the people of the future will give praise to the Lord.

¹⁹For from his holy place the Lord has seen, looking down on the earth from heaven;

²⁰Hearing the cry of the prisoner, making free those for whom death is ordered;

²¹So that they may give out the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;

²²When the peoples are come together, and the kingdoms, to give worship to the Lord.

²³He has taken my strength from me in the way; he has made short my days.

²⁴I will say, O my God, take me not away before my time; your years go on through all generations:

²⁵In the past you put the earth on its base, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

²⁶They will come to an end, but you will still go on; they all will become old like a coat, and like a robe they will be changed:

²⁷But you are the unchanging One, and your years will have no end.

²⁸The children of your servants will have a safe resting-place, and their seed will be ever before you.

Psalm 103

¹Of David. Give praise to the Lord, O my soul; let everything in me give praise to his holy name.

²Give praise to the Lord, O my soul; let not all his blessings go from your memory.

³He has forgiveness for all your sins; he takes away all your diseases;

⁴He keeps back your life from destruction, crowning you with mercy and grace.

⁵He makes your mouth full of good things, so that your strength is made new again like the eagle's.

⁶The Lord gives decisions in righteousness for all who are in trouble.

⁷He gave knowledge of his way to Moses, and made his acts clear to the children of Israel.

⁸The Lord is kind and full of pity, not quickly made angry, but ever ready to have mercy.

⁹His feeling will no longer be bitter; he will not keep his wrath for ever.

¹⁰He has not given us the punishment for our sins, or the reward of our wrongdoing.

¹¹For as the heaven is high over the earth, so great is his mercy to his worshippers.

¹²As far as the east is from the west, so far has he put our sins from us.

¹³As a father has pity on his children, so the Lord has pity on his worshippers.

¹⁴For he has knowledge of our feeble frame; he sees that we are only dust.

¹⁵As for man, his days are as grass: his beautiful growth is like the flower of the field.

¹⁶The wind goes over it and it is gone; and its place sees it no longer.

¹⁷But the mercy of the Lord is eternal for his worshippers, and their children's children will see his righteousness;

¹⁸If they keep his agreement, and have his laws in mind to do them.

¹⁹The Lord has made ready his high seat in the heavens; his kingdom is ruling over all.

²⁰Give praise to the Lord, you his angels, who are great in strength, doing his orders, and waiting for his voice.

²¹Give praise to the Lord, all you his armies; and you his servants who do his pleasure.

²²Give praise to the Lord, all his works, in all places under his rule: give praise to the Lord, O my soul.