Psalms 49-55

Psalm 49

¹To the chief Musician. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm. Hear this, all ye peoples; give ear, all inhabitants of the world:

²Both men of low and men of high degree, rich and poor alike.

³My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding:

⁴I will incline mine ear to a parable, I will open my riddle upon the harp.

⁵Wherefore should I fear in the days of adversity, when the iniquity of my supplanters encompasseth me? --

⁶They depend upon their wealth, and boast themselves in the abundance of their riches. ...

⁷None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him,

⁸(For the redemption of their soul is costly, and must be given up for ever,)

⁹That he should still live perpetually, and not see corruption.

¹⁰For he seeth that wise men die; all alike, the fool and the brutish perish, and they leave their wealth to others.

¹¹Their inward thought is, that their houses are for ever, their dwelling-places from generation to generation: they call the lands after their own names.

¹²Nevertheless, man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³This their way is their folly, yet they that come after them delight in their sayings. Selah.

¹⁴Like sheep are they laid in Sheol: Death feedeth on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their comeliness shall be for Sheol to consume, that there be no habitation for them.

¹⁵But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol: for he will receive me. Selah.

¹⁶Be not afraid when a man becometh rich, when the glory of his house is increased:

¹⁷For when he dieth, he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him.

¹⁸Though he blessed his soul in his lifetime, -- and men will praise thee when thou doest well to thyself, --

¹⁹It shall go to the generation of his fathers: they shall never see light.

²⁰Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.

Psalm 50

¹A Psalm. Of Asaph. God, Elohim-Jehovah, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.

²Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined forth.

³Our God will come, and will not keep silence: fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.

⁴He will call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people:

⁵Gather unto me my godly ones, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice!

⁶And the heavens shall declare his righteousness; for God executeth judgment himself. Selah.

⁷Hear, my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify unto thee: I am God, thy God.

⁸I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices, or thy burnt-offerings, continually before me;

⁹I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he-goats out of thy folds:

¹⁰For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle upon a thousand hills;

¹¹I know all the fowl of the mountains, and the roaming creatures of the field are mine:

¹²If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

¹³Should I eat the flesh of bulls, and drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴Offer unto God thanksgiving, and perform thy vows unto the Most High;

¹⁵And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

¹⁶But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant into thy mouth,

¹⁷Seeing thou hast hated correction and hast cast my words behind thee?

¹⁸When thou sawest a thief, thou didst take pleasure in him, and thy portion was with adulterers;

¹⁹Thou lettest thy mouth loose to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit;

²⁰Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother, thou revilest thine own mother's son:

²¹These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

²²Now consider this, ye that forget +God, lest I tear in pieces, and there be no deliverer.

²³Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me; and to him that ordereth his way will I shew the salvation of God.

Psalm 51

¹To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba. Be gracious unto me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness; according to the abundance of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

²Wash me fully from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

³For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is continually before me.

⁴Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done what is evil in thy sight; that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, be clear when thou judgest.

⁵Behold, in iniquity was I brought forth, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

⁶Behold, thou wilt have truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom.

⁷Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

⁸Make me to hear gladness and joy; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

⁹Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

¹¹Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not the spirit of thy holiness from me.

¹²Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and let a willing spirit sustain me.

¹³I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall return unto thee.

¹⁴Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

¹⁵Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare thy praise.

¹⁶For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou hast no pleasure in burnt-offering.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

¹⁸Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then shalt thou have sacrifices of righteousness, burnt-offering, and whole burnt-offering; then shall they offer up bullocks upon thine altar.

Psalm 52

¹To the chief Musician: an instruction. Of David; when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David came to the house of Ahimelech. Why boastest thou thyself in evil, thou mighty man? The loving-kindness of God abideth continually.

²Thy tongue deviseth mischievous things, like a sharp razor, practising deceit.

³Thou hast loved evil rather than good, lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.

⁴Thou hast loved all devouring words, O deceitful tongue!

⁵God shall likewise destroy thee for ever; he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy tent, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.

⁶The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying,

⁷Behold the man that made not God his strength, but put confidence in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his avarice.

⁸But as for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God: I will confide in the loving-kindness of God for ever and ever.

⁹I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it; and I will wait on thy name, before thy godly ones, for it is good.

Psalm 53

¹To the chief Musician. On Mahalath: an instruction. Of David. The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God! They have corrupted themselves, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.

²God looked down from the heavens upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.

³Every one of them is gone back, they are together become corrupt: there is none that doeth good, not even one.

⁴Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, eating up my people as they eat bread? they call not upon God.

⁵There were they in great fear, where no fear was; for God scattereth the bones of him that encampeth against thee. Thou hast put them to shame, for God hath despised them.

⁶Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God turneth again the captivity of his people, Jacob shall be glad, Israel shall rejoice.

Psalm 54

¹To the chief Musician. On stringed instruments: an instruction. Of David; when the Ziphites came, and said to Saul, Is not David hiding himself with us? O God, by thy name save me, and by thy strength do me justice.

²O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth.

³For strangers are risen up against me, and the violent seek after my life: they have not set God before them. Selah.

⁴Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is among them that uphold my soul.

⁵He will requite evil to mine enemies: in thy truth cut them off.

⁶I will freely sacrifice unto thee; I will praise thy name, O Jehovah, because it is good.

⁷For he hath delivered me out of all trouble; and mine eye hath seen its desire upon mine enemies.

Psalm 55

¹To the chief Musician. On stringed instruments: an instruction. Of David. Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.

²Attend unto me, and answer me: I wander about in my plaint, and I moan aloud,

³Because of the voice of the enemy; because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in anger they persecute me.

⁴My heart is writhing within me, and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.

⁵Fear and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.

⁶And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away, and be at rest;

⁷Behold, I would flee afar off, I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah;

⁸I would hasten my escape from the stormy wind, from the tempest.

⁹Swallow them up, Lord; divide their tongue: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof; and iniquity and mischief are in the midst of it.

¹¹Perversities are in the midst thereof; and oppression and deceit depart not from its streets.

¹²For it is not an enemy that hath reproached me -- then could I have borne it; neither is it he that hateth me that hath magnified himself against me -- then would I have hidden myself from him;

¹³But it was thou, a man mine equal, mine intimate, my familiar friend. ...

¹⁴We who held sweet intercourse together. To the house of God we walked amid the throng.

¹⁵Let death seize upon them, let them go down alive into Sheol. For wickedness is in their dwellings, in their midst.

¹⁶As for me, unto God will I call; and Jehovah will save me.

¹⁷Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray and moan aloud; and he will hear my voice.

¹⁸He hath redeemed my soul in peace from the battle against me: for there were many about me.

¹⁹God will hear, and afflict them: he that is seated of old, (Selah) ... because there is no change in them, and they fear not God.

²⁰He hath put forth his hands against such as are at peace with him; he hath profaned his covenant.

²¹Smooth were the milky words of his mouth, but his heart was war; his words were softer than oil, yet are they drawn swords.

²²Cast thy burden upon Jehovah, and *he* will sustain thee: he will never suffer the righteous to be moved.

²³And thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. But as for me, I will confide in thee.