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