For the Chief Musician; set to the Gittith. A Psalm of David.
O Jehovah, our Lord,
How excellent is thy name in all the earth,
Who hast set thy glory {Or, above}upon the heavens!
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou established strength,
Because of thine adversaries,
That thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,
The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
And the son of man, that thou visitest him?
For thou hast made him but little lower than {Or, the angels Hebrew: Elohim.}God,
And crownest him with glory and honor.
Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands;
Thou hast put all things under his feet:
All sheep and oxen,
Yea, and the beasts of the field,
The birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
Whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
O Jehovah, our Lord,
How excellent is thy name in all the earth!
Querverweise zu Psalm 8,8 Ps 8,8
Beasts and all cattle;Creeping things and flying birds;
And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth {Hebrew: on the face of the expanse of the heavens.}in the open firmament of heaven.
And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that moveth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind: and God saw that it was good.
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.
And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind: and it was so.
And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the ground after its kind: and God saw that it was good.
Canst thou hunt the prey for the lioness,Or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,
When they couch in their dens,And abide in the covert to lie in wait?
Who provideth for the raven his prey,When his young ones cry unto God, And wander for lack of food?
Knowest thou the time when the wild goats of the rock bring forth?Or canst thou mark when the hinds do calve?
Canst thou number the months that they fulfil?Or knowest thou the time when they bring forth?
They bow themselves, they bring forth their young,They cast out their pains.
Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open field;They go forth, and {Or, return not unto them}return not again.
Who hath sent out the wild ass free?Or who hath loosed the bonds of the swift ass,
Whose home I have made the wilderness,And the salt land his dwelling-place?
He scorneth the tumult of the city,Neither heareth he the shoutings of the {Or, taskmaster}driver.
The range of the mountains is his pasture,And he searcheth after every green thing.
Will the wild-ox be content to serve thee?Or will he abide by thy crib?
Canst thou bind the wild-ox with his band in the furrow?Or will he harrow the valleys after thee?
Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great?Or wilt thou leave to him thy labor?
Wilt thou confide in him, that he will bring home thy seed,And gather the grain of thy threshing-floor?
The wings of the ostrich wave proudly;But are they the pinions and plumage of {Or, a stork}love?
For she leaveth her eggs on the earth,And warmeth them in the dust,
And forgetteth that the foot may crush them,Or that the wild beast may trample them.
She {Or, is hardened against}dealeth hardly with her young ones, as if they were not hers:Though her labor be in vain, she is without fear;
Because God hath {Hebrew: made her to forget wisdom.}deprived her of wisdom,Neither hath he imparted to her understanding.
What time she {Or, rouseth herself up to flight}lifteth up herself on high,She scorneth the horse and his rider.
Hast thou given the horse his might?Hast thou clothed his neck with the {Hebrew: shaking.}quivering mane?
Hast thou made him to leap as a locust?The glory of his snorting is terrible.
{Hebrew: They paw.}He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength:He goeth out to meet {Or, the weapons}the armed men.
He mocketh at fear, and is not dismayed;Neither turneth he back from the sword.
The quiver rattleth {Or, upon}against him,The flashing spear and the javelin.
He swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage;Neither {Or, standeth he still at &c.}believeth he that it is the voice of the trumpet.
As oft as the trumpet soundeth he saith, Aha!And he smelleth the battle afar off,The thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
Is it by thy wisdom that the hawk soareth,And stretcheth her wings toward the south?
Is it at thy command that the eagle mounteth up,And maketh her nest on high?
On the cliff she dwelleth, and maketh her home,Upon the point of the cliff, and the stronghold.
From thence she spieth out the prey;Her eyes behold it afar off.
Her young ones also suck up blood:And where the slain are, there is she.
Behold now, {That is, the hippopotamus.}behemoth, which I made {Hebrew: with.}as well as thee;He eateth grass as an ox.
Lo now, his strength is in his loins,And his force is in the muscles of his belly.
He moveth his tail like a cedar:The sinews of his thighs are knit together.
His bones are as tubes of brass;His {Or, ribs}limbs are like bars of iron.
He is the chief of the ways of God:He only that made him giveth him his sword.
Surely the mountains bring him forth food,Where all the beasts of the field do play.
He lieth under the lotus-trees,In the covert of the reed, and the fen.
The lotus-trees cover him with their shade;The willows of the brook compass him about.
Behold, if a river {Or, be violent}overflow, he trembleth not;He is confident, though a Jordan swell even to his mouth.
Shall any take him when he is on the watch,Or pierce through his nose with a snare?
{[Chapter 40:25 in Hebrew]}Canst thou draw out {That is, the crocodile.}leviathan with a fishhook?Or press down his tongue with a cord?
Canst thou put {Hebrew: a rope of rushes.}a rope into his nose?Or pierce his jaw through with a {Or, spike}hook?
Will he make many supplications unto thee?Or will he speak soft words unto thee?
Will he make a covenant with thee,That thou shouldest take him for a servant for ever?
Wilt thou play with him as with a bird?Or wilt thou bind him for thy maidens?
Will the bands of fishermen make traffic of him?Will they part him among the merchants?
Canst thou fill his skin with barbed irons,Or his head with fish-spears?
Lay thy hand upon him;Remember the battle, and do so no more.
{[Chapter 41:1 in Hebrew]}Behold, the hope of him is in vain:Will not one be cast down even at the sight of him?
None is so fierce that he dare stir him up;Who then is he that can stand before me?
Who hath first given unto me, that I should repay him?Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.
I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,Nor his mighty strength, nor his goodly frame.
Who can {Hebrew: uncover the face of his garment.}strip off his outer garment?Who shall come within his jaws?
Who can open the doors of his face? {Or, His teeth are terrible round about}Round about his teeth is terror.
His {Or, courses of scales Hebrew: channels of shields.}strong scales are his pride,Shut up together as with a close seal.
One is so near to another,That no air can come between them.
They are joined one to another;They stick together, so that they cannot be sundered.
His sneezings flash forth light,And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
Out of his mouth go burning torches,And sparks of fire leap forth.
Out of his nostrils a smoke goeth,As of a boiling pot and burning rushes.
His breath kindleth coals,And a flame goeth forth from his mouth.
In his neck abideth strength,And terror danceth before him.
The flakes of his flesh are joined together:They are firm upon him; they cannot be moved.
His heart is as firm as a stone;Yea, firm as the nether millstone.
When he raiseth himself up, the mighty are afraid:By reason of consternation they are beside themselves.
If one lay at him with the sword, it cannot avail;Nor the spear, the dart, nor the {Or, coat of mail}pointed shaft.
He counteth iron as straw,And brass as rotten wood.
The {Hebrew: son of the bow.}arrow cannot make him flee:Sling-stones are turned with him into stubble.
Clubs are counted as stubble:He laugheth at the rushing of the javelin.
His underparts are like sharp potsherds:He spreadeth as it were a threshing-wain upon the mire.
He maketh the deep to boil like a pot:He maketh the sea like a pot of ointment.
He maketh a path to shine after him;One would think the deep to be hoary.
Upon earth there is not his like,That is made without fear.
He beholdeth everything that is high:He is king over all the sons of pride.