American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
Maschil of Asaph.Give ear, O my people, to my {Or, teaching}law:Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,Telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah,And his strength, and his wondrous works that he hath done.
Maschil of Asaph.Give ear, O my people, to my {Or, teaching}law:Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,Telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah,And his strength, and his wondrous works that he hath done.
For he established a testimony in Jacob,And appointed a law in Israel,Which he commanded our fathers,That they should make them known to their children;
That the generation to come might know them, even the children that should be born;Who should arise and tell them to their children,
That they might set their hope in God,And not forget the works of God,But keep his commandments,
And might not be as their fathers,A stubborn and rebellious generation,A generation {Or, that prepared not their hearts}that set not their heart aright,And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,Turned back in the day of battle.
They kept not the covenant of God,And refused to walk in his law;
And they forgat his doings,And his wondrous works that he had showed them.
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers,In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through;And he made the waters to stand as a heap.
In the day-time also he led them with a cloud,And all the night with a light of fire.
He clave rocks in the wilderness,And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
He brought streams also out of the rock,And caused waters to run down like rivers.
Yet went they on still to sin against him,To rebel against the Most High in {Or, a dry land}the desert.
And they tempted God in their heartBy asking food {Or, for themselves}according to their desire.
Yea, they spake against God;They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
Behold, he smote the rock, so that waters gushed out,And streams overflowed;Can he give bread also?Will he provide flesh for his people?
Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth;And a fire was kindled against Jacob,And anger also went up against Israel;
Because they believed not in God,And trusted not in his salvation.
Yet he commanded the skies above,And opened the doors of heaven;
And he rained down manna upon them to eat,And gave them {Hebrew: grain.}food from heaven.
{Or, Every one}Man did eat the bread of the mighty:He sent them food to the full.
He {Hebrew: led forth the east wind.}caused the east wind to blow in the heavens;And by his power he guided the south wind.
He rained flesh also upon them as the dust,And winged birds as the sand of the seas:
And he let it fall in the midst of their camp,Round about their habitations.
So they did eat, and were well filled;And he gave them their own desire.
They were not estranged from that which they desired,Their food was yet in their mouths,
When the anger of God went up against them,And slew of the fattest of them,And smote down the young men of Israel.
For all this they sinned still,And believed not in his wondrous works.
Therefore their days did he consume in vanity,And their years in terror.
When he slew them, then they inquired after him;And they returned and sought God earnestly.
And they remembered that God was their rock,And the Most High God their redeemer.
But they flattered him with their mouth,And lied unto him with their tongue.
For their heart was not {Or, stedfast}right with him,Neither were they faithful in his covenant.
But he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not:Yea, many a time turned he his anger away,And did not stir up all his wrath.
And he remembered that they were but flesh,A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness,And grieve him in the desert!
And they turned again and tempted God,And {Or, limited}provoked the Holy One of Israel.
They remembered not his hand,Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;
How he set his signs in Egypt,And his wonders in the field of Zoan,
And turned their rivers into blood,And their streams, so that they could not drink.
He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them;And frogs, which destroyed them.
He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar,And their labor unto the locust.
He {Hebrew: killed.}destroyed their vines with hail,And their sycomore-trees with {Or, great hailstones}frost.
He gave over their cattle also to the hail,And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger,Wrath, and indignation, and trouble, {Hebrew: A sending.}A band of angels of evil.
He {Hebrew: levelled.}made a path for his anger;He spared not their soul from death,But gave {Or, their beasts to the murrain}their life over to the pestilence,
And smote all the first-born in Egypt,The {Hebrew: beginning. See Deuteronomy 21:17.}chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.
But he led forth his own people like sheep,And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
And he led them safely, so that they feared not;But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
And he brought them to {Or, his holy border}the border of his sanctuary,To this {Or, mountain land}mountain, which his right hand had gotten.
He drove out the nations also before them,And allotted them for an inheritance by line,And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God,And kept not his testimonies;
But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers:They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
For they provoked him to anger with their high places,And moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
When God heard this, he was wroth,And greatly abhorred Israel;
So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,The tent which he placed among men;
And delivered his strength into captivity,And his glory into the adversary's hand.
He gave his people over also unto the sword,And was wroth with his inheritance.
Fire devoured their young men;And their virgins had no marriage-song.
Their priests fell by the sword;And their widows made no lamentation.
Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep,Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
And he smote his adversaries backward:He put them to a perpetual reproach.
Moreover he refused the tent of Joseph,And chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
But chose the tribe of Judah,The mount Zion which he loved.
And he built his sanctuary like the heights,Like the earth which he hath established for ever.
He chose David also his servant,And took him from the sheepfolds:
From following the ewes that have their young he brought him,To be the shepherd of Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart,And guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
For the Chief Musician; after the manner of Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.I will cry unto God with my voice,Even unto God with my voice; and he will give ear unto me.
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord:My hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not;My soul refused to be comforted.
I remember God, and am disquieted:I complain, and my spirit {Or, fainteth}is overwhelmed. [Selah
Thou holdest mine eyes watching:I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
I have considered the days of old,The years of ancient times.
I call to remembrance my song in the night:I commune with mine own heart;And my spirit maketh diligent search.
Will the Lord cast off for ever?And will he be favorable no more?
Is his lovingkindness clean gone for ever?Doth his promise fail for evermore?
Hath God forgotten to be gracious?Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? [Selah
And I said, {Or, This is my grief. That the right hand of the Most High doth change}This is my infirmity;But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.
I will make mention of the deeds of {Hebrew: Jah.}Jehovah;For I will remember thy wonders of old.
I will meditate also upon all thy work,And muse on thy doings.
Thy way, O God, is {Or, in holiness}in the sanctuary:Who is a great god like unto God?
Thou art the God that doest wonders:Thou hast made known thy strength among the peoples.
Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people,The sons of Jacob and Joseph. [Selah
The waters saw thee, O God;The waters saw thee, they were {Or, were in pain}afraid:The depths also trembled.
The clouds poured out water;The skies sent out a sound:Thine arrows also went abroad.
The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind;The lightnings lightened the world:The earth trembled and shook.
Thy way was in the sea,And thy paths in the great waters,And thy footsteps were not known.
Thou leddest thy people like a flock,By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Thou leddest thy people like a flock,By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people, that shall remain, from Assyria; like as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah; awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Is it not thou that didst cut Rahab in pieces, that didst pierce the monster?
Is it not thou that driedst up the sea, the waters of the great deep; that madest the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over?
And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be said, As Jehovah liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;
but, As Jehovah liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries whither he had driven them. And I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
And I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out;
and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.
Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, saith the Lord Jehovah.
And he shall send forth his angels with {Or, a trumpet of great sound}a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Maschil of Asaph.Give ear, O my people, to my {Or, teaching}law:Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,Telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah,And his strength, and his wondrous works that he hath done.
For he established a testimony in Jacob,And appointed a law in Israel,Which he commanded our fathers,That they should make them known to their children;
That the generation to come might know them, even the children that should be born;Who should arise and tell them to their children,
That they might set their hope in God,And not forget the works of God,But keep his commandments,
And might not be as their fathers,A stubborn and rebellious generation,A generation {Or, that prepared not their hearts}that set not their heart aright,And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,Turned back in the day of battle.
They kept not the covenant of God,And refused to walk in his law;
And they forgat his doings,And his wondrous works that he had showed them.
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers,In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through;And he made the waters to stand as a heap.
In the day-time also he led them with a cloud,And all the night with a light of fire.
He clave rocks in the wilderness,And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
He brought streams also out of the rock,And caused waters to run down like rivers.
Yet went they on still to sin against him,To rebel against the Most High in {Or, a dry land}the desert.
And they tempted God in their heartBy asking food {Or, for themselves}according to their desire.
Yea, they spake against God;They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
Behold, he smote the rock, so that waters gushed out,And streams overflowed;Can he give bread also?Will he provide flesh for his people?
Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth;And a fire was kindled against Jacob,And anger also went up against Israel;
Because they believed not in God,And trusted not in his salvation.
Yet he commanded the skies above,And opened the doors of heaven;
And he rained down manna upon them to eat,And gave them {Hebrew: grain.}food from heaven.
{Or, Every one}Man did eat the bread of the mighty:He sent them food to the full.
He {Hebrew: led forth the east wind.}caused the east wind to blow in the heavens;And by his power he guided the south wind.
He rained flesh also upon them as the dust,And winged birds as the sand of the seas:
And he let it fall in the midst of their camp,Round about their habitations.
So they did eat, and were well filled;And he gave them their own desire.
They were not estranged from that which they desired,Their food was yet in their mouths,
When the anger of God went up against them,And slew of the fattest of them,And smote down the young men of Israel.
For all this they sinned still,And believed not in his wondrous works.
Therefore their days did he consume in vanity,And their years in terror.
When he slew them, then they inquired after him;And they returned and sought God earnestly.
And they remembered that God was their rock,And the Most High God their redeemer.
But they flattered him with their mouth,And lied unto him with their tongue.
For their heart was not {Or, stedfast}right with him,Neither were they faithful in his covenant.
But he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not:Yea, many a time turned he his anger away,And did not stir up all his wrath.
And he remembered that they were but flesh,A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness,And grieve him in the desert!
And they turned again and tempted God,And {Or, limited}provoked the Holy One of Israel.
They remembered not his hand,Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;
How he set his signs in Egypt,And his wonders in the field of Zoan,
And turned their rivers into blood,And their streams, so that they could not drink.
He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them;And frogs, which destroyed them.
He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar,And their labor unto the locust.
He {Hebrew: killed.}destroyed their vines with hail,And their sycomore-trees with {Or, great hailstones}frost.
He gave over their cattle also to the hail,And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger,Wrath, and indignation, and trouble, {Hebrew: A sending.}A band of angels of evil.
He {Hebrew: levelled.}made a path for his anger;He spared not their soul from death,But gave {Or, their beasts to the murrain}their life over to the pestilence,
And smote all the first-born in Egypt,The {Hebrew: beginning. See Deuteronomy 21:17.}chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.
But he led forth his own people like sheep,And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
And he led them safely, so that they feared not;But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
And he brought them to {Or, his holy border}the border of his sanctuary,To this {Or, mountain land}mountain, which his right hand had gotten.
He drove out the nations also before them,And allotted them for an inheritance by line,And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God,And kept not his testimonies;
But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers:They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
For they provoked him to anger with their high places,And moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
When God heard this, he was wroth,And greatly abhorred Israel;
So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,The tent which he placed among men;
And delivered his strength into captivity,And his glory into the adversary's hand.
He gave his people over also unto the sword,And was wroth with his inheritance.
Fire devoured their young men;And their virgins had no marriage-song.
Their priests fell by the sword;And their widows made no lamentation.
Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep,Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
And he smote his adversaries backward:He put them to a perpetual reproach.
Moreover he refused the tent of Joseph,And chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
But chose the tribe of Judah,The mount Zion which he loved.
And he built his sanctuary like the heights,Like the earth which he hath established for ever.
He chose David also his servant,And took him from the sheepfolds:
From following the ewes that have their young he brought him,To be the shepherd of Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart,And guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves.
For if any one is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding {Greek: the face of his birth.}his natural face in a mirror:
for he beholdeth himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
Now {Or, in these things they became figures of us}these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
Now these things happened unto them {Greek: by way of figure.}by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.
A Psalm of David. Maschil.Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,Whose sin is covered.
A Psalm of David. Maschil.Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity,And in whose spirit there is no guile.
When I kept silence, my bones wasted awayThrough my {Hebrew: roaring.}groaning all the day long.
For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me:My moisture was changed {Or, into the}as with the drought of summer. [Selah
I acknowledged my sin unto thee,And mine iniquity did I not hide:I said, I will confess my transgressions unto Jehovah;And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. [Selah
For this let every one that is godly pray unto thee {Or, in the time of finding out sin}in a time when thou mayest be found:Surely when the great waters overflow they shall not reach unto him.
Thou art my hiding-place; thou wilt preserve me from trouble;Thou wilt compass me about with songs of deliverance. [Selah
I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go:I will counsel thee with mine eye upon thee.
Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding;Whose trappings must be bit and bridle to hold them in, {Or, That they come not near}Else they will not come near unto thee.
Many sorrows shall be to the wicked;But he that trusteth in Jehovah, lovingkindness shall compass him about.
Be glad in Jehovah, and rejoice, ye righteous;And shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.
For the Chief Musician; set to {That is, Lilies}Shoshannim. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Maschil. A Song of loves.My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter; {Or, I speak: my work is for a king}I speak the things which I have made touching the king:My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
Thou art fairer than the children of men;Grace is poured {Or, upon}into thy lips:Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.
Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one,Thy glory and thy majesty.
And in thy majesty ride on prosperously, {Or, In behalf of}Because of truth and meekness and righteousness:And {Or, let thy right hand teach}thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.
Thine arrows are sharp;The peoples fall under thee;They are in the heart of the king's enemies.
{Or, Thy throne is the throne of God &c.}Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever:A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness:Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed theeWith the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia;Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad.
Kings' daughters are among thy honorable women:At thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear;Forget also thine own people, and thy father's house:
So will the king desire thy beauty;For he is thy lord; and reverence thou him.
And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift;The rich among the people shall entreat thy favor.
The king's daughter {Or, in the inner part of the palace}within the palace is all glorious:Her clothing is inwrought with gold.
She shall be led unto the king {Or, upon}in broidered work:The virgins her companions that follow herShall be brought unto thee.
With gladness and rejoicing shall they be led:They shall enter into the king's palace.
Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children,Whom thou shalt make princes in all the earth.
I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations:Therefore shall the peoples give thee thanks for ever and ever.
For the Chief Musician. Maschil of David; when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man?The lovingkindness of God endureth continually.
Thy tongue deviseth very wickedness,Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
Thou lovest evil more than good,And lying rather than to speak righteousness. [Selah
Thou lovest all devouring words, {Or, And the deceitful tongue}O thou deceitful tongue.
God will likewise {Or, break thee down}destroy thee for ever;He will take thee up, and pluck thee out of thy tent,And root thee out of the land of the living. [Selah
The righteous also shall see it, and fear,And shall laugh at him, saying,
Lo, this is the man that made not God his {Or, stronghold}strength,But trusted in the abundance of his riches,And strengthened himself in his wickedness.
But as for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God:I trust in the lovingkindness of God for ever and ever.
I will give thee thanks for ever, because thou hast done it;And I will hope in thy name, for it is good, in the presence of thy saints.
For the Chief Musician; set to Mahalath. Maschil of David.The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity;There is none that doeth good.
God looked down from heaven upon the children of men,To see if there were any that did {Or, deal wisely}understand,That did seek after God.
Every one of them is gone back; they are together become filthy;There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge,Who eat up my people as they eat bread,And call not upon God?
There were they in great fear, where no fear was;For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee:Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath rejected them.
Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!When God {Or, returneth to}bringeth back the captivity of his people,Then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. Maschil of David; when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?Save me, O God, by thy name,And judge me in thy might.
Hear my prayer, O God;Give ear to the words of my mouth.
For strangers are risen up against me,And violent men have sought after my soul:They have not set God before them. [Selah
Behold, God is my helper:The Lord is {Or, with}of them that uphold my soul.
{Another reading is, The evil shall return.}He will requite the evil unto {Or, them that lie in wait for me}mine enemies:Destroy thou them in thy truth.
With a freewill-offering will I sacrifice unto thee:I will give thanks unto thy name, O Jehovah, for it is good.
For he hath delivered me out of all trouble;And mine eye hath seen my desire upon mine enemies.
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. Maschil of David.Give ear to my prayer, O God;And hide not thyself from my supplication.
Attend unto me, and answer me:I am restless in my complaint, and moan,
Because 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.
My heart is sore pained within me:And the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me,And horror hath overwhelmed me.
And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove!Then would I fly away, and be at rest.
Lo, then would I wander far off,I would lodge in the wilderness. [Selah
I would {Or, hasten my escape}haste me to a shelterFrom the stormy wind and tempest.
{Hebrew: Swallow up.}Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongue;For I have seen violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof:Iniquity also and mischief are in the midst of it.
Wickedness is in the midst thereof: {Or, Fraud}Oppression and guile depart not from its streets.
For it was not an enemy that reproached me;Then I could have borne it:Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me;Then I would have hid myself from him:
But it was thou, a man mine equal,My companion, and my familiar friend.
We took sweet counsel together;We walked in the house of God with the throng.
{Or, as otherwise read, Desolations be upon them!}Let death come suddenly upon them,Let them go down alive into Sheol;For wickedness is in their dwelling, in the {Or, their inward part}midst of them.
As for me, I will call upon God;And Jehovah will save me.
Evening, and morning, and at noonday, will I complain, and moan;And he will hear my voice.
He hath redeemed my soul in peace {Or, so that none came nigh me}from the battle that was against me;For they were many that strove with me.
God will hear, and {Or, afflict}answer them,Even he that abideth of old, [SelahThe men who have no changes,And who fear not God.
He hath put forth his hands against such as were at peace with him:He hath profaned his covenant.
His mouth was smooth as butter,But his heart was war:His words were softer than oil,Yet were they drawn swords.
Cast {Or, what he hath given thee}thy burden upon Jehovah, and he will sustain thee:He will never suffer the righteous to be moved.
But thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction:Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;But I will trust in thee.
Maschil of Asaph.O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever?Why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
Remember thy congregation, which thou hast gotten of old,Which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thine inheritance;And mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual ruins, {Or, The enemy hath wrought all evil}All the evil that the enemy hath done in the sanctuary.
Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of thine assembly;They have set up their ensigns for signs.
They {Or, made themselves known}seemed as men that lifted upAxes upon a thicket of trees.
And now all the carved work thereofThey break down with hatchet and hammers.
They have set thy sanctuary on fire;They have profaned the dwelling-place of thy name by casting it to the ground.
They said in their heart, Let us make havoc of them altogether:They have burned up all the {Or, places of assembly}synagogues of God in the land.
We see not our signs:There is no more any prophet;Neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach?Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
Why drawest thou back thy hand, even thy right hand?Pluck it out of thy bosom and consume them.
Yet God is my King of old,Working salvation in the midst of the earth.
Thou didst {Hebrew: break up.}divide the sea by thy strength:Thou brakest the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters.
Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces;Thou gavest him to be food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
Thou didst cleave fountain and flood:Thou driedst up {Or, ever-flowing}mighty rivers.
The day is thine, the night also is thine:Thou hast prepared the {Hebrew: luminary.}light and the sun.
Thou hast set all the borders of the earth:Thou hast made summer and winter.
Remember this, that the enemy {Or, hath reproached Jehovah}hath reproached, O Jehovah,And that a foolish people hath blasphemed thy name.
Oh deliver not {Or, the turtle-dove unto the greedy multitude}the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast:Forget not the {Or, multitude}life of thy poor for ever.
Have respect unto the covenant;For the dark places of the {Or, land}earth are full of the habitations of violence.
Oh let not the oppressed return ashamed:Let the poor and needy praise thy name.
Arise, O God, plead thine own cause:Remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee all the day.
Forget not the voice of thine adversaries:The tumult of those that rise up against thee {Or, which ascendeth}ascendeth continually.
Maschil of Asaph.Give ear, O my people, to my {Or, teaching}law:Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,Telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah,And his strength, and his wondrous works that he hath done.
For he established a testimony in Jacob,And appointed a law in Israel,Which he commanded our fathers,That they should make them known to their children;
That the generation to come might know them, even the children that should be born;Who should arise and tell them to their children,
That they might set their hope in God,And not forget the works of God,But keep his commandments,
And might not be as their fathers,A stubborn and rebellious generation,A generation {Or, that prepared not their hearts}that set not their heart aright,And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,Turned back in the day of battle.
They kept not the covenant of God,And refused to walk in his law;
And they forgat his doings,And his wondrous works that he had showed them.
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers,In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through;And he made the waters to stand as a heap.
In the day-time also he led them with a cloud,And all the night with a light of fire.
He clave rocks in the wilderness,And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
He brought streams also out of the rock,And caused waters to run down like rivers.
Yet went they on still to sin against him,To rebel against the Most High in {Or, a dry land}the desert.
And they tempted God in their heartBy asking food {Or, for themselves}according to their desire.
Yea, they spake against God;They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
Behold, he smote the rock, so that waters gushed out,And streams overflowed;Can he give bread also?Will he provide flesh for his people?
Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth;And a fire was kindled against Jacob,And anger also went up against Israel;
Because they believed not in God,And trusted not in his salvation.
Yet he commanded the skies above,And opened the doors of heaven;
And he rained down manna upon them to eat,And gave them {Hebrew: grain.}food from heaven.
{Or, Every one}Man did eat the bread of the mighty:He sent them food to the full.
He {Hebrew: led forth the east wind.}caused the east wind to blow in the heavens;And by his power he guided the south wind.
He rained flesh also upon them as the dust,And winged birds as the sand of the seas:
And he let it fall in the midst of their camp,Round about their habitations.
So they did eat, and were well filled;And he gave them their own desire.
They were not estranged from that which they desired,Their food was yet in their mouths,
When the anger of God went up against them,And slew of the fattest of them,And smote down the young men of Israel.
For all this they sinned still,And believed not in his wondrous works.
Therefore their days did he consume in vanity,And their years in terror.
When he slew them, then they inquired after him;And they returned and sought God earnestly.
And they remembered that God was their rock,And the Most High God their redeemer.
But they flattered him with their mouth,And lied unto him with their tongue.
For their heart was not {Or, stedfast}right with him,Neither were they faithful in his covenant.
But he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not:Yea, many a time turned he his anger away,And did not stir up all his wrath.
And he remembered that they were but flesh,A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness,And grieve him in the desert!
And they turned again and tempted God,And {Or, limited}provoked the Holy One of Israel.
They remembered not his hand,Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;
How he set his signs in Egypt,And his wonders in the field of Zoan,
And turned their rivers into blood,And their streams, so that they could not drink.
He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them;And frogs, which destroyed them.
He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar,And their labor unto the locust.
He {Hebrew: killed.}destroyed their vines with hail,And their sycomore-trees with {Or, great hailstones}frost.
He gave over their cattle also to the hail,And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger,Wrath, and indignation, and trouble, {Hebrew: A sending.}A band of angels of evil.
He {Hebrew: levelled.}made a path for his anger;He spared not their soul from death,But gave {Or, their beasts to the murrain}their life over to the pestilence,
And smote all the first-born in Egypt,The {Hebrew: beginning. See Deuteronomy 21:17.}chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.
But he led forth his own people like sheep,And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
And he led them safely, so that they feared not;But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
And he brought them to {Or, his holy border}the border of his sanctuary,To this {Or, mountain land}mountain, which his right hand had gotten.
He drove out the nations also before them,And allotted them for an inheritance by line,And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God,And kept not his testimonies;
But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers:They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
For they provoked him to anger with their high places,And moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
When God heard this, he was wroth,And greatly abhorred Israel;
So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,The tent which he placed among men;
And delivered his strength into captivity,And his glory into the adversary's hand.
He gave his people over also unto the sword,And was wroth with his inheritance.
Fire devoured their young men;And their virgins had no marriage-song.
Their priests fell by the sword;And their widows made no lamentation.
Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep,Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
And he smote his adversaries backward:He put them to a perpetual reproach.
Moreover he refused the tent of Joseph,And chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
But chose the tribe of Judah,The mount Zion which he loved.
And he built his sanctuary like the heights,Like the earth which he hath established for ever.
He chose David also his servant,And took him from the sheepfolds:
From following the ewes that have their young he brought him,To be the shepherd of Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart,And guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
A Song, a Psalm of the sons of Korah; for the Chief Musician; set to Mahalath {Or, for singing}Leannoth. Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.O Jehovah, the God of my salvation,I have cried day and night before thee.
Let my prayer enter into thy presence;Incline thine ear unto my cry.
For my soul is full of troubles,And my life draweth nigh unto Sheol.
I am reckoned with them that go down into the pit;I am as a man that hath no help,
Cast {Or, away}off 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 lowest pit,In dark places, in the deeps.
Thy wrath lieth hard upon me,And thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. [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 wasteth away by reason of affliction:I have called daily upon thee, O Jehovah;I have spread forth my hands unto thee.
Wilt thou show wonders to the dead?Shall {Or, the shades Hebrew: Rephaim.}they that are decreased arise and praise thee? [Selah
Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave?Or thy faithfulness in {Hebrew: Abaddon. See Job 26:6.}Destruction?
Shall thy wonders be known in the dark?And thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
But unto thee, O Jehovah, have I cried;And in the morning shall my prayer come before thee.
Jehovah, why castest thou off my soul?Why hidest thou thy face from me?
I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up:While I suffer 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 long;They compassed me about together.
Lover and friend hast thou put far from me,And mine acquaintance {Or, are darkness}into darkness.
Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite.I will sing of the lovingkindness of Jehovah for ever:With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever;Thy faithfulness wilt thou establish in the very heavens.
I have made a covenant with my chosen,I have sworn unto David my servant:
Thy seed will I establish for ever,And build up thy throne to all generations. [Selah
And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Jehovah;Thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies can be compared unto Jehovah?Who among the {Or, sons of God}sons of the {Or, gods See Psalm 29:1.}mighty is like unto Jehovah,
A God very terrible in the council of the holy ones,And to be feared above all them that are round about him?
O Jehovah God of hosts,Who is a mighty one, like unto thee, O {Hebrew: Jah.}Jehovah?And thy faithfulness is round about thee.
Thou rulest the pride of the sea:When the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
Thou hast broken {Or, Egypt}Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain;Thou hast scattered thine enemies with the arm of thy strength.
The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: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.
Thou hast {Hebrew: an arm with might.}a mighty arm;Strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of thy throne:Lovingkindness and truth go before thy face.
Blessed is the people that know the {Or, trumpet sound}joyful sound:They walk, O Jehovah, in the light of thy countenance.
In thy name do they rejoice all the day;And in thy righteousness are they exalted.
For thou art the glory of their strength;And in thy favor {Another reading is, thou shall exalt our horn.}our horn shall be exalted.
For our shield belongeth unto Jehovah; {Or, Even to the Holy One of Israel our King}And our king to the Holy One of Israel.
Then thou spakest in vision to thy {Or, as otherwise read, saint.}saints,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 {Or, do him violence}exact from him,Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
And I will beat down his adversaries before him,And smite them that hate him.
But my faithfulness and my lovingkindness shall be with him;And in 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 cry unto me, Thou art my Father,My God, and the rock of my salvation.
I also will make him my first-born,The highest of the kings of the earth.
My lovingkindness will I keep for him for evermore;And my covenant shall {Or, be faithful}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 {Hebrew: profane.}break my statutes,And keep not my commandments;
Then will I visit their transgression with the rod,And their iniquity with stripes.
But my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him,Nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
My covenant will I not {Hebrew: profane.}break,Nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
{Or, One thing}Once have I sworn by my holiness:I will not lie unto David:
His seed shall endure for ever,And his throne as the sun before me.
{Or, As the moon which is established for ever}It shall be established for ever as the moon, {Or, And the witness in the sky is faithful}And as the faithful witness in the 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 by casting it to the ground.
Thou hast broken down all his hedges;Thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin.
All that pass by the way rob him:He is become a reproach to his neighbors.
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 Jehovah? wilt thou hide thyself for ever?How long shall thy wrath burn like fire?
Oh remember how short my time is:For what vanity hast thou created all the children of men!
What man is he that shall live and not see death,That shall deliver his soul from the {Hebrew: hand.}power of Sheol? [Selah
Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses,Which thou swarest unto David in thy faithfulness?
Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants;How I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the {Or, many}mighty peoples,
Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O Jehovah,Wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
Blessed be Jehovah for evermore.Amen, and Amen.
Maschil of David, when he was in the cave; a Prayer.I cry with my voice unto Jehovah;With my voice unto Jehovah do I make supplication.
I pour out my complaint before him;I show before him my trouble.
When my spirit {Or, fainted}was overwhelmed within me,Thou knewest my path.In the way wherein I walkHave they hidden a snare for me.
Look on my right hand, and see;For there is no man that knoweth me:Refuge hath failed me;No man careth for my soul.
I cried unto thee, O Jehovah;I said, Thou art my refuge,My portion in the land of the living.
Attend unto my cry;For I am brought very low:Deliver me from my persecutors;For they are stronger than I.
Bring my soul out of prison,That I may give thanks unto thy name:The righteous shall {Or, crown themselves because of me}compass me about;For thou wilt deal bountifully with me.
A Psalm of Asaph.The Mighty One, God, Jehovah, hath spoken,And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
And now, O Israel, hearken unto the statutes and unto the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which Jehovah, the God of your fathers, giveth you.
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah hath spoken: I have {Or, made great and exalted See Ezekiel 31:4.}nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak;And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain;My speech shall distil as the dew,As the small rain upon the tender grass,And as the showers upon the herb.
For I will proclaim the name of Jehovah:Ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
The Rock, his work is perfect;For all his ways are justice:A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,Just and right is he.
They have {Or, corrupted themselves, they &c.}dealt corruptly with him, they are not his children, {Or, but a blot upon them}it is their blemish;They are a perverse and crooked generation.
Do ye thus requite Jehovah,O foolish people and unwise?Is not he thy father that hath {Or, possessed Or, gotten}bought thee?He hath made thee, and established thee.
Remember the days of old,Consider the years of many generations:Ask thy father, and he will show thee;Thine elders, and they will tell thee.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,When he separated the children of men,He set the bounds of the peoplesAccording to the number of the children of Israel.
For Jehovah's portion is his people;Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
He found him in a desert land,And in the waste howling wilderness;He compassed him about, he cared for him,He kept him as the apple of his eye.
As an eagle that stirreth up her nest,That fluttereth over her young, {Or, Spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her pinions}He spread abroad his wings, he took them,He bare them on his pinions.
Jehovah alone did lead him,And there was no foreign god with him.
He made him ride on the high places of the earth,And he did eat the increase of the field;And he made him to suck honey out of the rock,And oil out of the flinty rock;
Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock,With fat of lambs,And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,With the {Hebrew: fat of kidneys of wheat.}finest of the wheat;And of the blood of the grape thou drankest wine.
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked:Thou art waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art become sleek;Then he forsook God who made him,And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
They moved him to jealousy with strange gods;With abominations provoked they him to anger.
They sacrificed unto demons, which were no God,To gods that they knew not,To new gods that came up of late,Which your fathers dreaded not.
Of the Rock that {Or, bare}begat thee thou art unmindful,And hast forgotten God that gave thee birth.
And Jehovah saw it, and abhorred them,Because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
And he said, I will hide my face from them,I will see what their end shall be:For they are a very perverse generation,Children in whom is no faithfulness.
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God;They have provoked me to anger with their vanities:And I will move them to jealousy with those that are not a people;I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
For a fire is kindled in mine anger,And burneth unto the lowest Sheol,And devoureth the earth with its increase,And setteth on fire the foundations of the mountains.
I will heap evils upon them;I will spend mine arrows upon them:
They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with {Hebrew: burning coals. See Habakkuk 3:5.}burning heatAnd bitter destruction;And the teeth of beasts will I send upon them,With the poison of crawling things of the dust.
Without shall the sword bereave,And in the chambers terror;It shall destroy both young man and virgin,The suckling with the man of gray hairs.
I said, I would scatter them afar,I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men;
Were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy,Lest their adversaries should judge amiss,Lest they should say, Our hand is exalted,And Jehovah hath not done all this.
For they are a nation void of counsel,And there is no understanding in them.
Oh that they were wise, that they understood this,That they would consider their latter end!
How should one chase a thousand,And two put ten thousand to flight,Except their Rock had sold them,And Jehovah had delivered them up?
For their rock is not as our Rock,Even our enemies themselves being judges.
For their vine is of the vine of Sodom,And of the fields of Gomorrah:Their grapes are grapes of gall,Their clusters are bitter:
Their wine is the poison of serpents,And the cruel venom of asps.
Is not this laid up in store with me,Sealed up {Or, in my treasuries}among my treasures?
Vengeance is mine, and recompense,At the time when their foot shall slide:For the day of their calamity is at hand,And the things that are to come upon them shall make haste.
For Jehovah will judge his people,And repent himself for his servants;When he seeth that their power is gone,And there is none remaining, shut up or left at large.
And he will say, Where are their gods,The rock in which they took refuge;
Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices,And drank the wine of their drink-offering?Let them rise up and help you,Let them be your protection.
See now that I, even I, am he,And there is no god with me:I kill, and I make alive;I wound, and I heal;And there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
For I lift up my hand to heaven,And say, As I live for ever,
If I whet {Hebrew: the lightning of my sword.}my glittering sword,And my hand take hold on judgment;I will render vengeance to mine adversaries,And will recompense them that hate me.
I will make mine arrows drunk with blood,And my sword shall devour flesh;With the blood of the slain and the captives, {Or, From the beginning of revenges upon the enemy}From {Or, the hairy head of the enemy}the head of the leaders of the enemy.
{Or, Praise his people, ye nations}Rejoice, O {Or, ye nations, his people}ye nations, with his people:For he will avenge the blood of his servants,And will render vengeance to his adversaries,And will make expiation for his land, for his people.
And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun.
And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel;
And he said unto them, Set your heart unto all the words which I testify unto you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, even all the words of this law.
For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life, and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over the Jordan to possess it.
And Jehovah spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,
Get thee up into this mountain of Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession;
and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:
because ye trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.
For thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither into the land which I give the children of Israel.
They have {Or, corrupted themselves, they &c.}dealt corruptly with him, they are not his children, {Or, but a blot upon them}it is their blemish;They are a perverse and crooked generation.
Do ye thus requite Jehovah,O foolish people and unwise?Is not he thy father that hath {Or, possessed Or, gotten}bought thee?He hath made thee, and established thee.
Remember the days of old,Consider the years of many generations:Ask thy father, and he will show thee;Thine elders, and they will tell thee.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,When he separated the children of men,He set the bounds of the peoplesAccording to the number of the children of Israel.
For Jehovah's portion is his people;Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
He found him in a desert land,And in the waste howling wilderness;He compassed him about, he cared for him,He kept him as the apple of his eye.
As an eagle that stirreth up her nest,That fluttereth over her young, {Or, Spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her pinions}He spread abroad his wings, he took them,He bare them on his pinions.
Jehovah alone did lead him,And there was no foreign god with him.
He made him ride on the high places of the earth,And he did eat the increase of the field;And he made him to suck honey out of the rock,And oil out of the flinty rock;
Butter of the herd, and milk of the flock,With fat of lambs,And rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats,With the {Hebrew: fat of kidneys of wheat.}finest of the wheat;And of the blood of the grape thou drankest wine.
But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked:Thou art waxed fat, thou art grown thick, thou art become sleek;Then he forsook God who made him,And lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
They moved him to jealousy with strange gods;With abominations provoked they him to anger.
They sacrificed unto demons, which were no God,To gods that they knew not,To new gods that came up of late,Which your fathers dreaded not.
Of the Rock that {Or, bare}begat thee thou art unmindful,And hast forgotten God that gave thee birth.
And Jehovah saw it, and abhorred them,Because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
And he said, I will hide my face from them,I will see what their end shall be:For they are a very perverse generation,Children in whom is no faithfulness.
They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God;They have provoked me to anger with their vanities:And I will move them to jealousy with those that are not a people;I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
For a fire is kindled in mine anger,And burneth unto the lowest Sheol,And devoureth the earth with its increase,And setteth on fire the foundations of the mountains.
I will heap evils upon them;I will spend mine arrows upon them:
They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with {Hebrew: burning coals. See Habakkuk 3:5.}burning heatAnd bitter destruction;And the teeth of beasts will I send upon them,With the poison of crawling things of the dust.
Without shall the sword bereave,And in the chambers terror;It shall destroy both young man and virgin,The suckling with the man of gray hairs.
I said, I would scatter them afar,I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men;
Were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy,Lest their adversaries should judge amiss,Lest they should say, Our hand is exalted,And Jehovah hath not done all this.
For they are a nation void of counsel,And there is no understanding in them.
Oh that they were wise, that they understood this,That they would consider their latter end!
How should one chase a thousand,And two put ten thousand to flight,Except their Rock had sold them,And Jehovah had delivered them up?
For their rock is not as our Rock,Even our enemies themselves being judges.
For their vine is of the vine of Sodom,And of the fields of Gomorrah:Their grapes are grapes of gall,Their clusters are bitter:
Their wine is the poison of serpents,And the cruel venom of asps.
Is not this laid up in store with me,Sealed up {Or, in my treasuries}among my treasures?
Vengeance is mine, and recompense,At the time when their foot shall slide:For the day of their calamity is at hand,And the things that are to come upon them shall make haste.
For Jehovah will judge his people,And repent himself for his servants;When he seeth that their power is gone,And there is none remaining, shut up or left at large.
And he will say, Where are their gods,The rock in which they took refuge;
Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices,And drank the wine of their drink-offering?Let them rise up and help you,Let them be your protection.
Give ear, ye heavens, and I will speak;And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
My doctrine shall drop as the rain;My speech shall distil as the dew,As the small rain upon the tender grass,And as the showers upon the herb.
To understand a proverb, and {Or, an interpretation}a figure,The words of the wise, and their {Or, riddles}dark sayings.
Maschil of Asaph.Give ear, O my people, to my {Or, teaching}law:Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,Telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah,And his strength, and his wondrous works that he hath done.
For he established a testimony in Jacob,And appointed a law in Israel,Which he commanded our fathers,That they should make them known to their children;
That the generation to come might know them, even the children that should be born;Who should arise and tell them to their children,
That they might set their hope in God,And not forget the works of God,But keep his commandments,
And might not be as their fathers,A stubborn and rebellious generation,A generation {Or, that prepared not their hearts}that set not their heart aright,And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,Turned back in the day of battle.
They kept not the covenant of God,And refused to walk in his law;
And they forgat his doings,And his wondrous works that he had showed them.
Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers,In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through;And he made the waters to stand as a heap.
In the day-time also he led them with a cloud,And all the night with a light of fire.
He clave rocks in the wilderness,And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
He brought streams also out of the rock,And caused waters to run down like rivers.
Yet went they on still to sin against him,To rebel against the Most High in {Or, a dry land}the desert.
And they tempted God in their heartBy asking food {Or, for themselves}according to their desire.
Yea, they spake against God;They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
Behold, he smote the rock, so that waters gushed out,And streams overflowed;Can he give bread also?Will he provide flesh for his people?
Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth;And a fire was kindled against Jacob,And anger also went up against Israel;
Because they believed not in God,And trusted not in his salvation.
Yet he commanded the skies above,And opened the doors of heaven;
And he rained down manna upon them to eat,And gave them {Hebrew: grain.}food from heaven.
{Or, Every one}Man did eat the bread of the mighty:He sent them food to the full.
He {Hebrew: led forth the east wind.}caused the east wind to blow in the heavens;And by his power he guided the south wind.
He rained flesh also upon them as the dust,And winged birds as the sand of the seas:
And he let it fall in the midst of their camp,Round about their habitations.
So they did eat, and were well filled;And he gave them their own desire.
They were not estranged from that which they desired,Their food was yet in their mouths,
When the anger of God went up against them,And slew of the fattest of them,And smote down the young men of Israel.
For all this they sinned still,And believed not in his wondrous works.
Therefore their days did he consume in vanity,And their years in terror.
When he slew them, then they inquired after him;And they returned and sought God earnestly.
And they remembered that God was their rock,And the Most High God their redeemer.
But they flattered him with their mouth,And lied unto him with their tongue.
For their heart was not {Or, stedfast}right with him,Neither were they faithful in his covenant.
But he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not:Yea, many a time turned he his anger away,And did not stir up all his wrath.
And he remembered that they were but flesh,A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness,And grieve him in the desert!
And they turned again and tempted God,And {Or, limited}provoked the Holy One of Israel.
They remembered not his hand,Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;
How he set his signs in Egypt,And his wonders in the field of Zoan,
And turned their rivers into blood,And their streams, so that they could not drink.
He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them;And frogs, which destroyed them.
He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar,And their labor unto the locust.
He {Hebrew: killed.}destroyed their vines with hail,And their sycomore-trees with {Or, great hailstones}frost.
He gave over their cattle also to the hail,And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger,Wrath, and indignation, and trouble, {Hebrew: A sending.}A band of angels of evil.
He {Hebrew: levelled.}made a path for his anger;He spared not their soul from death,But gave {Or, their beasts to the murrain}their life over to the pestilence,
And smote all the first-born in Egypt,The {Hebrew: beginning. See Deuteronomy 21:17.}chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.
But he led forth his own people like sheep,And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
And he led them safely, so that they feared not;But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
And he brought them to {Or, his holy border}the border of his sanctuary,To this {Or, mountain land}mountain, which his right hand had gotten.
He drove out the nations also before them,And allotted them for an inheritance by line,And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God,And kept not his testimonies;
But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers:They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
For they provoked him to anger with their high places,And moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
When God heard this, he was wroth,And greatly abhorred Israel;
So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,The tent which he placed among men;
And delivered his strength into captivity,And his glory into the adversary's hand.
He gave his people over also unto the sword,And was wroth with his inheritance.
Fire devoured their young men;And their virgins had no marriage-song.
Their priests fell by the sword;And their widows made no lamentation.
Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep,Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
And he smote his adversaries backward:He put them to a perpetual reproach.
Moreover he refused the tent of Joseph,And chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
But chose the tribe of Judah,The mount Zion which he loved.
And he built his sanctuary like the heights,Like the earth which he hath established for ever.
He chose David also his servant,And took him from the sheepfolds:
From following the ewes that have their young he brought him,To be the shepherd of Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart,And guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
On that day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
And there were gathered unto him great multitudes, so that he entered into a boat, and sat; and all the multitude stood on the beach.
And he spake to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went forth to sow;
and as he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured them:
and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth: and straightway they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth:
and when the sun was risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
And others fell upon the thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked them:
and others fell upon the good ground, and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
He that hath ears {Some ancient authorities add here, and in verse 43, to hear: as in Mark 4:9; Luke 8:8.}, let him hear.
And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, {Isaiah 6:9, 10.}By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand;And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:
For this people's heart is waxed gross,And their ears are dull of hearing,And their eyes they have closed;Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes,And hear with their ears,And understand with their heart,And should turn again,And I should heal them.
But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not.
Hear then ye the parable of the sower.
When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the way side.
And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it;
yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth.
And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that heareth the word; and the care of the {Or, age}world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
And he that was sown upon the good ground, this is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; who verily beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field:
but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed {Or, darnel}tares also among the wheat, and went away.
But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
And the {Greek: bondservants.}servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares?
And he said unto them, An {Greek: A man this is an enemy.}enemy hath done this. And the {Greek: bondservants.}servants say unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he saith, Nay; lest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.
Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof.
Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three {The word in the Greek denotes the Hebrew seah, a measure containing nearly a peek and a half.}measures of meal, till it was all leavened.
All these things spake Jesus in parables unto the multitudes; and without a parable spake he nothing unto them:
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, {Psalm 78:2.}I will open my mouth in parables;I will utter things hidden from the foundation {Many ancient authorities omit of the world.}of the world.
Then he left the multitudes, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Explain unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
And he answered and said, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;
and the enemy that sowed them is the devil: and the harvest is {Or, the consummation of the age}the end of the world; and the reapers are angels.
As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire; so shall it be in {Or, the consummation of the age}the end of the world.
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity,
and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears {See verse 9.}, let him hear.
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid; and {Or, for joy thereof}in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls:
and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a {Greek: drag-net.}net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away.
So shall it be in {Or, the consummation of the age}the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous,
and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea.
And he said unto them, Therefore every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence.
And coming into his own country he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these {Greek: powers.}mighty works?
Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, {Or, Jacob}James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?
And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
And they were {Greek: caused to stumble.}offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house.
And he did not many {Greek: powers.}mighty works there because of their unbelief.
All these things spake Jesus in parables unto the multitudes; and without a parable spake he nothing unto them:
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, {Psalm 78:2.}I will open my mouth in parables;I will utter things hidden from the foundation {Many ancient authorities omit of the world.}of the world.
On that day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
And there were gathered unto him great multitudes, so that he entered into a boat, and sat; and all the multitude stood on the beach.
And he spake to them many things in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went forth to sow;
and as he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured them:
and others fell upon the rocky places, where they had not much earth: and straightway they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth:
and when the sun was risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
And others fell upon the thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked them:
and others fell upon the good ground, and yielded fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
He that hath ears {Some ancient authorities add here, and in verse 43, to hear: as in Mark 4:9; Luke 8:8.}, let him hear.
And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, {Isaiah 6:9, 10.}By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand;And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:
For this people's heart is waxed gross,And their ears are dull of hearing,And their eyes they have closed;Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes,And hear with their ears,And understand with their heart,And should turn again,And I should heal them.
But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear the things which ye hear, and heard them not.
Hear then ye the parable of the sower.
When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart. This is he that was sown by the way side.
And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it;
yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth.
And he that was sown among the thorns, this is he that heareth the word; and the care of the {Or, age}world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
And he that was sown upon the good ground, this is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; who verily beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field:
but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed {Or, darnel}tares also among the wheat, and went away.
But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
And the {Greek: bondservants.}servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it tares?
And he said unto them, An {Greek: A man this is an enemy.}enemy hath done this. And the {Greek: bondservants.}servants say unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he saith, Nay; lest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn.
Another parable set he before them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:
which indeed is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven come and lodge in the branches thereof.
Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three {The word in the Greek denotes the Hebrew seah, a measure containing nearly a peek and a half.}measures of meal, till it was all leavened.
All these things spake Jesus in parables unto the multitudes; and without a parable spake he nothing unto them:
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, {Psalm 78:2.}I will open my mouth in parables;I will utter things hidden from the foundation {Many ancient authorities omit of the world.}of the world.
Then he left the multitudes, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Explain unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
And he answered and said, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
and the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;
and the enemy that sowed them is the devil: and the harvest is {Or, the consummation of the age}the end of the world; and the reapers are angels.
As therefore the tares are gathered up and burned with fire; so shall it be in {Or, the consummation of the age}the end of the world.
The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and them that do iniquity,
and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears {See verse 9.}, let him hear.
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid; and {Or, for joy thereof}in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a merchant seeking goodly pearls:
and having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a {Greek: drag-net.}net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach; and they sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but the bad they cast away.
So shall it be in {Or, the consummation of the age}the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the righteous,
and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.
Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea.
And he said unto them, Therefore every scribe who hath been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence.
And coming into his own country he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these {Greek: powers.}mighty works?
Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, {Or, Jacob}James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas?
And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
And they were {Greek: caused to stumble.}offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house.
And he did not many {Greek: powers.}mighty works there because of their unbelief.
And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?
that ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of Jehovah's passover, {Or, for that he passed}who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
And it shall be, when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand Jehovah brought us out from Egypt, from the house of {Hebrew: bondmen.}bondage:
and it came to pass, when Pharaoh {Or, hardened himself against letting us go}would hardly let us go, that Jehovah slew all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both the first-born of man, and the first-born of beast: therefore I sacrifice to Jehovah all that openeth the womb, being males; but all the first-born of my sons I redeem.
And it shall be for a sign upon thy hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand Jehovah brought us forth out of Egypt.