Psalms, 89

1. [Poem For Ethan the native-born] I shall sing the faithful love of Yahweh for ever, from age to age my lips shall declare your constancy,

1. <Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite.> I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

2. for you have said: love is built to last for ever, you have fixed your constancy firm in the heavens.

2. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

3. 'I have made a covenant with my Chosen One, sworn an oath to my servant David:

3. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,

4. I have made your dynasty firm for ever, built your throne stable age after age.'Pause

4. Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.

5. The heavens praise your wonders, Yahweh, your constancy in the gathering of your faithful.

5. And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.

6. Who in the skies can compare with Yahweh? Who among the sons of god can rival him?

6. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? [who] among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?

7. God, awesome in the assembly of holy ones, great and dreaded among all who surround him,

7. God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all [them that are] about him.

8. Yahweh, God Sabaoth, who is like you? Mighty Yahweh, your constancy is all round you!

8. O LORD God of hosts, who [is] a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

9. You control the pride of the ocean, when its waves ride high you calm them.

9. Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

10. You split Rahab in two like a corpse, scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.

10. Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.

11. Yours are the heavens and yours the earth, the world and all it holds, you founded them;

11. The heavens [are] thine, the earth also [is] thine: [as for] the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.

12. you created the north and the south, Tabor and Hermon hail your name with joy.

12. The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.

13. Yours is a strong arm, mighty your hand, your right hand raised high;

13. Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, [and] high is thy right hand.

14. Saving Justice and Fair Judgement the foundations of your throne, Faithful Love and Constancy march before you.

14. Justice and judgment [are] the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

15. How blessed the nation that learns to acclaim you! They will live, Yahweh, in the light of your presence.

15. Blessed [is] the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.

16. In your name they rejoice all day long, by your saving justice they are raised up.

16. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

17. You are the flower of their strength, by your favour our strength is triumphant;

17. For thou [art] the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

18. for to Yahweh belongs our shield, to the Holy One of Israel our king.

18. For the LORD [is] our defence; and the Holy One of Israel [is] our king.

19. Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful you said: 'I have given strength to a warrior, I have raised up a man chosen from my people.

19. Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon [one that is] mighty; I have exalted [one] chosen out of the people.

20. 'I have found David my servant, and anointed him with my holy oil.

20. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:

21. My hand will always be with him, my arm will make him strong.

21. With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

22. 'No enemy will be able to outwit him, no wicked man overcome him;

22. The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

23. I shall crush his enemies before him, strike his opponents dead.

23. And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.

24. 'My constancy and faithful love will be with him, in my name his strength will be triumphant.

24. But my faithfulness and my mercy [shall be] with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

25. I shall establish his power over the sea, his dominion over the rivers.

25. I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

26. 'He will cry to me, "You are my father, my God, the rock of my salvation!"

26. He shall cry unto me, Thou [art] my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

27. So I shall make him my first-born, the highest of earthly kings.

27. Also I will make him [my] firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

28. 'I shall maintain my faithful love for him always, my covenant with him will stay firm.

28. My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.

29. I have established his dynasty for ever, his throne to be as lasting as the heavens.

29. His seed also will I make [to endure] for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

30. 'Should his descendants desert my law, and not keep to my rulings,

30. If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;

31. should they violate my statutes, and not observe my commandments,

31. If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;

32. 'then I shall punish their offences with the rod, their guilt with the whip,

32. Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

33. but I shall never withdraw from him my faithful love, I shall not belie my constancy.

33. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

34. 'I shall not violate my covenant, I shall not withdraw the word once spoken.

34. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

35. I have sworn by my holiness, once and for all, never will I break faith with David.

35. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.

36. 'His dynasty shall endure for ever, his throne like the sun before me,

36. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.

37. as the moon is established for ever, a faithful witness in the skies.'Pause

37. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and [as] a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

38. Yet you yourself -- you have spurned and rejected, and have vented your wrath on your anointed,

38. But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.

39. you have repudiated the covenant with your servant, dishonoured his crown in the dust.

39. Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown [by casting it] to the ground.

40. You have pierced all his defences, and laid his strongholds in ruins,

40. Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.

41. everyone passing by plunders him, he has become the butt of his neighbours.

41. All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours.

42. You have raised high the right hand of his opponents, have made all his enemies happy;

42. Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

43. you have snapped off his sword on a rock, and failed to support him in battle.

43. Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.

44. You have stripped him of his splendid sceptre, and toppled his throne to the ground.

44. Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.

45. You have aged him before his time, enveloped him in shame.Pause

45. The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.

46. How long, Yahweh, will you remain hidden? For ever? Is your anger to go on smouldering like a fire?

46. How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?

47. Remember me; how long have I left? For what pointless end did you create all the children of Adam?

47. Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?

48. Who can live and never see death? Who can save himself from the clutches of Sheol?Pause

48. What man [is he that] liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

49. Lord, what of those pledges of your faithful love? You made an oath to David by your constancy.

49. Lord, where [are] thy former lovingkindnesses, [which] thou swarest unto David in thy truth?

50. Do not forget the insults to your servant; I take to heart the taunts of the nations,

50. Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; [how] I do bear in my bosom [the reproach of] all the mighty people;

51. which your enemies have levelled, Yahweh, have levelled at the footsteps of your anointed!

51. Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.

52. Blessed be Yahweh for ever. Amen, Amen.

52. Blessed [be] the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen.