Psalms 1 and 2 · Psalms of David …

Psalms 1–2 WEB

^1:1Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers; ²but his delight is in the LORD’s law. On his law he meditates day and night. ³He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper. ⁴The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. ⁵Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. ⁶For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.

^2:1Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing? ²The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his Anointed, saying, ³“Let’s break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us.” ⁴He who sits in the heavens will laugh. The Lord will have them in derision. ⁵Then he will speak to them in his anger, and terrify them in his wrath: ⁶“Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.” ⁷I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father. ⁸Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession. ⁹You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” ¹⁰Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth. ¹¹Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. ¹²Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish on the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.

Psalms 4–6 WEB

^4:1Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness. Give me relief from my distress. Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer. ²You sons of men, how long shall my glory be turned into dishonor? Will you love vanity and seek after falsehood? Selah. ³But know that the LORD has set apart for himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to him. ⁴Stand in awe, and don’t sin. Search your own heart on your bed, and be still. Selah. ⁵Offer the sacrifices of righteousness. Put your trust in the LORD. ⁶Many say, “Who will show us any good?” LORD, let the light of your face shine on us. ⁷You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and their new wine are increased. ⁸In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me live in safety.

^5:1Give ear to my words, LORD. Consider my meditation. ²Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for I pray to you. ³LORD, in the morning you will hear my voice. In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly. ⁴For you are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness. Evil can’t live with you. ⁵The arrogant will not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity. ⁶You will destroy those who speak lies. The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. ⁷But as for me, in the abundance of your loving kindness I will come into your house. I will bow toward your holy temple in reverence of you. ⁸Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies. Make your way straight before my face. ⁹For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their heart is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue. ¹⁰Hold them guilty, God. Let them fall by their own counsels. Thrust them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against you. ¹¹But let all those who take refuge in you rejoice. Let them always shout for joy, because you defend them. Let them also who love your name be joyful in you. ¹²For you will bless the righteous. LORD, you will surround him with favor as with a shield.

^6:1LORD, don’t rebuke me in your anger, neither discipline me in your wrath. ²Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint. LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled. ³My soul is also in great anguish. But you, LORD—how long? ⁴Return, LORD. Deliver my soul, and save me for your loving kindness’ sake. ⁵For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks? ⁶I am weary with my groaning. Every night I flood my bed. I drench my couch with my tears. ⁷My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all my adversaries. ⁸Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping. ⁹The LORD has heard my supplication. The LORD accepts my prayer. ¹⁰May all my enemies be ashamed and dismayed. They shall turn back, they shall be disgraced suddenly.

Psalms 8–10 WEB

^8:1LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens! ²From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength, because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger. ³When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained, ⁴what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him? ⁵For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. ⁶You make him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet: ⁷All sheep and cattle, yes, and the animals of the field, ⁸the birds of the sky, the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the seas. ⁹LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

^9:1I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart. I will tell of all your marvelous works. ²I will be glad and rejoice in you. I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. ³When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish in your presence. ⁴For you have maintained my just cause. You sit on the throne judging righteously. ⁵You have rebuked the nations. You have destroyed the wicked. You have blotted out their name forever and ever. ⁶The enemy is overtaken by endless ruin. The very memory of the cities which you have overthrown has perished. ⁷But the LORD reigns forever. He has prepared his throne for judgment. ⁸He will judge the world in righteousness. He will administer judgment to the peoples in uprightness. ⁹The LORD will also be a high tower for the oppressed; a high tower in times of trouble. ¹⁰Those who know your name will put their trust in you, for you, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you. ¹¹Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion, and declare among the people what he has done. ¹²For he who avenges blood remembers them. He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted. ¹³Have mercy on me, LORD. See my affliction by those who hate me, and lift me up from the gates of death, ¹⁴that I may show all of your praise. I will rejoice in your salvation in the gates of the daughter of Zion. ¹⁵The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken. ¹⁶The LORD has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah. ¹⁷The wicked shall be turned back to Sheol, even all the nations that forget God. ¹⁸For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish forever. ¹⁹Arise, LORD! Don’t let man prevail. Let the nations be judged in your sight. ²⁰Put them in fear, LORD. Let the nations know that they are only men. Selah.

^10:1Why do you stand far off, LORD? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? ²In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise. ³For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings. He blesses the greedy and condemns the LORD. ⁴The wicked, in the pride of his face, has no room in his thoughts for God. ⁵His ways are prosperous at all times. He is arrogant, and your laws are far from his sight. As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them. ⁶He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken. For generations I shall have no trouble.” ⁷His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression. Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity. ⁸He lies in wait near the villages. From ambushes, he murders the innocent. His eyes are secretly set against the helpless. ⁹He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush. He lies in wait to catch the helpless. He catches the helpless when he draws him in his net. ¹⁰The helpless are crushed. They collapse. They fall under his strength. ¹¹He says in his heart, “God has forgotten. He hides his face. He will never see it.” ¹²Arise, LORD! God, lift up your hand! Don’t forget the helpless. ¹³Why does the wicked person condemn God, and say in his heart, “God won’t call me into account”? ¹⁴But you do see trouble and grief. You consider it to take it into your hand. You help the victim and the fatherless. ¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked. As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none. ¹⁶The LORD is King forever and ever! The nations will perish out of his land. ¹⁷LORD, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear, ¹⁸to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that man who is of the earth may terrify no more.

2 Samuel 5 WEB

¹Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and spoke, saying, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh. ²In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led Israel out and in. The LORD said to you, ‘You will be shepherd of my people Israel, and you will be prince over Israel.’” ³So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD; and they anointed David king over Israel. ⁴David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. ⁵In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah. ⁶The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to David, saying, “The blind and the lame will keep you out of here,” thinking, “David can’t come in here.” ⁷Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion. This is David’s city. ⁸David said on that day, “Whoever strikes the Jebusites, let him go up to the watercourse and strike those lame and blind, who are hated by David’s soul.” Therefore they say, “The blind and the lame can’t come into the house.” ⁹David lived in the stronghold, and called it David’s city. David built around from Millo and inward. ¹⁰David grew greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of Armies, was with him. ¹¹Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, with cedar trees, carpenters, and masons; and they built David a house. ¹²David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel’s sake. ¹³David took more concubines and wives for himself out of Jerusalem, after he had come from Hebron; and more sons and daughters were born to David. ¹⁴These are the names of those who were born to him in Jerusalem: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet. ¹⁷When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. ¹⁸Now the Philistines had come and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁹David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hand?” The LORD said to David, “Go up; for I will certainly deliver the Philistines into your hand.” ²⁰David came to Baal Perazim, and David struck them there. Then he said, “The LORD has broken my enemies before me, like the breach of waters.” Therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim. ²¹They left their images there, and David and his men took them away. ²²The Philistines came up yet again and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. ²³When David inquired of the LORD, he said, “You shall not go up. Circle around behind them, and attack them in front of the mulberry trees. ²⁴When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then stir yourself up; for then the LORD has gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.” ²⁵David did so, as the LORD commanded him, and struck the Philistines all the way from Geba to Gezer.