不认识圣经，就是不认识基督，不认识基督，就是不认识基督所建立的天主教会。
旧约·圣咏集
卷一(1-41） 卷二(42-72） 卷三(73-89） 卷四(90-106） 卷五(107-150）
卷三(73-89)
七三：[富贵如云烟](28)
73:1 阿撒夫的诗歌。天主待正直的人多么美善，上主对心里洁净的人亦然！
73:2
我的脚几乎要跌跤，我的脚险些要滑倒，
73:3
因我看见恶人安宁幸福，就对骄横的人心生嫉妒。
73:4
原来他们总没有受过重创，所以他们的身体健康肥胖；
73:5
他们没有别人所受的忧伤，也没有常人所遭遇的灾殃。
73:6
故此，骄傲缠绕他们相似项链，残暴遮蔽他们有如衣衫。
73:7
他们的邪恶，出自肥胖的心田，让他们自己的恶念，肆一锖滥。
73:8
他们讥讽嘲弄，言恶语狂，他们欺压恐吓，蛮横倔强；
73:9
用自己的口亵渎上天，以自己的舌诋毁尘寰。
73:10
因此我的百姓向他们依归，满口啜饮由他们供给的水，
73:11
且说：天主岂能知悉，难道至高者能理会？
73:12
看，这些人为非作歹，常享平安，积存钱财，
73:13
的确，我白白清心寡欲，我徒然洗手表白无辜。
73:14
我时时遭受鞭击，也天天遇到责斥。
73:15
我若想：我说话若与他们相同，就等于放弃与你子民为同宗。
73:16
我愈设法了解这事，我愈觉得神妙莫测。
73:17
直到我接近天主的奥妙，直到我注意他们的结果。
73:18
你的确将他们置于坡路，让他们滑倒于消灭之途。
73:19
他们瞬息之间变得如此凄凉，他们因受惊过度而从此灭亡。
73:20
上主，世人睡醒，怎样了解梦境；你醒时，也怎样看他们的幻影。
73:21
几时我的心灵遭受酸苦，刺痛也会进入我的肺腑。
73:22
原来是我愚昧毫无理性，在你面前竟燃好象畜牲。
73:23
但以后，我要常与你同处，你已经握住了我的右手。
73:24
你要以你的圣训来领导我，最后引我进入你的荣耀。
73:25
在天上除你以外，为我还能有谁？在地上除你以外，为我一无所喜。
73:26
我的肉身和我的心灵，虽以憔瘁；天主却永是我心的福分和磐石。
73:27
看，远离你的人必将趋于沉沦。你必消灭一切背弃你的人民。
73:28
亲近天主对我是多么的美好：只有上主天主是我的避难所。我要在熙雍女子门前，把你一切的工程宣传。
七四：[哀吊圣殿的毁灭](23)
74:1 阿撒夫的训诲诗。天主，你为何常久弃舍不管，对你牧场的羊群怒火炎炎？
74:2
求你怀念你自古所占有的会伴，你所赎回而给你作产业的族团，及你在那里设置宝座的熙雍山，
74:3
求你举步踏向久存的荒野：敌人在圣所中摧毁了一切。
74:4
你的仇人在你的会场上咆哮狂谩，竖立起自己的旗帜作为凯旋纪念。
74:5
他们相似高举斧子的樵夫，在森林中砍伐坚硬的树木。
74:6
他们竟用斧头铁锤，捣毁了圣殿的门扉；
74:7
他们又纵火焚烧了你的圣殿，把你圣名的居所亵渎于地面。
74:8
心里说：我们把它们全部摧毁，烧尽天主在地上所有的殿宇。
74:9
我们的标帜，已再不见，一个先知也不复出现，我们都不知几时才完。
74:10
天主，仇人欺凌辱骂要到何时？敌人岂能永远亵渎你的名字？
74:11
为何你把你的手收回，将你的右手插入怀里？
74:12
天主，从古以来是我的君主，是他在人世间实行了救助。
74:13
你以你的权能分开了大海，在水中击破了毒龙的头盖；
74:14
打碎了里外雅堂的头颅，且将它作为海怪的食物。
74:15
你引源泉溪水滚流涓涓，却使汹涌江河枯干涸竭，
74:16
白日属于你，黑夜也属于你，月亮和太阳都是由你布置。
74:17
你划出了大地的界限，你制定了冬夏的时间。
74:18
上主求你切记：仇人亵渎了你，无知的百姓侮辱了你的名字。
74:19
求你不要将你斑鸠的性命交给野鹰，永远也不要忘记你的穷苦人的性命。
74:20
求你回顾你所立的誓盟，因各地暗处充满了强横。
74:21
愿受压迫的人不要含羞回程，愿贫苦穷乏的人歌颂你的名。
74:22
天主，求你速来处理你的案件，切记糊涂人天天对你的侮慢。
74:23
千万不要忘了你敌人的喧嚣，和反抗你的人们不断的狂叫。
七五：[天主是审判主](11)
75:1 阿撒夫的诗歌，交与乐官，调寄「莫要毁坏」
75:2
我们感谢你，上主，我们感谢你，称颂你的名号，传扬你的奇迹。
75:3
「我规定的日期一旦来临，我必定要依照公道行审。
75:4
大地和众居民虽吓得动摇，但我必使大地的支柱坚牢。」
75:5
我对蛮横者说：「不要再蛮横跋扈！」我向糊涂人说：「不要再头角高露！」
75:6
不要举你们的角，反抗至高者，不要再说骄傲的话反抗天主！
75:7
的确，救援不从东方来，也不从西方来，救援不从旷野来，也不从山岭来。
75:8
因为惟独天主是审判大主，他将此人贬抑将那人高举。
75:9
爵杯已经握在上主的手掌，装满了起沫而调和的酒酿，他已倒出，要地上的恶人们喝，还要叫他们饮尽杯中的糟粕。
75:10
然而我要永远欢舞，歌颂雅各伯的天主；
75:11
恶人的角，我要一一打碎，惟有义人的角才可竖起。
七六：[胜利的凯歌](13)
76:1 阿撒夫的诗歌。交与乐官，乐用弦乐。
76:2
天主在犹大地显示了自身，在以色列广扬了自己的名。
76:3
他在撒冷支搭了自己的帐幕，他在熙雍建竖了自己的住处。
76:4
在那里他打断了弓上的火箭，他也打断了枪柄、盾牌与刀剑。
76:5
大能者，你大发光明，在来自远古的山陵。
76:6
胆大的人，全被剥夺，一睡不醒，那勇敢的将领，手臂麻木失灵。
76:7
雅各伯的天主，因你的恐吓，战车战马都惊得麻木僵直。
76:8
你尊严可畏；你盛怒时，何人能在你面前站立？
76:9
你由天上宣布判案，大地战栗默默无言。
76:10
因为天主起来施行审判，是要救世上的一切贫贱。
76:11
人的狂怒成全你的光荣，幸没镞怒的人，向你祝福。
76:12
你们许愿要向上主你们的天主还愿；他四周的人都要向可敬者供奉祭献。
76:13
他抑压首领们的气焰，他使地上的众王抖颤。
七七：[回念天主的大恩](21)
77:1 阿撒夫的诗歌，交与乐官耶杜通。
77:2
我呼号，我的呼声上达天主前，我向天主高呼，求他俯听矜怜。
77:3
我在患难之日，寻求上主，虽整夜伸手，亦不觉辛苦，我的心灵且不接受安抚。
77:4
我一怀念天主，即咨嗟哀叹，我一沉思考虑，即心灰意懒。
77:5
你使我的眼睛彻夜不眠，我实烦燥难安，苦不堪言。
77:6
我回忆往昔的时日，我怀念过去的岁月。
77:7
我的心灵夜间默默自问，我的神魂时时沉思质询：
77:8
难道天主永远拒绝，难道不再回顾怜爱？
77:9
难道他的恩爱永远停止，他的诺言也将永世废弃？
77:10
难道天主忘记了慈悲？因愤怒而将慈爱关闭？
77:11
因此我说：这是我的苦难：至高者的右手已经改变。
77:12
我现今追念上主的作为，回想你往昔所行的奇迹；
77:13
沉思你的一切所作所为，更要默想你的一切异事。
77:14
天主，你的行径完全在于圣化，何神象我们的天主如此伟大？
77:15
只有你是施行奇迹的天主！在万民中彰显了你的威武。
77:16
你以臂力拯救了你的人民，就是雅各伯和若瑟的子孙。
77:17
大水一旦看见你，天主，大水一见你就都恐怖，连深渊汪洋也都颤抖。
77:18
云天大雨倾降，乌云发出巨响，火箭满天飞翔。
77:19
你的雷霆在旋风中发响，闪电也将整个世界照亮，大地惊慌失措而又摇荡。
77:20
你的道路虽然经过海底，你的途径虽然穿越大水，却没有显露出你的足迹。
77:21
你曾借着梅瑟和亚郎的手掌，领导你的子民有如领导群羊。
七八：[先民叛命的遗教](72)
78:1 阿撒夫的训诲歌。我的百姓，请倾听我的指教。请你们侧耳，听我口的训导。
78:2
我要开口讲述譬喻，我要说出古代谜语。
78:3
凡我们所听见所知道的，我们祖先传报给我们的，
78:4
我们不愿隐瞒他们的子孙；要将上主的光荣和威能，他所施展的奇迹和异行，都要传报给后代的众生。
78:5
他曾在雅各伯颁布了诫命，也曾在以色列立定了法令；凡他吩咐我们祖先的事情，都要一一告知自己的子孙，
78:6
叫那未来的一代也要明悉，他们生长后，也要告知后裔，
78:7
叫他们仰望天主，不忘记他的工行，反而常要遵守天主的诫命，
78:8
免得他们象他们的祖先，成为顽固背命的世代，成为意志薄弱不坚，而心神不忠于天主的世代。
78:9
厄弗辣因的子孙，虽知挽弓射箭，但是在作战的时日，却转背逃窜。
78:10
他们没有遵守同天主所立的盟约，他们更拒绝依照天主的法律生活。
78:11
又忘却了天主的作为，和他显给他们的奇事：
78:12
就是他昔日在埃及国和左罕地，当着他们祖先的面所行的奇迹；
78:13
他分开了大海，领他们出险，他使海水壁立，象一道堤岸；
78:14
白天以云柱领导他们，黑夜以火柱光照他们；
78:15
在旷野中，把岩石打破，水流如注，让他们喝饱，
78:16
由岩石中涌出小河，水流倾泻相似江河。
78:17
但是，他们依旧作恶而得罪上主，在沙漠地区仍然冒犯至高之主。
78:18
他们在自己心内试探天主，要求满足自己贪欲的食物；
78:19
并且出言反抗天主说：天主岂能设宴于沙漠？
78:20
他虽能击石，使水涌出好似湍流；但岂能给人民备办鲜肉与食物？
78:21
天主听到后，遂即大发愤怒，烈火燃起，要将雅各伯焚去，怒焰生出，要将以色列铲除；
78:22
因为他们不相信天主，也不肯依靠他的救助。
78:23
上主却仍命令云彩降下，开启了天上的门闸，
78:24
给他们降下玛纳使他们有饭吃，给他们赏赐了从天而降的粮食。
78:25
天使的食粮，世人可以享受，他又赐下食物，使他们饱足。
78:26
他由高天激起了东风，以他的能力引出南风，
78:27
给他们降下鲜肉多似微尘灰土，给他们降下飞禽，多似海岸沙数，
78:28
降落在他们军营的中央，在他们帐幕的左右四方，
78:29
他们吃了，而且吃得十分饱饫，天主使他们的欲望得以满足；
78:30
但他们的食欲还没有完全满足，当他们口中还衔着他们的食物，
78:31
天主便对他们大发怒愤，杀死了他们肥壮的勇兵，击倒了以色列的青年人。
78:32
虽然如此，他们仍然犯罪，还是不信他的奇妙作为。
78:33
他使他们的时日，迅速消逝，又使他们的岁月，猝然过去。
78:34
上主击杀他们，他们即来寻觅上主，他们回心转意，热切地前来寻求天主，
78:35
想起天主是自己的磐石，至高者天主是自己的救主。
78:36
但是他们却满口欺骗，以舌头向他说出谎言。
78:37
他们的心对他毫无诚意，对自己的誓约不讲信义。
78:38
但是他却慈悲为怀，赦免罪污，没有消灭他们，且常抑止愤怒；也未曾把自己全部怒火泄露。
78:39
他又想起他们不过是血肉，是一阵去而不复返的唏嘘。
78:40
他们多少次在旷野里触犯了他，在沙漠中激怒了他，
78:41
三番五次试探了天主，侮辱了以色列的圣主。
78:42
他那有力的手臂，拯救他们脱离敌手的时日：
78:43
那日，他曾在埃及国显了奇迹，在左罕地行了异事。
78:44
血染了他们的江河与流溪，致使他们没有了可饮的清水。
78:45
他使蝇蚋伤害他们，又使蛤蟆侵害他们。
78:46
把他们的产物交给蚱蜢，将他们的收获喂给蝗虫。
78:47
下冰雹把他们的葡萄打碎，降寒霜把他们的桑树打毁，
78:48
将他们的牲畜交给瘟疫，将他们的羊群交给毒疾；
78:49
向他们燃起愤怒之火，赫赫的震怒，以及灾祸，好象侵害人们的群魔。
78:50
他为自己的愤怒开了路，未保存他们脱免于死途，瘟死了他们所有的牲畜，
78:51
击杀了埃及所有的长子，将含帐幕内的头胎杀死。
78:52
他如领羊一般地领出了自己的百姓，他在旷野引领他们有如引领羊群；
78:53
领他们平安走过，使他们一无所畏，而海洋却把他们的仇人完全淹毙。
78:54
引领他们进入自己的圣地，到自己右手所占领的山区；
78:55
亲自在他们的面前把异民逐散，将那地方以抽签方式分为家产，让以色列各族住进他们的帐幔。
78:56
但他们仍然试探和触犯上主，没有遵守至高者的法律，
78:57
叛逆失信，如同他们的祖先，徘徊歧途，好象邪曲的弓箭。
78:58
因他们的丘坛，招惹了上主的义愤，因他们的雕象，激起了上主的怒 恨。
78:59
天主一听到，即发愤怒，想将以色列完全摈除；
78:60
甚至他离弃了史罗的居处，就是他在人间所住的帐幕。
78:61
让自己的力量为人俘掳，将自己的光荣交于敌手；
78:62
将自己的百姓交于刀剑，对自己的产业燃起怒焰。
78:63
烈火并吞了他们的青年，处女见不到婚嫁的喜宴；
78:64
他们的司祭丧身刀剑，他们的寡妇不能吊唁。
78:65
上主好似由睡梦中醒起，又好象酒后欢乐的勇士。
78:66
他由后方打击自己的仇敌，使他们永永远远蒙羞受辱。
78:67
他并且弃舍了若瑟的帐幕，不再拣选厄弗辣因的家族。
78:68
但他却把犹大的家族拣选；以及自己喜爱的熙雍圣山。
78:69
他建筑了圣殿如天之高远，永远奠定了它如地之牢坚。
78:70
拣选了自己的仆人达味，且自羊圈里选拔了达味。
78:71
上主召叫了放羊时的达味，为牧放自己的百姓雅各伯，为牧放自己的人民以色列，
78:72
他以纯洁的心牧养了他们，他以明智的手领导了他们。
七九：[哀圣城的毁灭](13)
79:1 阿撒夫的诗歌。天主，异民侵入了你的遗产，亵渎了你的圣殿，使耶路撒冷覆颠；
79:2
并将你众仆人的尸首，给天空的飞鸟做食物，用你圣徒的肉喂野兽。
79:3
在耶路撒冷四周血如水流，但出来埋葬的人却一个也无。
79:4
我们竟成为我们邻居的耻辱，作了我们四周的讥讽与玩物。
79:5
上主，你经常发怒，要到何时，你怒焰如火，要到何时？
79:6
求你向那不承认你的异民，及不呼号你名的列国泄愤，
79:7
因为他们吞并了雅各伯家族，并蹂躏了他的住处。
79:8
求你别向我们追讨祖先的恶行，以你的仁慈速来协助我们，因为我们实在是可怜万分。
79:9
天主，我们的救主，为你名的光荣，协助我们，为了你的圣名，宽赦我们的罪过，拯救我们！
79:10
为何让异民说：「他们的天主何处去了？」愿我们在异民中能亲眼看到，你仆人流出的血，要得的报酬！
79:11
愿囚徒的哀叹上达你面前，按你手臂的能力交锱死犯！
79:12
天主，求你将我们四邻加给你的凌辱，向他们的胸怀里投以七倍报复！
79:13
这样做你子民做你牧场羊群的我们，能永远称谢你，能万世宣扬你的光荣。
八十：[求以色列复兴](20)
80:1 阿撒夫的诗歌，交与乐官。调寄「见证的百合。」
80:2
以色列的牧养者，恳求你留心细听，你率领若瑟的子孙有如率领羊群。坐于革鲁宾之上者，求你大显光荣；
80:3
于厄弗辣因、本雅明和默纳协之中；求你发显你的威能，快来作我们的救星！
80:4
天主，求你使我们能以复兴，显示你的慈颜，好拯救我们。
80:5
万军的天主，何时消除，向你祈祷的百姓发怒？
80:6
你给他们吃的是含泪的食物，你用汪汪泪水，作他们的饮料。
80:7
你使我们四邻因我们而争吵，你让我们的仇人向我们嘲笑。
80:8
万军的天主，求你复兴我们，显示你的慈颜，好拯救我们。
80:9
你从埃及移来一棵葡萄树，你把异民赶走，而种植这树。
80:10
给这树准备了肥沃土质，这树深深扎根，满布大地。
80:11
它的荫影遮蔽着群山峻岭，它的枝干与苍天松柏相并；
80:12
它的枝蔓伸展到海涯、它的根苗绵延到河坝。
80:13
你为何折毁了它的篱笆，任凭过路的人去砍伐，
80:14
使森林的野猪去践踏，使田间的野兽去吃它？
80:15
万军的天主，求你领我们回去，求你从高天之上垂视而怜恤！
80:16
求你常看顾这葡萄树，和你右手种植的园圃，保护你所培养的小树。
80:17
愿那放火焚烧它，砍伐它的人，因懔于你怒容的威吓而沈沦。
80:18
愿你右手扶持你右边的人。并扶助为你所坚固的子民！
80:19
从此，我们再不愿意离开你，赐我们生存，为能传扬你名。
80:20
上主万军的天主，求你复兴我们，显示你的慈颜，好拯救我们！
八一：[庆节的歌咏](17)
81:1 阿撒夫的诗歌，交与乐官。调寄「加特」。
81:2
请众向助佑我们的天主歌舞，向雅各伯的天主欢呼。
81:3
请众高唱诗歌，手击铙鼓，和弹琴瑟，奏悦耳的乐谱。
81:4
在月朔之日和月圆之夜，在我们的庆节，吹起号角，
81:5
因为这是以色列的规定，是雅各伯天主的诫命，
81:6
当他出击埃及国时，给若瑟立了栈铷规。我听到从未听的诺言：
81:7
「我救他的肩脱离重担，又使他的手放下筐篮。
81:8
你在患难中呼号，我救了你，从雷鸣的云彩中，我答应了你；在默黎巴水边，我试探了你。
81:9
请听，我的百姓，我要警告你！以色列！恨不得你能听从我：
81:10
在你中间不应有别的神，千万不可崇拜外邦的神！
81:11
我是上主，我是你的天主，是我由埃及国将你领出，你张开口，我要使它满足。
81:12
可惜我的百姓没有听我的呼声，以色列人也没有服从我的命令。
81:13
因此，我就任凭他们的心灵顽硬，让他们随自己的私意而行。
81:14
如果我的百姓听了我的命令，以色列人随从我的道路而行，
81:15
我立刻就会压迫他们的敌人，转过手打击难为他们的仇人。
81:16
仇恨上主的人必来向他们归顺，仇人的厄运从此要永久常存。
81:17
但我要以麦子的精华养育选民，以石中的蜂蜜饱享他们。」
八二：[警告为民长者](8)
82:1 阿撒夫的诗歌。天主亲临众神的会议，在众神之中主持审判：
82:2
你们不照正义审理，偏袒恶人要到何时？
82:3
你们应保护受苦的人和孤儿，为贫弱与可怜的人主持正义。
82:4
应拯救弱小及穷苦的人，由恶人的爪牙拯救他们。」
82:5
他们原本无知无识，在暗中摸索，却把大地的一切根基紊乱动摇。
82:6
我亲自说过：你们都是神，众人都是至高者的子民。
82:7
但是你们必要死亡象众人一样，必要消失象任何一位王侯一样。
82:8
天主，求你起来审判下地，因为万国都应由你统治。
八三：[求消灭联盟的异民](19)
83:1 阿撒夫的诗歌。
83:2
上主，求你不要一言不发，天主，求你不要静默无话！
83:3
因为你的仇敌骚扰狂吼，恼恨你的人都摇头昂首；
83:4
相聚密谋，陷害你的百姓，商议攻击你保护的人民，
83:5
说：「大家来，由万民中将他们驱散，使以色列的名字不再被记念。」
83:6
于是，他们心齐谋同，缔结盟约，向你进攻，
83:7
即厄东部落及依市玛耳，又有摩阿布以及哈革尔。
83:8
还有革巴耳、阿孟和阿玛肋克人，且有培肋舍特人和提洛的居民，
83:9
亚述人也与他们串通，作了罗特子民的帮凶。
83:10
求你对待他们象对待米德杨人，象在克雄河对待息色辣和雅宾，
83:11
他们都丧亡于恩多尔，全变成了田里的粪泥，
83:12
使他们的王侯要与敖勒布和则厄布一样，使他们的将领与则巴黑和匝耳慕纳一样，
83:13
因为他们都曾如此说过：我们去占领天主的住所。
83:14
我的天主，求你使他们象旋风卷起的落叶，求你使他们象狂风吹起的碎秸，
83:15
好象被火磷焚烧的树林，又似被火焰燃烧的山陵；
83:16
求你也这样以你的飓风驱散他们，以你的暴雨惊吓他们。
83:17
上主，求你羞辱他们的面容，是为叫他们寻求你的圣名；
83:18
使他们永远受辱恐慌，叫他们个个蒙羞丧亡。
83:19
从此，认识你的名号是雅威，惟有你在普天下至尊无对。
八四：[朝拜圣殿歌](13)
84:1 科辣黑子孙的诗歌，交于乐官。调寄「加特」。
84:2
万军的上主，你的居所是多么可爱！
84:3
我的灵魂对上主的宫庭渴慕及缅怀。我的心灵以及我的肉身，向生活的天主踊跃欢欣。
84:4
万军的上主，我的君王，我的天主，麻雀靠近你的祭坛找到了住所，燕子也找到了安置幼雏的窝巢。
84:5
上主，居住在你的殿宇，常赞美你的，真是有福！
84:6
那以你作为自己的助佑，居心朝圣的人，真是有福！
84:7
他们把他们经过的干谷变为水泉，并以初雨给干谷披上祝福的衣衫。
84:8
他们的体力越行越有，到熙雍觐见至高天主。
84:9
万军的上主，求你允我的恳请，雅各伯的天主，求你侧耳倾听！
84:10
天主，我们的护盾，求你目睹，请对你的受傅者予以回顾。
84:11
的确在你宫庭逗留一日，远胜过在别处逗留千日。我宁愿站在我天主殿宇的门限，我不愿逗留在恶人帐幕的里面，
84:12
因为上主天主是太阳，是护盾。上主常广施恩爱和光荣；他对行为正直纯洁的人，从来不会拒绝赐福赐幸。
84:13
万军的上主，依赖你的，那人才算是真有福的。
八五：[求赐和平](14)
85:1 科辣黑子孙的诗歌，交于乐官。
85:2
上主，你对你的地域已加垂怜，且将雅各伯的命运改善；
85:3
赦免了你百姓的罪愆，遮掩了他们所有的过犯；
85:4
抑制了你的一切愤怒，停止了你怒气的火焰。
85:5
天主，我们的救主，求你复兴我们，求你从我们身上消除你的气愤。
85:6
你岂能永远向我们发怒，世世代代发泄你的愤怒？
85:7
难道不是你使我们复生，使你的子民因你而欢欣？
85:8
上主，求你向我们显示你的宽仁，求你给我们赏赐你的救恩。
85:9
我要听天主上主说的话：他向自己的圣者和子民，以及向他回心转意的人，所说的话确是和平纶音。
85:10
他的救恩必接近敬畏他的人，为使光荣在我们的地上久存。
85:11
仁爱和忠信必彼此相迎，正义与和平必彼此相亲。
85:12
忠信从地下生出，正义由天上远瞩。
85:13
上主也必赐下康乐幸福；我们的地必有他的收获。
85:14
正义在上主前面行走，救恩必随上主的脚步。
八六：[灾祸中的祈祷](17)
86:1 达味的祈祷。上主，求你侧耳俯听我，因为我可怜而又无靠。
86:2
求你保护我的灵魂，因为我热爱你，求你拯救你的仆人，因为我仰望你。
86:3
你是我的天主，求你怜悯我；上主，因为我时常向你哀告。
86:4
求你使你的仆人心灵欢欣。上主，我向你举起我的心神。
86:5
我主，因为你又良善又慈悯，凡呼号你的，你必待他宽仁；
86:6
上主，求你俯听我的祈祷，求你细听我恳求的哀号。
86:7
我在遭难时向你呼号，因为你一定会俯允我。
86:8
上主，没有任何一个神能与你相似，没有谁的作为能与你的作为相比。
86:9
上主，你所造的万民一齐来到，他们崇拜你，并宣扬你的名号。
86:10
因为你是伟大的，独行奇谋，只有你是惟一无二的天主。
86:11
上主，求你教训我你的途径，求你使我照你的真理去行；求你指引我心，敬畏你的名；
86:12
我的天主，我要全心向你赞颂，上主，我要永远光荣你的圣名。
86:13
因为你对我的仁爱浩大无边，救援我的灵魂，免陷极深阴间。
86:14
天主，骄傲的人起来将我欺凌，蛮横的一群人想害我的性命，也没有将你放在他们的眼中。
86:15
但是，上主，你是良善又慈悲的天主，你缓于发怒，极其宽仁又极其忠恕。
86:16
求你回顾我，求你怜悯我，将你的能力赐给你的仆役，救拔你婢女所生的儿子！
86:17
求你将你爱护的记号指示给我，使恼恨我的人看到而羞愧难过。上主，因为你援助了我，安慰了我。
八七：[万民的母亲熙雍](7)
87:1 科辣黑子孙的诗歌。上主喜爱自己的宫殿，是建筑在一切的圣山。
87:2
他喜爱熙雍所有的城门，胜过雅各伯所有的帐棚。
87:3
天主的圣城！人们论到你，曾经说了许多光荣的事；
87:4
「我要将辣哈布和巴比伦，列于认识我者的人群中：连培勒舍特、提洛和雇士民，这些人都是在你那里出生。
87:5
论到熙雍，人要称她为母亲，人人都是在她那里出生；至高者要亲自使她坚定。」
87:6
上主要在万民户籍上留名：这些人也都是在那里出生。
87:7
人们要在舞蹈时歌唱说：我的一切泉源都在你内。
八八：[哀怨歌](19)
88:1 科辣黑子孙的诗歌，交于乐官，悲调歌唱。则辣黑人赫曼的训诲诗。
88:2
上主我天主，我白天祷告，我黑夜在你的面前哀号。
88:3
愿我的祈祷上达你前，求你侧耳听我的呼喊。
88:4
因我的心灵饱受灾难，我的性命已临近阴间；
88:5
我已被列在进入坟墓的人中，我已变成与无气力的人相同。
88:6
我的床榻铺在死人的中间，与葬入坟墓者的尸身作伴，你已不再记念他们，你已不再照顾他们。
88:7
你把我放在极深的坑间，你把我置于黑暗和深渊。
88:8
你的忿怒气焰重压着我，你的大浪巨涛苦害着我。
88:9
你叫我的知己弃我远去，你使我被他们痛恨厌恶；
我受他们拘留不得外出。
88:10
我的眼睛因痛苦而憔悴，上主，我天天在呼号着你，也把我的双手向你举起。
88:11
难道你还要给死人发显奇迹，或者去世的人会起来称谢你？
88:12
难道在坟墓里还有人称述你的仁慈，或者在阴府内还有人宣扬你的信义？
88:13
难道在幽暗处能有人明了你的奇迹，或者在遗忘区还有人晓得你的正义？
88:14
但是上主，我现今呼号你，我的祈祷早晨上达于你；
88:15
上主，你为什么舍弃了我的灵魂，又为什么向我掩起了你的慈容？
88:16
我自幼受苦，几乎死去，受你的威吓，万分恐惧；
88:17
你的盛怒将我淹没，你的威吓使我死掉，
88:18
象水一样常环绕着我，由四周齐来紧围着我。
88:19
你使亲友同伴将我离弃，黑暗成了我的家人知己。
八九：[达味王朝](53)
89:1 则辣黑人厄堂的训诲诗。
89:2
我要永永远远歌咏上主的恩宠，要世世代代亲口称扬你的忠诚。
89:3
你原说过：「我的恩宠已永远奠定！」就如你在天上确定了你的忠诚。
89:4
「我同我拣选的人立了契约，向我的仆人达味起了盟誓，
89:5
我直到永远巩固你的后裔，世世代代将你的宝座建立。」
89:6
上主，愿苍天称赞你的奇事，圣者集会赞美你的忠义！
89:7
在云彩之中，谁可与上主相比，天主的众子，谁能同上主相似。
89:8
在圣者的集会中，天主令人惊恐，他伟大可怕，超过他四周的神圣。
89:9
上主万军的天主，有谁能够相似你？上主，你是全能的，你的忠信环绕你。
89:10
你统治汹涌的海啸，你平抑翻腾的波涛。
89:11
你曾践踏辣哈布，好象践踏尸体，你以大能的手臂驱散你的仇敌。
89:12
高天是属你的，厚土也是属你的，寰宇及其中的一切是你奠定的。
89:13
你创造了南方，创造了北方，大博尔，赫尔孟因你而欢畅。
89:14
你的臂膀，孔武有力，双手坚强，右手举起。
89:15
正义和公理是作你宝座的基础，仁爱和忠信走在你前面开路。
89:16
会欢乐歌唱的百姓，的确有福，上主，他们在你慈颜光中行走，
89:17
他们常常因你的名而欢跃，你的正义使他们引以自豪；
89:18
因为你的他们权势的光明，因你慈惠，我们的威能上升。
89:19
因为在上主内有我们的庇护，以色列的圣者是我们的君主。
89:20
你曾在异象中向你的圣者说：「我已经给那有能者加了冕，由百姓中将我所选者举荐。
89:21
我拣选达味做我的忠仆，也给他傅抹了圣油。
89:22
我的双手必常扶持他，我的臂膀必常坚固他，
89:23
仇敌不能欺骗他，恶人不能压伏他，
89:24
我要在他前击破他的仇敌，凡仇恨他的人，我必要打击。
89:25
我的忠信与仁慈常与他共处，他的头角因我的名而得高举。
89:26
我使他的手伸到海上，使他的右手伸到河上。
89:27
他要称赞我说：『你是我的大父，是我救恩的磐石，是我的天主。』
89:28
我也要立定他为首生子，他高出世上所有的君主。
89:29
我同他永远保持我的慈爱，我同他立的约，永不得破坏，
89:30
使他的后裔，永世不替，使他的宝位，与天日齐。
89:31
若他的子孙放弃我的法令，不照我的命令行，
89:32
若是他们违反了我的章程，不遵守我的诫命，
89:33
我必要用棍杖惩罚他们的罪过，也必用鞭子责打他们的邪恶。
89:34
但我不将我的慈爱撤退，我也不使我的忠诚作废，
89:35
也不放弃我的盟约，也不改变我的许诺。
89:36
我一次指我的圣善起誓，我也绝对不会欺骗达味。
89:37
他的后裔必定要永远兴隆，他的御座在我前，如日永恒；
89:38
又如月亮循环不停，做空中忠实的见证。」
89:39
但是你已经拒绝和摈弃，对你的受傅者愤怒大起；
89:40
将你仆人的盟约撕毁，将他的冠冕抛掷于地。
89:41
荡平了他所有的城垣，使他的堡垒化为荒原；
89:42
凡过路的人都劫掠他，他为邻人所嘲笑辱骂。
89:43
你高举了他仇人的右手，使他的敌人都满心欢愉。
89:44
使他的刀刃迟钝不利，上阵时使他不能站立；
89:45
使他的光辉消失灭迹，把他的宝座推翻于地；
89:46
缩短他青春的时日，使他四面蒙受羞耻。
89:47
上主，你不断地隐避，要到何时；上主，你的怒火如焚，何时才熄？
89:48
求你怀念我的性命何其短暂，你所创造的世人是多么虚幻！
89:49
有那一个人能常生不死，有谁能自救于阴府的权势？
89:50
吾主，你从前凭着你的忠义，向达味许的仁爱，今在哪里？
89:51
上主，求你记念你仆人所受的耻辱。在我胸中所承担异民的一切憎恶：
89:52
上主，你的仇敌所加的耻辱，凌辱你的受傅者脚步的耻辱。
89:53
愿上主永永远远受赞美！阿们，阿们！
Psalms Volume 3 (Ps.73-89) ENDS. Seraphim, April 2009.
JB PSALMS Volume 3
(73 - 89)
JB PSALMS Chapter 73
PSALM 73 (v72)
The triumph of
justice
Psalm
Of Asaph
73:1 God is indeed good to Israel, the Lord is good to pure hearts.
73:2 My
feet were on the point of stumbling, a little further and I should have
slipped,
73:3 envying the arrogant as I
did, and watching the wicked get rich.
73:4 For
them, no such thing as pain, their bodies are healthy and strong,
73:5 they do not suffer as
other men do, no human afflictions for them!
73:6 So
pride is their chain of honour, violence the garment
that covers them;
73:7 their spite oozes like
fat, their hearts drip with slyness
73:8 Cynical advocates of evil,
lofty advocates of force,
73:9 they think their mouth is
heaven and their tongue can dictate on earth.
73:10 This
is why my people turn to them and lap up all they say, asking,
73:11 'How will God find out?
Does the Most High know everything?
73:12 Look at them: these are
the wicked, well-off and still getting richer!'
73:13 After
all, why should I keep my own heart pure, and wash my hands in innocence,
73:14 if you plague
me all day long and discipline me every morning?
73:15 Had
I said, 'That talk appeals to me', I should have betrayed your children's race.
73:16 Instead, I tried to analyse the problem, hard though I found it -
73:17 until the day I pierced
the mystery and saw the end in store for them:
73:18 they are on a slippery
slope, you put them there, you urge them on to ruin,
73:19 until suddenly they
fall, done for, terrified to death.
73:20 When
you wake up, Lord, you shrug them off like the phantoms of a morning dream.
73:21 When
my heart had been growing sourer with pains shooting through my loins,
73:22 I had simply failed to
understand, my stupid attitude to you was brutish.
73:23 Even so, I stayed in
your presence, you held my right hand;
73:24 now guide me with advice
and in the end receive me into glory.
73:25 I look to no one else in
heaven, I delight in nothing else on earth.
73:26 My
flesh and my heart are pining with love, my heart's Rock, my own, God for ever!
73:27 So then: those who
abandon you are doomed, you destroy the adulterous deserter;[*a]
73:28 whereas my
joy lies in being close to God. I have taken shelter in the Lord, continually
to proclaim what you have done.
JB PSALMS Chapter 74
PSALM 74 (v73)
Lament on the
destruction of the Temple
Poem
Of Asaph
74:1 God, have you finally rejected
us, raging at the flock you used to pasture?
74:2 Remember
the people you long since made your own, your hereditary tribe whom you
redeemed, and this Mount Zion where you came to live.
74:3 Pick
your steps over these endless ruins:
the enemy have sacked
everything in the sanctuary.
74:4 They roared where your
Assemblies used to take place, they stuck their enemy emblems over the entrance,[*a] emblems
74:5 we had never seen before.
Axes deep in the wood,
74:6 hacking at the panels,
they battered them down with mallet and hatchet;
74:7 then, God, setting fire
to your sanctuary, they profanely razed the house of your name to the ground.
74:8 Determined to destroy us
once and for all, they burned down every shrine of God in the country.
74:9 Deprived
of signs, with no prophets left, who can say how long this will last?
74:10 How much longer, God, is
the oppressor to blaspheme, is the enemy to insult your name for ever?
74:11 Why hold back your hand,
why keep your right hand hidden?
74:12 Yet, God, my king from
the first, author of saving acts throughout the earth,
74:13 by your power you split
the sea in two, and smashed the heads of monsters on the waters.
74:14 You
crushed Leviathan's heads, leaving him for wild animals to eat,
74:15 you opened the spring,
the torrent, you dried up inexhaustible rivers.
74:16 You
are master of day and night, you instituted light and sun,
74:17 you fixed the boundaries
of the world, you created summer and winter.
74:18 Now, Yahweh, remember
the enemy's blasphemy, how frenzied people dare to insult your name.
74:19 Do
not betray your turtledove to the beast, do not forget your wretched people for
good.
74:20 Respect the covenant! We
can bear no more - every cave in the country is the scene of violence!
74:21 Do
not let the hard-pressed retreat in confusion, give the poor and needy cause to
praise your name.
74:22 Rise, God, say something
on your own behalf, do not forget the madman's day-long blaspheming,
74:23 remember the shouting of
your enemies, this ever-rising clamour of your
adversaries.
JB PSALMS Chapter 75
PSALM 75 (v74)
To the divine judge
For the choirmaster
Tune: 'Do not
destroy'
Psalm
Of Asaph
Song
75:1 We
give thanks to you, God, we give thanks as we invoke your name, as we recount
your marvels.
75:2 'At the moment I decide I
will dispense strict justice;
75:3 the earth shall quake and
all its inhabitants, it is I who poised its columns.
75:4 'I said to the boastful:
Enough of boasting! and to the wicked: How dare you
raise your horn,
75:5 how dare you raise your
horn like that, how dare you speak so boldly!'
75:6 Not
from the east, nor from the west, not from the desert, nor from the mountains,
75:7 but from God the judgement comes, lowering one, raising another.
75:8 Yahweh is holding a cup
of frothing wine, heavily drugged; he pours it out, they drain it to the dregs,
all drink of it, the wicked of the earth.
75:9 But I will never stop
proclaiming the God of Jacob or playing in his honour;
I will cut off the horns of all the wicked and raise the horns of the virtuous.
JB PSALMS Chapter 76
PSALM 76 (v75)
Ode to God the awe-inspiring[*a]
For the choirmaster
For strings
Psalm
Of Asaph
76:1 God is renowned in Judah, his name is great in Israel;
76:2 his tent is pitched in Salem,
his home is in Zion;
76:3 there he has broken the
lightning-swift arrow, the shield, the sword and the line of
battle. (pause)
76:4 You
the Illustrious and Majestic: mountains of spoil
76:5 have been captured;
heroes are now sleeping their last sleep, the warriors' arms have failed them;
76:6 at your reproof, God of
Jacob, chariot and horse stand spellbound.
76:7 You the Terrible! Who can
oppose you and your furious onslaught?
76:8 When
your verdicts thunder from heaven, earth stays silent with dread;
76:9 when God stands up to
give judgement and to save all the humble of the
earth. (pause)
76:10 Man's
wrath only adds to your glory; the survivors of your wrath you will draw like a
girdle around you;
76:11 fulfil
the promises you make to Yahweh your God, make offerings to the Terrible, you
who surround him;
76:12 he snuffs out the lives
of princes, he is terrible to the kings of the earth.
JB PSALMS Chapter 77
PSALM 77 (v76)
Meditation on
Israel's past
For the
choirmaster...
Jeduthun
Of Asaph
Psalm
77:1 Loudly
I cry to God, loudly to God who hears me.
77:2 When
in trouble I sought the Lord, all night long I stretched out my hands, my soul
refusing to be consoled.
77:3 I thought of God and
sighed, I pondered and my spirit failed me.
77:4 You
stopped me closing my eyes, I was too distraught to speak;
77:5 I
thought of the olden days, years long past
77:6 came back to me, I spent all night meditating in my heart, I pondered and
my spirit asked this question:
77:7 'If the Lord has rejected
you, is this final? If he withholds his favour, is
this for ever?
77:8 Is his love over for good
and the promise void for all time?
77:9 Has
God forgotten to show mercy, or has his anger overcome his
tenderness? (pause)
77:10 'This' I said then 'is
what distresses me: that the power of the Most High is no longer what it was.'
77:11 Remembering
Yahweh's achievements, remembering your marvels in the past,
77:12 I reflect on all that
you did, I ponder on all your achievements.
77:13 God, your ways are holy!
What god so great as God?
77:14 You
are the God who did marvellous things and forced
nations to acknowledge your power,
77:15 with your own
arm redeeming your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. (pause)
77:16 When
the waters saw it was you, God, when the waters saw it was you, they recoiled,
shuddering to their depths.
77:17 The
clouds poured down water, the sky thundered, your arrows darted out.
77:18 Your
thunder crashed as it rolled, your lightning lit up the world, the earth
shuddered and quaked.
77:19 You
strode across the sea, you marched across the ocean, but your steps could not
be seen.
77:20 You
guided your people like a flock by the hands of Moses and Aaron.
JB PSALMS Chapter 78
PSALM 78 (v77)
The lessons of
Israelite history
Psalm
Of Asaph
78:1 Listen
to this Law, my people, pay attention to what I say;
78:2 I am going to speak to
you in parable and expound the mysteries of our past.
78:3 What
we have heard and known for ourselves, and what our ancestors have told us,
78:4 must not be withheld from
their descendants, but be handed on by us to the next generation; that is: the
titles of Yahweh, his power and the miracles he has done.
78:5 When
he issued the decrees for Jacob and instituted a Law in Israel, he gave our
ancestors strict orders to teach it to their children;
78:6 the next generation was
to learn it, the children still to be born, and these in their turn were to
tell their own children
78:7 so that they too would
put their confidence in God, never forgetting God's achievements, and always
keeping his commandments,
78:8 and not
becoming, like their ancestors, a stubborn and unruly generation, a generation
with no sincerity of heart, in spirit unfaithful to God.
78:9 The
sons of Ephraim, who were bowmen, turned tail when the time came to fight;
78:10 they had not kept God's
covenant, they refused to follow his Law;
78:11 they had forgotten his
achievements, the marvels he had shown them:
78:12 he had worked wonders
for their ancestors in the plains of Zoan, down in
Egypt:
78:13 dividing the sea,
bringing them through, making the waters stand up like dikes,
78:14 leading them with a
cloud by day and with a fiery glow at night,
78:15 splitting rocks in the
wilderness, quenching their thirst with unlimited water,
78:16 conjuring streams
from the rock and bringing down water in torrents.
78:17 They
only sinned against him more than ever, defying the Most High in the desert,
78:18 deliberately
challenging God by demanding their favourite food.
78:19 They
blasphemed against God, 'Is it likely' they said 'that God could give a banquet
in the wilderness?
78:20 'Admittedly, when he
struck the rock, waters gushed, torrents streamed out, but bread now, can he
give us that, can he provide meat for his people?'
78:21 Yahweh was enraged when
he heard them, a fire flared at Jacob, the wrath attacked Israel
78:22 for having no
faith in God, no trust in his power to save.
78:23 He gave orders to the
skies above, he opened the doors of heaven,
78:24 he rained down manna to feed
them, he gave them the wheat of heaven;
78:25 men ate the bread of Immortals, he sent them more food than they could eat.
78:26 He stirred up an east
wind in the heavens, he conjured up a south wind by his power,
78:27 he rained down meat on
them like dust; birds as thick as sand on the seashore
78:28 he sent tumbling into
their camp, in all directions round their tents.
78:29 They
all had enough and to spare, he having provided what they wanted;
78:30 but they had hardly
satisfied their craving, the food was still in their mouths,
78:31 when the
wrath of God attacked them, slaughtering their strongest men and laying the
flower of Israel low.
78:32 Despite
all this they went on sinning, and put no faith in his marvels;
78:33 for which he
blasted their days and their years in a flash.
78:34 Whenever
he slaughtered them they sought him, they came to their senses and sought him
earnestly
78:35 remembering
that God was their rock, God the Most High, their redeemer.
78:36 But though they
outwardly flattered him and used their tongues to lie to him,
78:37 in their hearts they
were not true to him, they were unfaithful to his covenant.
78:38 Compassionately,
however, he forgave their guilt instead of killing them, repeatedly repressing
his anger instead of rousing his full wrath,
78:39 remembering they were
creatures of flesh, a puff of wind that passes and does not return.
78:40 How
often they defied him in the wilderness, how often they outraged him in the
desert,
78:41 repeatedly challenging
God, provoking the Holy One of Israel -
78:42 entirely oblivious of
his hand and of the time he saved them from the oppressor:
78:43 by imposing his signs on
Egypt, by displaying his wonders in the plains of Zoan,
78:44 by turning their rivers
into blood to stop them drinking from their streams,
78:45 by sending horseflies to
eat them and frogs to devastate them,
78:46 by consigning their
crops to the caterpillar and their hard-won harvest to the locust,
78:47 by killing their vines
with hail and their sycamore trees with frost,
78:48 by condemning their
cattle to plague and their flocks to feverish pests,
78:49 by unleashing his fierce
anger, rage, indignation and hardship on them, a mission of angels of disaster,
78:50 by giving his anger free
rein, by not even exempting them from death, by condemning them to plague,
78:51 by striking down all the
first-born in Egypt, the first-fruits of their virility in the tents of Ham,
78:52 by driving his people
out like sheep, by leading them through the wilderness like a flock,
78:53 by guiding them safe and
unafraid while the sea engulfed their enemies,
78:54 by bringing them to his
sacred frontier, the highlands conquered by his own right hand,
78:55 by expelling
the pagans in front of them and by marking out a heritage for each, in which
the tribes of Israel could pitch their tents.
78:56 Even so, they went on
challenging God the Most High, rebelliously disregarding his decrees;
78:57 as perverse and disloyal
as their ancestors, treacherous as a bow with a warp,
78:58 provoking him
with their high places and rousing his jealousy with their idols.
78:59 God was enraged when he
heard them, he rejected Israel out of hand,
78:60 he left his home in
Shiloh, that tent where he once lived with men.
78:61 He consigned his power
to captivity, his splendour[*a] to the enemy's clutches;
78:62 he condemned his own
people to the sword, he raged at his heritage,
78:63 whose young men were
then burnt to death - no brides left to hear the wedding song;
78:64 whose priests fell by
the sword - no widows left to raise the dirge.
78:65 Then,
like a sleeper, like a hero fighting-mad with wine, the Lord woke up
78:66 to strike his
enemies on the rump and put them to everlasting shame.
78:67 Rejecting
the tent of Joseph, not choosing the tribe of Ephraim,
78:68 instead he chose the
tribe of Judah and his well-loved mountain of Zion,
78:69 where he built his
sanctuary, a copy of high heaven, founding it firm as the earth for ever.
78:70 Choosing
David as his servant, he took him from the sheepfolds,
78:71 called him from tending
ewes in lamb to pasture his people Jacob and Israel his heritage:
78:72 who did this with
unselfish care and led them with a sensitive hand.
JB PSALMS Chapter 79
PSALM 79 (v78)
National lament[*a]
Psalm
Of Asaph
79:1 God, the pagans have
invaded your heritage, they have desecrated your holy Temple; they have reduced
Jerusalem to a pile of ruins,
79:2 they have left the
corpses of your servants to the birds of the air for food, and the flesh of your
devout to the beasts of the earth.
79:3 They
have shed blood like water throughout Jerusalem, not a gravedigger left!
79:4 we are now insulted by
our neighbours, butt and laughing-stock of all those
around us.
79:5 How much longer will you
be angry, Yahweh? For ever? Is your jealousy to go on smouldering like a fire?
79:6 Pour
out your anger on the pagans, who do not acknowledge you, and on those kingdoms
that do not call on your name,
79:7 for they have
devoured Jacob and reduced his home to desolation.
79:8 Do
not hold our ancestors' crimes against us, in tenderness quickly intervene, we
can hardly be crushed lower;
79:9 help us, God our saviour, for the honour of your
name; Yahweh, blot out our sins, rescue us for the sake of your name.
79:10 Why
should the pagans ask, 'Where is their God?' May we soon see the pagans
learning what vengeance you exact for your servants' blood shed here!
79:11 May the groans of the
captive reach you; by your mighty arm rescue those doomed to die!
79:12 Pay our neighbours sevenfold, strike to the heart for the monstrous
insult proffered to you, Lord!
79:13 And
we your people, the flock that you pasture, giving you everlasting thanks, will
recite your praises for ever and ever.
JB PSALMS Chapter 80
PSALM 80 (v79)
Prayer for the
restoration of Israel
For the choirmaster
Tune: 'The decrees
are lilies'
Of Asaph
Psalm
80:1 Shepherd of Israel,
listen, you who lead Joseph like a flock; enthroned on the cherubs, shine
80:2 on Ephraim, Benjamin and
Manasseh;[*a] rouse your strength, come to us and save
us!
80:3 Yahweh Sabaoth,
bring us back, let your face smile on us and we shall be safe.
80:4 Yahweh Sabaoth, how much longer will you smoulder
at your people's prayer?
80:5 Having
fed us on the bread of tears, having made us drink them in such measure,
80:6 you now let our neighbours quarrel over us and our enemies deride us.
80:7 Yahweh Sabaoth,
bring us back, let your face smile on us and we shall be safe.
80:8 There
was a vine: you uprooted it from Egypt; to plant it, you drove out other
nations,
80:9 you cleared a space where
it could grow, it took root and filled the whole
country.
80:10 It covered the mountains
with its shade, the cedars of God with its branches,
80:11 its tendrils extended to
the sea, its offshoots all the way to the river.[*b]
80:12 Why
have you destroyed its fences? Now anyone can go and steal its grapes,
80:13 the forest boar can
ravage it and wild animals eat it.
80:14 Please, Yahweh Sabaoth, relent! Look down from heaven, look at this vine, visit it,
80:15 protect what your own
right hand has planted.
80:16 They
threw it on the fire like dung, but one look of reproof from you and they will
be doomed.
80:17 May your hand protect the man at your right, the son of man who has
been authorised by you.
80:18 We
shall never turn from you again; our life renewed, we shall invoke your name.
80:19 Yahweh Sabaoth,
bring us back, let your face smile on us and we shall be safe.
JB PSALMS Chapter 81
PSALM 81 (v80)
For the feast of Tabernacles[*a]
For the choirmaster
On the... of Gath
Of Asaph
81:1 Shout for joy to honour God our strength, shout to acclaim the God of Jacob!
81:2 Start the music, sound the drum, the melodious lyre and the harp;
81:3 sound the New Moon trumpet,
at the full moon, on our feastday!
81:4 This
is a statute binding on Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob,
81:5 this decree he imposed on
Joseph when he went to war against Egypt. I can hear a voice I no longer recognise,
81:6 'It was I who relieved
your shoulder of the burden, your hands could drop the
labourer's basket;
81:7 you called in your
trouble, so I rescued you. 'Hidden in the storm, I answered you,
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. (pause)
81:8 Listen, you are my
people, let me warn you. Israel, if you would only listen to me!
81:9 'Tolerate no foreign god,
worship no alien god;
81:10 I, Yahweh, am your God, I who brought you here from Egypt; you have
only to open your mouth for me to fill it.
81:11 'My people refused to
listen to me, Israel refused to obey me,
81:12 so I left them to their
stubborn selves to do whatever they pleased.
81:13 'If only my people would
listen, if Israel would follow my ways,
81:14 at one blow I would
defeat their enemies and strike at all who attack them.
81:15 'Then those who hate
Yahweh would cringe, their doom being sealed for ever;
81:16 while I would feed you
on pure wheat and satisfy you with the wild rock honey.'
JB PSALMS Chapter 82
PSALM 82 (v81)
Against corrupt
judges
Psalm
Of Asaph
82:1 God stands in the divine assembly, among the gods he dispenses justice:
82:2 'No more
mockery of justice, no more favouring the wicked! (pause)
82:3 Let
the weak and the orphan have justice, be fair to the wretched and destitute;
82:4 rescue the weak and
needy, save them from the clutches of the wicked!'
82:5 Ignorant and senseless,
they carry on blindly, undermining the very basis of earthly society.
82:6 I
once said, 'You too are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you',
82:7 but all the same, you
shall die like other men; as one man, princes, you shall fall,
82:8 Rise, God, dispense
justice throughout the world, since no nation is excluded from your ownership.
JB PSALMS Chapter 83
PSALM 83 (v82)
Against the enemies
of Israel
Song
Psalm
Of Asaph
83:1 God, do not remain
silent; do not be unmoved, O God, or unresponsive!
83:2 See how your enemies are stirring, see how those who hate you rear their heads.
83:3 Weaving a plot against
your people, conspiring against those you protect, .
83:4 they say, 'Come, we will
finish them as a nation, the name of Israel shall be forgotten!'
83:5 Unanimous in their plot,
they seal a treaty against you:
83:6 the tents of Edom and the
Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites,
83:7 Gebal,
Ammon, Amalek, Philistia
and the Tyrians;
83:8 and now Assur[*a]
has joined them to reinforce the sons of Lot. (pause)
83:9 Treat
them like Midian and Sisera,
like Jabin at the river Kishon,
83:10 wiped out at En-dor, they served to dung the ground.
83:11 Treat their generals
like Oreb and Zeeb, their
commanders like Zebah and Zalmunna,
83:12 those who once said,
'Let us take for ourselves possession of the Dwellings of God!'
83:13 My God, bowl them along
like tumbleweed, like chaff at the mercy of the wind;
83:14 as fire devours the
forest, as the flame licks up the mountains,
83:15 drive them on with your whirlwind, rout them with your tornado;
83:16 cover their faces with
shame, until they seek your name, Yahweh.
83:17 Shame and panic be
always theirs, disgrace and death;
83:18 and let them know this:
you alone bear the name Yahweh, Most High over the whole world.
JB PSALMS Chapter 84
PSALM 84 (v83)
Pilgrimage song
For the choirmaster
On the... of Gath
Of the sons of Korah
Psalm
84:1 How
I love your palace, Yahweh Sabaoth! How my soul
yearns and pines for Yahweh's courts!
84:2 My
heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
84:3 The sparrow has found its
home at last, the swallow a nest for its young, your altars, Yahweh Sabaoth, my king and my God.
84:4 Happy those who live in
your house and can praise you all day long;
84:5 and happy the pilgrims
inspired by you with courage to make the Ascents! (pause)
84:6 As they go through the
Valley of the Weeper,[*a] they make it a place of
springs, clothed in blessings by early rains.
84:7 Thence
they make their way from height to height, soon to be seen before God on Zion.
84:8 Yahweh Sabaoth,
hear my prayer, listen, God of Jacob;
84:9 God our shield, now look
on us and be kind to your anointed. (pause)
84:10 A single day in your
courts is worth more than a thousand elsewhere; merely to stand on the steps of
God's[*b] house is better than living with the wicked.
84:11 For God is battlement and
shield, conferring grace and glory; Yahweh withholds nothing good from those
who walk without blame.
84:12 Yahweh Sabaoth, happy the man who puts his trust in you!
JB PSALMS Chapter 85
PSALM 85 (v84)
Prayer for peace
For the choirmaster
Of the sons of Korah
Psalm
85:1 Yahweh, you favour your own country, you bring back the captives of
Jacob,
85:2 you take your people's
guilt away, you blot out all their sins, (pause)
85:3 you retract all your anger, you abjure your fiery rage.
85:4 Bring us back, God our saviour, master your resentment against us.
85:5 Do you mean to be angry
with us for ever, to prolong your wrath age after age?
85:6 Will you not give us life
again, for your people to rejoice in you?
85:7 Yahweh, show us your
love, grant us your saving help.
85:8 I
am listening. What is Yahweh saying? What God is saying means peace for his
people, for his friends, if only they renounce their folly;
85:9 for those who fear him,
his saving help is near, and the glory will then live in our country.
85:10 Love and Loyalty now
meet, Righteousness and Peace now embrace;
85:11 Loyalty reaches up from
earth and Righteousness leans down from heaven.
85:12 Yahweh himself bestows
happiness as our soil gives its harvest,
85:13 Righteousness
always preceding him and Peace following his footsteps.
JB PSALMS Chapter 86
PSALM 86 (v85)
Prayer in ordeal
Prayer
Of David
86:1 Listen to me, Yahweh, and
answer me, poor and needy as I am;
86:2 keep my soul: I am your
devoted one, save your servant who relies on you. You are my God,
86:3 take pity on me, Lord, I invoke you all day long;
86:4 give your servant reason
to rejoice, for to you, Lord, I lift my soul.
86:5 Lord, you are good and
forgiving, most loving to all who invoke you;
86:6 Yahweh, hear my prayer,
listen to me as I plead.
86:7 Lord, in trouble I invoke
you, and you answer my prayer;
86:8 there is no god to
compare with you, no achievement to compare with yours.
86:9 All the pagans will come
and adore you, Lord, all will glorify your name,
86:10 since you alone are great, you perform marvels, you God, you alone.
86:11 Yahweh, teach me your
way, how to walk beside you faithfully, make me single-hearted in fearing your
name.
86:12 I
thank you with all my heart, Lord my God, I glorify your name for ever,
86:13 your love for me has
been so great, you have rescued me from the depths of Sheol.
86:14 Now
arrogant men, God, are attacking me, a brutal gang hounding me to death: people
to whom you mean nothing.
86:15 Lord God, you who are
always merciful and tender-hearted, slow to anger, always loving, always loyal,
86:16 turn to me and pity me.
Give me your strength, your saving help, me your servant, this son of a pious
mother,
86:17 give me one proof of your
goodness. Yahweh, make my opponents ashamed, show them that you are my help and
consolation.
JB PSALMS Chapter 87
PSALM 87 (v86)
Zion, mother of
nations
Of the sons of Korah
Psalm
Song
87:2a Yahweh loves
87:1 his city founded on the
holy mountain;
87:2b he prefers the gates of
Zion
87:2c to any town in Jacob.
87:3 He has glorious
predictions to make of you, city of God! (pause)
87:4 'I will add
Egypt and Babylon to the nations that acknowledge me. Of Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia, "Here so and so was born" men
say.
87:5 But
all call Zion "Mother", since all were born in her.' It is he who
makes her what she is, he, the Most High,
87:6 Yahweh; and as he
registers the peoples, 'It was here' he writes 'that so and so was
born'. (pause)
87:7 And there will be princes
dancing there[*a]. All find their home in you.
JB PSALMS Chapter 88
PSALM 88 (v87)
Lament
Song
Psalm
Of the sons of Korah
For the choirmaster
In sickness or
suffering
Poem
For Heman the native-born
88:1 Yahweh my God, I call for
help all day, I weep to you all night;
88:2 may my prayer reach you
hear my cries for help;
88:3 for my soul is all troubled, my life is on the brink of Sheol;
88:4 I am numbered among those
who go down to the Pit, a man bereft of strength:
88:5 a man alone,
down among the dead, among the slaughtered in their graves, among those you
have forgotten, those deprived of your protecting hand.
88:6 You
have plunged me to the bottom of the Pit, to its darkest, deepest place,
88:7 weighted down by your
anger, drowned beneath your waves. (pause)
88:8 You
have turned my friends against me and made me repulsive to them; in prison and
unable to escape, my eyes are worn out with suffering.
88:9 Yahweh, I invoke you all
day, I stretch out my hands to you:
88:10 are your marvels meant
for the dead, can ghosts rise up to praise you?
88:11 Who
talks of your love in the grave, of your faithfulness in the place of
perdition?
88:12 Do they hear about your
marvels in the dark, about your righteousness in the land of
oblivion? (pause)
88:13 But I am here, calling
for your help, praying to you every morning:
88:14 why do you reject me?
Why do you hide your face from me?
88:15 Wretched, slowly dying
since my youth, I bore your terrors - now I am exhausted;
88:16 your anger overwhelmed
me, you destroyed me with your terrors
88:17 which, like a
flood, were round me, all day long, all together closing in on me.
88:18 You
have turned my friends and neighbours against me, now
darkness is my one companion left.
JB PSALMS Chapter 89
PSALM 89 (v88)
Hymn and a prayer
to God's faithfulness
Poem
For Ethan the
native-born
89:1 I will celebrate your
love for ever, Yahweh, age after age my words shall proclaim your faithfulness;
89:2 for I claim that love is
built to last for ever and your faithfulness founded firmly in the heavens.
89:3 'I have made a covenant
with my Chosen, I have given my servant David my sworn word:
89:4 I
have founded your dynasty to last for ever, I have built you a throne to
outlast all time.' (pause)
89:5 Yahweh, the assembly of
holy ones in heaven applaud the marvel of your faithfulness.
89:6 Who
in the skies can compare with Yahweh? Which of the heaven-born can rival him?
89:7 God, dreaded in the assembly
of holy ones, great and terrible to all around him,
89:8 Yahweh, God of Sabaoth, who is like you?-mighty Yahweh, clothed in your
faithfulness!
89:9 You
control the pride of the ocean, when its waves ride high, you calm them;
89:10 you split Rahab[*a]
in two like a carcase and scattered your enemies with
your mighty arm.
89:11 The
heavens are yours and the earth is yours, you founded the world and all it
holds,
89:12 you created north and
south; Tabor and Hermon hail your name with joy.
89:13 Yours
was the arm, and yours the prowess, mighty and exalted your right hand;
89:14 Righteousness and
Justice support your throne, Love and Faithfulness are
your attendants.
89:15 Happy the people who
learn to acclaim you! Yahweh, they will live in the light of your favour;
89:16 they will rejoice in
your name all day and exult in your righteousness.
89:17 You
are their glory and their strength, you, by your kindness, raise our fortunes,
89:18 since both our shield and
our king belong to Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.
89:19 Once you spoke in vision
and said to your friends,[*b] I have conferred the
crown on a hero, and promoted one chosen from my people.
89:20 I
have selected my servant David and anointed him with my holy oil;
89:21 my hand will be
constantly with him, he will be able to rely on my arm.
89:22 'No enemy will be able
to outwit him, no wicked man to worst him,
89:23 I myself will crush his
opponents, I will strike dead all who hate him.
89:24 'With my faithfulness
and love, his fortunes shall rise in my name.
89:25 I
will give him control of the sea, complete control of the rivers.
89:26 'He will invoke me,
"My father, my God and rock of my safety",
89:27 and I shall make him my
first-born, the Most High for kings on earth.
89:28 'I will keep my love for
him always, my covenant with him shall stand,
89:29 I
have founded his dynasty to last for ever, his throne to be as lasting as the
heavens.
89:30 'Should his descendants
desert my Law and disregard my rulings,
89:31 should they violate my
statutes and not keep my commandments,
89:32 'I will punish their
sins with the rod and their crimes with the whip,
89:33 but never withdraw my
love from him or fail in my faithfulness.
89:34 'I will not break my covenant, I will not revoke my given word;
89:35 I
have sworn on my holiness, once for all, and cannot turn liar to David.
89:36 'His dynasty shall last
for ever, I see his throne like the sun,
89:37 enduring for ever like
the moon, that faithful witness in the sky.'
(pause)
89:38 And
yet you have rejected, disowned and raged at your anointed;
89:39 you have repudiated the
covenant with your servant and flung his crown dishonoured
to the ground.
89:40 You
have pierced all his defences, and laid his forts in
ruins;
89:41 anyone may go and loot him, his neighbours treat him with
scorn.
89:42 You
have let his opponents get the upper hand, and made all his enemies happy,
89:43 you have snapped his
sword on a rock and failed to support him in battle.
89:44 You
have stripped him of his glorious sceptre, and
toppled his throne to the ground,
89:45 you have aged him before
his time and covered him in shame. (pause)
89:46 Yahweh, how much longer
will you hide? For ever? How much longer must your
anger smoulder like a fire?
89:47 Remember
me, the short time I have left and the void to which you destine mankind.
89:48 What
man can cling to life and not see death? Who can evade the clutches of Sheol?
89:49 Lord, where are those
earlier signs of your love? You swore your oath to David on your faithfulness!
89:50 Lord, do not forget how
your servant was insulted, (pause) how I take these pagans' taunts
to heart,
89:51 insults, Yahweh, that
your enemies have offered, insults to your anointed wherever he goes. Blessed
be Yahweh for ever. Amen. Amen![*c]
JB PSALMS Chapter 90
PSALM 90 (v89)
The human condition
Prayer
Of Moses, man of
God
90:1 Lord, you have been our
refuge age after age.
90:2 Before
the mountains were born, before the earth or the world came to birth, you were
God from all eternity and for ever.
90:3 You
can turn man back into dust by saying, 'Back to what you were, you sons of
men!'
90:4 To
you, a thousand years are a single day, a yesterday now over, an hour of the
night.
90:5 You
brush men away like waking dreams, they are like grass
90:6 sprouting and flowering
in the morning, withered and dry before dusk.
90:7 We
too are burnt up by your anger and terrified by your fury;
90:8 having summoned up our
sins you inspect our secrets by your own light.
90:9 Our
days dwindle under your wrath, our lives are over in a breath
90:10 our life lasts for
seventy years, eighty with good health, but they all add up to anxiety and
trouble-over in a trice, and then we are gone.
90:11 Who
yet has felt the full force of your fury, or learnt to fear the violence of
your rage?
90:12 Teach
us to count how few days we have and so gain wisdom of heart.
90:13 Relent, Yahweh! How much
longer do we have? Take pity on your servants!
90:14 Let us wake in the morning
filled with your love and sing and be happy all our
days;
90:15 make our future as happy
as our past was sad, those years when you were punishing us.
90:16 Let your servants see
what you can do for them, let their children see your glory.
90:17 May the sweetness of the
Lord be on us! Make all we do succeed.
JB PSALMS Chapter 91
PSALM 91 (v90)
God's protection
91:1 If you live in the
shelter of Elyon[*a] and make your home in the shadow of Shaddai,
91:2 you can say to Yahweh,
'My refuge, my fortress, my God to whom I trust!'
91:3 He rescues you from the
snares of fowlers hoping to destroy you;
91:4a he covers you with his
feathers,
91:4b and you find shelter
underneath his wings.
91:5 You
need not fear the terrors of night, the arrow that flies in the daytime,
91:6 the plague
that stalks in the dark, the scourge that wreaks havoc in broad daylight.
91:7 Though
a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, you yourself
will remain unscathed,
91:4c with his faithfulness
for shield and buckler.
91:8 You
have only to look around see how the wicked are repaid,
91:9 you who can
say, 'Yahweh my refuge', and make Elyon your
fortress.
91:10 No disaster can overtake
you, no plague come near your tent:
91:11 he will put you in his
angels' charge to guard you wherever you go.
91:12 They
will support you on their hands in case you hurt your foot against a stone;
91:13 you will tread on lion
and adder, trample on savage lions and dragons.
91:14 'I rescue all who cling
to me, I protect whoever knows my name,
91:15 I answer everyone who
invokes me, I am with them when they are in trouble; I bring them safety and honour.
91:16 I give them life, long
and full, and show them how I can save.'
END OF JB
PSALMS Volumes 3 (73 - 89) [Total 150 Chapters].