Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

1 For the leader. Set in the style of Y’dutun. A psalm of David:

2 I said, “I will watch how I behave,

so that I won’t sin with my tongue;

I will put a muzzle on my mouth

whenever the wicked confront me.”

3 I was silent, said nothing, not even good;

but my pain kept being stirred up.

4 My heart grew hot within me;

whenever I thought of it, the fire burned.

Then, [at last,] I let my tongue speak:

5 “Make me grasp,Adonai, what my end must be,

what it means that my days are numbered;

let me know what a transient creature I am.

6 You have made my days like handbreadths;

for you, the length of my life is like nothing.”

Yes, everyone, no matter how firmly he stands,

is merely a puff of wind.(Selah)

7 Humans go about like shadows;

their turmoil is all for nothing.

They accumulate wealth, not knowing

who will enjoy its benefits.

8 Now,Adonai, what am I waiting for?

You are my only hope.

9 Rescue me from all my transgressions;

don’t make me the butt of fools.

10 I am silent, I keep my mouth shut,

because it is you who have done it.

11 Stop raining blows on me;

the pounding of your fist is wearing me down.

12 With rebukes you discipline people for their guilt;

like a moth, you destroy what makes them attractive;

yes, everyone is merely a puff of wind.(Selah)

13 Hear my prayer,Adonai, listen to my cry,

don’t be deaf to my weeping;

for with you, I am just a traveler

passing through, like all my ancestors.

14 Turn your gaze from me, so I can smile again

before I depart and cease to exist.

1 For the leader. A psalm of David:

2 I waited patiently forAdonai,

till he turned toward me and heard my cry.

3 He brought me up from the roaring pit,

up from the muddy ooze,

and set my feet on a rock,

making my footing firm.

4 He put a new song in my mouth,

a song of praise to our God.

Many will look on in awe

and put their trust inAdonai.

5 How blessed the man who trusts inAdonai

and does not look to the arrogant

or to those who rely on things that are false.

6 How much you have done,Adonaimy God!

Your wonders and your thoughts toward us —

none can compare with you!

I would proclaim them, I would speak about them;

but there’s too much to tell!

7 Sacrifices and grain offerings you don’t want;

burnt offerings and sin offerings you don’t demand.

Instead, you have given me open ears;

8 so then I said, “Here I am! I’m coming!

In the scroll of a book it is written about me.

9 Doing your will, my God, is my joy;

yourTorahis in my inmost being.

10 I have proclaimed what is right in the great assembly;

I did not restrain my lips,Adonai, as you know.

11 I did not hide your righteousness in my heart

but declared your faithfulness and salvation;

I did not conceal your grace and truth

from the great assembly.”

12 Adonai, don’t withhold your mercy from me.

Let your grace and truth preserve me always.

13 For numberless evils surround me;

my iniquities engulf me — I can’t even see;

there are more of them than hairs on my head,

so that my courage fails me.

14 Be pleased,Adonai, to rescue me!

Adonai, hurry and help me!

15 May those who seek to sweep me away

be disgraced and humiliated together.

May those who take pleasure in doing me harm

be turned back and put to confusion.

16 May those who jeer at me, “Aha! Aha!”

be aghast because of their shame.

17 But may all those who seek you

be glad and take joy in you.

May those who love your salvation say always,

“Adonaiis great and glorious!”

18 But I am poor and needy;

mayAdonaithink of me.

You are my helper and rescuer;

my God, don’t delay!

1 For the leader. A psalm of David:

2 How blessed are those who care for the poor!

When calamity comes,Adonaiwill save them.

3 Adonaiwill preserve them, keep them alive,

and make them happy in the land.

You will not hand them over

to the whims of their enemies.

4 Adonaisustains them on their sickbed;

when they lie ill, you make them recover.

5 I said, “Adonai, have pity on me!

Heal me, for I have sinned against you!”

6 My enemies say the worst about me:

“When will he die and his name disappear?”

7 When they come to see me they speak insincerely,

their hearts meanwhile gathering falsehoods;

then they go out and spread bad reports.

8 All who hate me whisper together against me,

imagining the worst about me.

9 “A fatal disease has attached itself to him;

now that he lies ill, he will never get up.”

10 Even my close friend, on whom I relied,

who shared my table, has turned against me.

11 But you,Adonai, have pity on me,

put me on my feet, so I can pay them back.

12 I will know you are pleased with me

if my enemy doesn’t defeat me.

13 You uphold me because of my innocence

you establish me in your presence forever.

14 Blessed beAdonaithe God of Isra’el

from eternity past to eternity future.

Amen.Amen.

Book II: Psalms 42–72

1 For the leader.A maskilof the descendants of Korach:

2 Just as a deer longs for running streams,

God, I long for you.

3 I am thirsty for God, for the living God!

When can I come and appear before God?

4 My tears are my food, day and night,

while all day people ask me, “Where is your God?”

5 I recall, as my feelings well up within me,

how I’d go with the crowd to the house of God,

with sounds of joy and praise from the throngs

observing the festival.

6 My soul, why are you so downcast?

Why are you groaning inside me?

Hope in God, since I will praise him again

for the salvation that comes from his presence.

7 My God, when I feel so downcast,

I remind myself of you

from the land of Yarden, from the peaks of Hermon,

from the hill Mizar.

8 Deep is calling to deep

at the thunder of your waterfalls;

all your surging rapids and waves

are sweeping over me.

9 By dayAdonaicommands his grace,

and at night his song is with me

as a prayer to the God of my life.

10 I say to God my Rock,

“Why have you forgotten me?

Why must I go about mourning,

under pressure by the enemy?

11 My adversaries’ taunts make me feel

as if my bones were crushed,

as they ask me all day long,

‘Where is your God?’ ”

12 My soul, why are you so downcast?

Why are you groaning inside me?

Hope in God, since I will praise him again

for being my Savior and God.

1 Judge me, God, and plead my cause

against a faithless nation.

Rescue me from those who deceive

and from those who are unjust.

2 For you are the God of my strength;

why have you thrust me aside?

Why must I go about mourning,

under pressure by the enemy?

3 Send out your light and your truth;

let them be my guide;

let them lead me to your holy mountain,

to the places where you live.

4 Then I will go to the altar of God,

to God, my joy and delight;

I will praise you on the lyre,

God, my God.

5 My soul, why are you so downcast?

Why are you groaning inside me?

Hope in God, since I will praise him again

for being my Savior and God.

1 For the leader. By the descendants of Korach. Amaskil:

2 God, we heard it with our ears;

our fathers told us about it —

a deed which you did in their days,

back in days of old.

3 With your hand you drove out nations

to plant them in [the land],

you crushed peoples

to make room for them.

4 For not by their own swords

did they conquer the land,

nor did their own arm

give them victory;

rather, it was your right hand,

your arm and the light of your face;

because you favored them.

5 God, you are my king;

command complete victory for Ya‘akov.

6 Through you we pushed away our foes,

through your name we trampled down our assailants.

7 For I don’t rely on my bow,

nor can my sword give me victory.

8 No, you saved us from our adversaries;

you put to shame those who hate us.

9 We will boast in our God all day

and give thanks to your name forever.(Selah)

10 Yet now you have thrust us aside and disgraced us;

you don’t march out with our armies.

11 You make us retreat from the adversary,

and those who hate us plunder us at will.

12 You have handed us over like sheep to be eaten

and scattered us among the nations.

13 You sell your people for a pittance,

you don’t even profit on the sale.

14 You make us an object for our neighbors to mock,

one of scorn and derision to those around us.

15 You make us a byword among the nations;

the peoples jeer at us, shaking their heads.

16 All day long my disgrace is on my mind,

and shame has covered my face

17 at the sound of those who revile and insult,

at the sight of the enemy bent on revenge.

18 Though all this came on us, we did not forget you;

we have not been false to your covenant;

19 Our hearts have not turned back,

and our steps did not turn away from your path,

20 though you pressed us into a lair of jackals

and covered us with death-dark gloom.

21 If we had forgotten the name of our God

or spread out our hands to a foreign god,

22 wouldn’t God have discovered this,

since he knows the secrets of the heart?

23 For your sake we are put to death all day long,

we are considered sheep to be slaughtered.

24 Wake up,Adonai! Why are you asleep?

Rouse yourself! Don’t thrust us off forever.

25 Why are you turning your face away,

forgetting our pain and misery?

26 For we are lying flat in the dust,

our bodies cling to the ground.

27 Get up, and come to help us!

For the sake of your grace, redeem us!

1 For the leader. Set to “Lilies.” By the descendants of Korach. Amaskil. A lovesong:

2 My heart is stirred by a noble theme;

I address my verses to the king;

My tongue is the pen of an expert scribe.

3 You are the most handsome of men;

gracious speech flows from your lips.

For God has blessed you forever.

4 Warrior, strap your sword at your thigh;

[gird on] your splendor and majesty.

5 In your majesty, succeed, ride on

in the cause of truth, meekness and righteousness.

May your right hand teach you awesome things.

6 Your arrows are sharp. The people fall under you,

as they penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies.

7 Your throne, God, will last forever and ever;

you rule your kingdom with a scepter of equity.

8 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

Therefore God, your God, has anointed you

with the oil of joy in preference to your companions.

9 Your robes are all fragrant with myrrh, aloes and cassia;

from ivory palaces stringed instruments bring you joy.

10 Daughters of kings are among your favorites;

at your right stands the queen in gold from Ofir.

11 Listen, daughter! Think, pay attention!

Forget your own people and your father’s house,

12 and the king will desire your beauty;

for he is your lord, so honor him.

13 Then the daughter of Tzor, the richest of peoples,

will court your favor with gifts.

14 Inside [the palace], the king’s daughter looks splendid,

attired in checker-work embroidered with gold.

15 In brocade, she will be led to the king,

to you, with the virgins in her retinue.

16 They will be led in with gladness and joy,

they will enter the king’s palace.

17 You will have sons to succeed your ancestors;

you will make them princes in all the land.

18 I will make your name known through all generations;

thus the peoples will praise you forever and ever.

1 For the leader. By the descendants of Korach. On‘alamot[high-pitched musical instruments?]. A song:

2 God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

3 Therefore we are unafraid,

even if the earth gives way,

even if the mountains tumble

into the depths of the sea,

4 even if its waters rage and foam,

and mountains shake at its turbulence.(Selah)

5 There is a river whose streams

gladden the city of God,

the holy habitation of‘Elyon —

6 God is in the city.

It will not be moved —

when daybreak comes, God will help it.

7 Nations were in turmoil,

kingdoms were moved;

his voice thundered forth,

and the earth melted away.

8 Adonai-Tzva’otis with us,

our fortress, the God of Ya‘akov.(Selah)

9 Come and see the works ofAdonai,

the astounding deeds he has done on the earth.

10 To the ends of the earth he makes wars cease —

he breaks the bow, snaps the spear,

burns the shields in the fire.

11 “Desist, and learn that I am God,

supreme over the nations,

supreme over the earth.”

12 Adonai-Tzva’otis with us,

our fortress, the God of Ya‘akov.(Selah)

1 For the leader. A psalm of the descendants of Korach:

2 Clap your hands, all you peoples!

Shout to God with cries of joy!

3 ForAdonai‘Elyonis awesome,

a great king over all the earth.

4 He makes peoples subject to us,

puts nations under our feet.

5 He chooses our heritage for us,

the pride of Ya‘akov, whom he loves.(Selah)

6 God goes up to shouts of acclaim,

Adonaito a blast on theshofar.

7 Sing praises to God, sing praises!

Sing praises to our king, sing praises!

8 For God is king of all the earth;

sing praises in amaskil.

9 God rules the nations;

God sits on his holy throne.

10 The leaders of the people gather together,

the people of the God of Avraham;

for the rulers of the earth belong to God,

who is exalted on high.

1 A song. A psalm of the descendants of Korach:

2 Great isAdonai

and greatly to be praised,

in the city of our God,

his holy mountain,

3 beautiful in its elevation,

the joy of all the earth,

Mount Tziyon, in the far north,

the city of the great king.

4 In its citadels God

has been revealed as a strong defense.

5 For the kings met by agreement;

together they advanced.

6 They saw and were filled with consternation;

terrified, they took to flight.

7 Trembling took hold of them,

pains like those of a woman in labor,

8 as when the wind out of the east

wrecks the “Tarshish” ships.

9 We heard it, and now we see for ourselves

in the city ofAdonai-Tzva’ot,

in the city of our God.

May God establish it forever.(Selah)

10 God, within your temple

we meditate on your grace.

11 God, your praise, like your name,

extends to the ends of the earth.

Your right hand is filled with righteousness.

12 Let Mount Tziyon rejoice,

let the daughters of Y’hudah be glad,

because of your judgment [on the enemy].

13 Walk through Tziyon, go all around it;

count how many towers it has.

14 Note its ramparts, pass through its citadels,

so that you can tell generations to come

15 that such is God, our God forever;

he will guide us eternally.