Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

1 For the leader. A psalm of David:

Adonai, you have probed me, and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I stand up,

you discern my inclinations from afar,

3 you scrutinize my daily activities.

You are so familiar with all my ways

4 that before I speak even a word,Adonai,

you know all about it already.

5 You have hemmed me in both behind and in front

and laid your hand on me.

6 Such wonderful knowledge is beyond me,

far too high for me to reach.

7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I climb up to heaven, you are there;

if I lie down in Sh’ol, you are there.

9 If I fly away with the wings of the dawn

and land beyond the sea,

10 even there your hand would lead me,

your right hand would hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Let darkness surround me,

let the light around me be night,”

12 even darkness like this

is not too dark for you;

rather, night is as clear as day,

darkness and light are the same.

13 For you fashioned my inmost being,

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I thank you because I am awesomely made,

wonderfully; your works are wonders —

I know this very well.

15 My bones were not hidden from you

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes could see me as an embryo,

but in your book all my days were already written;

my days had been shaped

before any of them existed.

17 God, how I prize your thoughts!

How many of them there are!

18 If I count them, there are more than grains of sand;

if I finish the count, I am still with you.

19 God, if only you would kill off the wicked!

Men of blood, get away from me!

20 They invoke your name for their crafty schemes;

yes, your enemies misuse it.

21 Adonai, how I hate those who hate you!

I feel such disgust with those who defy you!

22 I hate them with unlimited hatred!

They have become my enemies too.

23 Examine me, God, and know my heart;

test me, and know my thoughts.

24 See if there is in me any hurtful way,

and lead me along the eternal way.

1 For the leader. A psalm of David:

2 Rescue me,Adonai, from evil people,

protect me from violent people.

3 They plan evil things in their hearts —

they continually stir up bitter strife.

4 They have made their tongues as sharp as a snake’s;

viper’s venom is under their lips.(Selah)

5 Keep me,Adonai, from the hands of the wicked,

protect me from violent people

who are trying to trip me up.

6 The arrogant hide snares for me;

they spread nets by the side of the road,

hoping to trap me there.(Selah)

7 I said toAdonai, “You are my God;

listen,Adonai, to my plea for mercy.”

8 Adonai,Adonai, my saving strength,

my helmet shielding my head in battle,

9 Adonai, don’t grant the wicked their wishes;

make their plot fail, so they won’t grow proud.(Selah)

10 May the heads of those who surround me

be engulfed in the evil they spoke of, themselves.

11 May burning coals rain down on them,

may they be flung into the fire,

flung into deep pits,

never to rise again.

12 Let slanderers find no place in the land;

let the violent and evil be hunted relentlessly.

13 I know thatAdonaigives justice to the poor

and maintains the rights of the needy.

14 The righteous will surely give thanks to your name;

the upright will live in your presence.

1 A psalm of David:

Adonai, I have called you; come to me quickly!

Listen to my plea when I call to you.

2 Let my prayer be like incense set before you,

my uplifted hands like an evening sacrifice.

3 Set a guard,Adonai, over my mouth;

keep watch at the door of my lips.

4 Don’t let my heart turn to anything evil

or allow me to act wickedly

with men who are evildoers;

keep me from eating their delicacies.

5 Let the righteous strike me, let him correct me;

it will be an act of love.

Let my head not refuse such choice oil,

for I will keep on praying about their wickedness.

6 When their rulers are thrown down from the cliff,

[the wicked] will hear that my words were fitting.

7 As when one plows and breaks the ground into clods,

our bones are strewn at the mouth of Sh’ol.

8 For my eyes,Adonai,Adonai, are on you;

in you I take refuge; don’t pour out my life.

9 Keep me from the trap they have set for me,

from the snares of evildoers.

10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

while I pass by in safety.

1 Amaskilof David, when he was in the cave. A prayer:

2 With my voice I cry toAdonai,

with my voice I plead toAdonaifor mercy.

3 Before him I pour out my complaint,

before him I tell my trouble.

4 When my spirit faints within me,

you watch over my path.

By the road that I am walking

they have hidden a snare for me.

5 Look to my right, and see

that no one recognizes me.

I have no way of escape;

nobody cares for me.

6 I cried out to you,Adonai;

I said, “You are my refuge,

my portion in the land of the living.”

7 Listen to my cry,

for I have been brought very low.

Rescue me from my persecutors,

for they are too strong for me.

8 Lead me out of prison,

so that I can give thanks to your name;

in me the righteous will be crowning themselves,

because you will have treated me generously.

1 A psalm of David:

Adonai, hear my prayer;

listen to my pleas for mercy.

In your faithfulness, answer me,

and in your righteousness.

2 Don’t bring your servant to trial,

since in your sight no one alive

would be considered righteous.

3 For an enemy is pursuing me;

he has crushed my life into the ground

and left me to live in darkness,

like those who have been long dead.

4 My spirit faints within me;

my heart is appalled within me.

5 I remember the days of old,

reflecting on all your deeds,

thinking about the work of your hands.

6 I spread out my hands to you,

I long for you like a thirsty land.(Selah)

7 Answer me quickly,Adonai,

because my spirit is fainting.

Don’t hide your face from me,

or I’ll be like those who drop down into a pit.

8 Make me hear of your love in the morning,

because I rely on you.

Make me know the way I should walk,

because I entrust myself to you.

9 Adonai, rescue me from my enemies;

I have hidden myself with you.

10 Teach me to do your will,

because you are my God;

Let your good Spirit guide me

on ground that is level.

11 For your name’s sake,Adonai, preserve my life;

in your righteousness, bring me out of distress.

12 In your grace, cut off my enemies;

destroy all those harassing me;

because I am your servant.

1 By David:

Blessed beAdonai, my rock,

who trains my hands for war

and my fingers for battle.

2 He shows me grace; and he is my fortress,

my stronghold, in whom I find shelter,

my shield, in whom I take refuge,

who subdues my people under me.

3 Adonai, what are mere mortals,

that you notice them at all;

humans, that you think about them?

4 Man is like a puff of wind,

his days like a fleeting shadow.

5 Adonai, lower the heavens, and come down;

touch the mountains, make them pour out smoke.

6 Shoot out lightning, and scatter them;

send out your arrows, and rout them.

7 Reach out your hands from on high;

rescue me; save me out of deep water,

out of the power of strangers,

8 whose mouths speak worthless words

and whose right hands swear false oaths.

9 God, I will sing a new song to you;

sing praises to you with a ten-stringed harp.

10 You give kings their victories;

you save your servant David from the cruel sword.

11 Rescue me, save me from the power of strangers,

whose mouths speak worthless words

and whose right hands swear false oaths.

12 Our sons in their youth will be

like full-grown saplings,

our daughters will be like sculptured pillars

fit for the corner of a palace.

13 Our barns are full with crops of every kind;

the sheep in our fields number thousands, tens of thousands.

14 our oxen are well-fed,

our city walls have no breach,

our people are not taken captive,

and there are no cries of protest in our cities’ open places.

15 How happy the people who live in such conditions!

How happy the people whose God isAdonai!

1 Praise. By David:

I will praise you to the heights, my God, the king;

I will bless your name forever and ever.

2 Every day I will bless you;

I will praise your name forever and ever.

3 Great isAdonaiand greatly to be praised;

his greatness is beyond all searching out.

4 Each generation will praise your works to the next

and proclaim your mighty acts.

5 I will meditate on the glorious splendor

of your majesty and on the story of your wonders.

6 People will speak of your awesome power,

and I will tell of your great deeds.

7 They will gush forth the fame of your abounding goodness,

and they will sing of your righteousness.

8 Adonaiis merciful and compassionate,

slow to anger and great in grace.

9 Adonaiis good to all;

his compassion rests on all his creatures.

10 All your creatures will thank you,Adonai,

and your faithful servants will bless you.

11 They will speak of the glory of your kingship,

and they will tell about your might;

12 to let everyone know of your mighty acts

and the glorious majesty of your kingship.

13 Your kingship is an everlasting kingship,

your reign continues through all generations.

14 Adonaisupports all who fall

and lifts up all who are bent over.

15 The eyes of all are looking to you;

you give them their food at the right time.

16 You open your hand

and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

17 Adonaiis righteous in all his ways,

full of grace in all he does.

18 Adonaiis close to all who call on him,

to all who sincerely call on him.

19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;

he hears their cry and saves them.

20 Adonaiprotects all who love him,

but all the wicked he destroys.

21 My mouth will proclaim the praise ofAdonai;

all people will bless his holy name forever and ever.

1 Halleluyah!

PraiseAdonai, my soul!

2 I will praiseAdonaias long as I live.

I will sing praise to my God all my life.

3 Don’t put your trust in princes

or in mortals, who cannot help.

4 When they breathe their last, they return to dust;

on that very day all their plans are gone.

5 Happy is he whose help is Ya‘akov’s God,

whose hope is inAdonaihis God.

6 He made heaven and earth,

the sea and everything in them;

he keeps faith forever.

7 He secures justice for the oppressed,

he gives food to the hungry.

Adonaisets prisoners free,

8 Adonaiopens the eyes of the blind,

Adonailifts up those who are bent over.

Adonailoves the righteous.

9 Adonaiwatches over strangers,

he sustains the fatherless and widows;

but the way of the wicked he twists.

10 Adonaiwill reign forever,

your God, Tziyon, through all generations.

Halleluyah!

1 Halleluyah!

How good it is to sing praises to our God!

How sweet, how fitting to praise him!

2 Adonaiis rebuilding Yerushalayim,

gathering the dispersed of Isra’el.

3 He heals the brokenhearted

and binds up their wounds.

4 He determines how many stars there are

and calls them all by name.

5 Our Lord is great, his power is vast,

his wisdom beyond all telling.

6 Adonaisustains the humble

but brings the wicked down to the ground.

7 Sing toAdonaiwith thanks,

sing praises on the lyre to our God.

8 He veils the sky with clouds;

he provides the earth with rain;

he makes grass grow on the hills;

9 he gives food to the animals,

even to the young ravens when they cry.

10 He takes no delight in the strength of a horse,

no pleasure in a runner’s speed.

11 Adonaitakes pleasure in those who fear him,

in those who wait for his grace.

12 GlorifyAdonai, Yerushalayim!

Praise your God, Tziyon!

13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates,

he blesses your children within you,

14 he brings peace within your borders,

he gives you your fill of the finest wheat.

15 He sends his word out over the earth,

his command runs swiftly.

16 Thus he gives snow like wool,

scatters hoarfrost like ashes,

17 sends crystals of ice like crumbs of bread —

who can withstand such cold?

18 Then he sends his word out and melts them;

he makes the winds blow, and the water flows.

19 He reveals his words to Ya‘akov,

his laws and rulings to Isra’el.

20 He has not done this for other nations;

they do not know his rulings.

Halleluyah!

1 Halleluyah!

PraiseAdonaifrom the heavens!

Praise him in the heights!

2 Praise him, all his angels!

Praise him, all his armies!

3 Praise him, sun and moon!

Praise him, all shining stars!

4 Praise him, highest heaven,

and waters above the heavens!

5 Let them praise the name ofAdonai;

for he commanded, and they were created.

6 He established them forever and ever;

he has given a law to which they must conform.

7 PraiseAdonaifrom the earth,

sea monsters and watery depths,

8 fire and hail, snow and mist,

storm-winds that obey his word,

9 mountains and every hill,

fruit trees and all cedars,

10 wild animals and all livestock,

creeping reptiles, flying birds,

11 kings of the earth and all peoples,

princes and all rulers on earth,

12 young men and women alike,

old men and children.

13 Let them praise the name ofAdonai,

for his name alone is exalted;

his glory is above both earth and heaven.

14 He has increased the power of his people,

granted praise to all his faithful,

to the descendants of Isra’el,

a people close to him.

Halleluyah!