Psalm 72

For Solomon.

¹ O God, give thy judgment to the king, and thy righteousness to the king's son; ² that he may judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.

³ Let the mountains and the hills raise peace to thy people: ⁴ he shall judge the poor of the people in righteousness, and save the children of the needy; and shall bring low the false accuser. ⁵ And he shall continue as long as the sun, and before the moon for ever. ⁶ He shall come down as rain upon a fleece; and as drops falling upon the earth. ⁷ In his days shall righteousness spring up; and abundance of peace till the moon be removed. ⁸ And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. ⁹ The Ethiopians shall fall down before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. ¹⁰ The kings of Tharsis, and the isles, shall bring presents: the kings of the Arabians and Saba shall offer gifts. ¹¹ And all kings shall worship him; all the Gentiles shall serve him. ¹² For he has delivered the poor from the oppressor; and the needy who had no helper. ¹³ He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall deliver the souls of the needy. ¹⁴ He shall redeem their souls from usury and injustice: and their name shall be precious before him. ¹⁵ And he shall live, and there shall be given him of the gold of Arabia: and men shall pray for him continually; and all the day shall they praise him. ¹⁶ There shall be an establishment on the earth on the tops of the mountains: the fruit thereof shall be exalted above Libanus, and they of the city shall flourish as grass of the earth.

¹⁷ Let his name be blessed for ever: his name shall endure ¹longer than the sun: and all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.

¹⁸ Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who alone does wonders. ¹⁹ And blessed is his glorious name for ever, even for ever and ever: and all the earth shall be filled with his glory. So be it, so be it. ²⁰ The hymns of David the son of Jessæ are ended.

Psalm 73

A Psalm for Asaph.

¹ How good is God to Israel, to the upright in heart! ² But my feet were almost overthrown; my goings very nearly slipped. ³ For I was jealous of the transgressors, beholding the tranquility of sinners.

⁴ For there is no sign of reluctance in their death: and they have firmness under their affliction. ⁵ They are not in the troubles of other men; and they shall not be scourged with other men. ⁶ Therefore pride has possessed them; they have clothed

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themselves with their injustice and ungodliness. ⁷ Their injustice shall go forth as out of fatness: they have fulfilled their intention. ⁸ They have taken counsel and spoken in wickedness: they have uttered unrighteousness loftily. ⁹ They have set their mouth against heaven, and their tongue has gone through upon the earth. ¹⁰ Therefore shall my people return hither: and full days shall be found ²with them. ¹¹ And they said, How does God know? and ³is there knowledge in the Most High? ¹² Behold, these are the sinners, and they that prosper always: they have possessed wealth.

¹³ And I said, Verily in vain have I justified my heart, and washed my hands in innocency. ¹⁴ For I was plagued all the day, and my reproof was every morning. ¹⁵ If I said, I will speak thus; behold, I should have broken covenant with the generation of thy children. ¹⁶ And I undertook to understand this, but it is too hard for me, ¹⁷ until I go into the sanctuary of God; and so understand the latter end.

¹⁸ Surely thou hast appointed judgments to them because of their crafty dealings: thou hast cast them down when they were lifted up. ¹⁹ How have they become desolate! suddenly they have failed: they have perished because of their iniquity. ²⁰ As the dream of one awakening, O Lord, in thy city thou wilt despise their image.

²¹ For my heart has rejoiced, and my reins have been ⁴gladdened. ²² But I was vile and knew not: I became brutish before thee. ²³ Yet I am continually with thee: thou hast holden my right hand. ²⁴ Thou hast guided me by thy counsel, and thou hast taken me to thyself with glory. ²⁵ For what have I in heaven but thee? and what have I desired upon the earth beside thee? ²⁶ My heart and my flesh have failed: but God is the strength of my heart, and God is my portion for ever.

²⁷ For, behold, they that remove themselves far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed every one that goes a whoring from thee. ²⁸ But it is good for me to cleave close to God, to put my trust in the Lord; that I may proclaim all thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion.