The Psalter
 
 

 

 

 

 

  Book One
   
  First Day: Morning Prayer
   
  I   Beatus vir qui non abiit
   
1 Happy are they who have not walked in the counsel of
                              the wicked, *
    nor lingered in the way of sinners,
    nor sat in the seats of the scornful!
   
2 Their delight is in the law of the LORD, *
    and they meditate on his law day and night.
   
3 They are like trees planted by streams of water,
bearing fruit in due season, with leaves that do not wither; *
    everything they do shall prosper.
   
4 It is not so with the wicked; *
    they are like chaff which the wind blows away.
   
5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand upright when
                               judgment comes, *
    nor the sinner in the council of the righteous.
   
6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, *
    but the way of the wicked is doomed.

 

 

Psalm 1     585

 

  2   Quare fremuerunt gentes?
   
1 Why are the nations in an uproar? *
    Why do the peoples mutter empty threats?
   
2 Why do the kings of the earth rise up in revolt,
and the princes plot together, *
    against the LORD and against his Anointed?
   
3 "Let us break their yoke," they say; *
    "let us cast off their bonds from us."
   
4 He whose throne is in heaven is laughing; *
    the Lord has them in derision.
   
5 Then he speaks to them in his wrath, *
    and his rage fills them with terror.
   
6 "I myself have set my king *
    upon my holy hill of Zion."
   
7 Let me announce the decree of the LORD: *
    he said to me, "You are my Son;
    this day have I begotten you.
   
8 Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for
                              your inheritance *
    and the ends of the earth for your possession.
   
9 You shall crush them with an iron rod *
    and shatter them like a piece of pottery."
   
10 And now, you kings, be wise; *
    be warned, you rulers of the earth.
   
11 Submit to the LORD with fear, *
    and with trembling bow before him;
   
12 Lest he be angry and you perish; *
    for his wrath is quickly kindled.

 

 

586    Psalm 2

 
13 Happy are they all *
    who take refuge in him!
   
  3   Domine, quid multiplicati
   
1 LORD, how many adversaries I have! *
    how many there are who rise up against me!
   
2 How many there are who say of me, *
    "There is no help for him in his God."
   
3 But you, O LORD, are a shield about me; *
    you are my glory, the one who lifts up my head.
   
4 I call aloud upon the LORD, *
    and he answers me from his holy hill;
   
5 I lie down and go to sleep; *
    I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
   
6 I do not fear the multitudes of people *
    who set themselves against me all around.
   
7 Rise up, O LORD; set me free, O my God; *
    surely, you will strike all my enemies across the face,
    you will break the teeth of the wicked.
   
8 Deliverance belongs to the LORD. *
    Your blessing be upon your people!
   
  4   Cum invocarem
   
1 Answer me when I call, O God, defender of my cause; *
    you set me free when I am hard-pressed;
    have mercy on me and hear my prayer.

 

 

Psalm 3, 4     587

 

2 "You mortals, how long will you dishonor my glory; *
    how long will you worship dumb idols
    and run after false gods?"
   
3 Know that the LORD does wonders for the faithful; *
    when I call upon the LORD, he will hear me.
   
4 Tremble, then, and do not sin; *
    speak to your heart in silence upon your bed.
   
5 Offer the appointed sacrifices *
    and put your trust in the LORD.
   
6 Many are saying,
"Oh, that we might see better times!" *
    Lift up the light of your countenance upon us, O LORD.
   
7 You have put gladness in my heart, *
    more than when grain and wine and oil increase.
   
8 I lie down in peace; at once I fall asleep; *
    for only you, LORD, make me dwell in safety.
   
  5   Verba mea auribus
   
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD; *
    consider my meditation.
   
2 Hearken to my cry for help, my King and my God, *
    for I make my prayer to you.
   
3 In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; *
    early in the morning I make my appeal and watch for you.
   
4 For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, *
    and evil cannot dwell with you.
   
5 Braggarts cannot stand in your sight; *
    you hate all those who work wickedness.

 

 

588    Psalm 5

 
6 You destroy those who speak lies; *
    the bloodthirsty and deceitful, O LORD, you abhor.
   
7 But as for me, through the greatness of your mercy I will
                               go into your house; *
    I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you.
   
8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness,
because of those who lie in wait for me; *
    make your way straight before me.
   
9 For there is no truth in their mouth; *
    there is destruction in their heart;
   
10 Their throat is an open grave; *
    they flatter with their tongue.
   
11 Declare them guilty, O God; *
    let them fall, because of their schemes.
   
12 Because of their many transgressions cast them out, *
    for they have rebelled against you.
   
13 But all who take refuge in you will be glad; *
    they will sing out their joy for ever.
   
14 You will shelter them, *
    so that those who love your Name may exult in you.
   
15 For you, O LORD, will bless the righteous; *
    you will defend them with your favor as with a shield.
   
  First Day: Evening Prayer
   
  6   Domine, ne in furore
   
1 LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger; *
    do not punish me in your wrath.

 

 

Psalm 6     589

 

2 Have pity on me, LORD, for I am weak; *
    heal me, LORD, for my bones are racked.
   
3 My spirit shakes with terror; *
    how long, O LORD, how long?
   
4 Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; *
    save me for your mercy's sake.
   
5 For in death no one remembers you; *
    and who will give you thanks in the grave?
   
6 I grow weary because of my groaning; *
    every night I drench my bed
    and flood my couch with tears.
   
7 My eyes are wasted with grief *
    and worn away because of all my enemies.
   
8 Depart from me, all evildoers, *
    for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
   
9 The LORD has heard my supplication; *
    the LORD accepts my prayer.
   
10  All my enemies shall be confounded and quake with fear; *
    they shall turn back and suddenly be put to shame.
   
  7   Domine, Deus meus
   
1 O LORD my God, I take refuge in you; *
    save and deliver me from all who pursue me;
   
2 Lest like a lion they tear me in pieces *
    and snatch me away with none to deliver me.
   
3 O LORD my God, if I have done these things: *
    if there is any wickedness in my hands,

 

 

590    Psalm 7

 
4 If I have repaid my friend with evil, *
    or plundered him who without cause is my enemy;
   
5 Then let my enemy pursue and overtake me, *
    trample my life into the ground,
    and lay my honor in the dust.
   
6 Stand up, O LORD, in your wrath; *
    rise up against the fury of my enemies.
   
7 Awake, O my God, decree justice; *
    let the assembly of the peoples gather round you.
   
8 Be seated on your lofty throne, O Most High; *
    O LORD, judge the nations.
   
9 Give judgment for me according to my
                               righteousness, O LORD, *
    and according to my innocence, O Most High.
   
10 Let the malice of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous; *
    for you test the mind and heart, O righteous God.
   
11 God is my shield and defense; *
    he is the savior of the true in heart.
   
12 God is a righteous judge; *
    God sits in judgment every day.
   
13 If they will not repent, God will whet his sword; *
    he will bend his bow and make it ready.
   
14 He has prepared his weapons of death; *
    he makes his arrows shafts of fire.
   
15 Look at those who are in labor with wickedness, *
    who conceive evil, and give birth to a lie.

 

 

Psalm 7     591

 

16 They dig a pit and make it deep *
    and fall into the hole that they have made.
   
17 Their malice turns back upon their own head; *
    their violence falls on their own scalp.
   
18 I will bear witness that the LORD is righteous; *
    I will praise the Name of the LORD Most High.
   
  8   Domine, Dominus noster
   
1 O LORD our Governor, *
    how exalted is your Name in all the world!
   
2 Out of the mouths of infants and children *
    your majesty is praised above the heavens.
   
3 You have set up a stronghold against your adversaries, *
    to quell the enemy and the avenger.
   
4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, *
    the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,
   
5 What is man that you should be mindful of him? *
    the son of man that you should seek him out?
   
6 You have made him but little lower than the angels; *
    you adorn him with glory and honor;
   
7 You give him mastery over the works of your hands; *
    you put all things under his feet:
   
8 All sheep and oxen, *
    even the wild beasts of the field,
   
9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, *
    and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea.
   
10 O LORD our Governor, *
    how exalted is your Name in all the world!

 

 

592    Psalm 8

 
  Second Day: Morning Prayer
   
  9   Confitebor tibi
   
1 I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with my whole heart; *
    I will tell of all your marvelous works.
   
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; *
    I will sing to your Name, O Most High.
   
3 When my enemies are driven back, *
    they will stumble and perish at your presence.
   
4 For you have maintained my right and my cause; *
    you sit upon your throne judging right.
   
5 You have rebuked the ungodly and destroyed the wicked; *
    you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
   
6 As for the enemy, they are finished, in perpetual ruin, *
    their cities plowed under, the memory of them perished;
   
7 But the LORD is enthroned for ever; *
    he has set up this throne for judgment.
   
8 It is he who rules the world with righteousness; *
    he judges the peoples with equity.
   
9 The LORD will be a refuge for the oppressed, *
    a refuge in time of trouble.
   
10 Those who know your Name will put their trust in you, *
    for you never forsake those who seek you, O LORD.
   
11 Sing praise to the LORD who dwells in Zion; *
    proclaim to the peoples the things he has done.
   
12 The Avenger of blood will remember them; *
    he will not forget the cry of the afflicted.

 

 

Psalm 9     593

 

13 Have pity on me, O LORD; *
    see the misery I suffer from those who hate me,
    O you who lift me up from the gate of death;
   
14 So that I may tell of all your praises
and rejoice in your salvation *
    in the gates of the city of Zion.
   
15 The ungodly have fallen into the pit they dug, *
    and in the snare they set is their own foot caught.
   
16 The LORD is known by his acts of justice; *
    the wicked are trapped in the works of their own hands.
   
17 The wicked shall be given over to the grave, *
    and also all the people that forget God.
   
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten, *
    and the hope of the poor shall not perish for ever.
   
19 Rise up, O LORD, let not the ungodly have the upper hand; *
    let them be judged before you.
   
20 Put fear upon them, O LORD; *
    let the ungodly know they are but mortal.
   
  10   Ut quid, Domine?
   
1 Why do you stand so far off, O LORD, *
    and hide yourself in time of trouble?
   
2 The wicked arrogantly persecute the poor, *
    but they are trapped in the schemes they have devised.
   
3 The wicked boast of their heart's desire; *
    the covetous curse and revile the LORD.
   
4 The wicked are so proud that they care not for God; *
    their only thought is, "God does not matter."

 

 

594    Psalm 10

 
5 Their ways are devious at all times;
your judgments are far above out of their sight; *
    they defy all their enemies.
   
6 They say in their heart, "I shall not be shaken; *
    no harm shall happen to me ever."
   
7 Their mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression; *
    under their tongue are mischief and wrong.
   
8 They lurk in ambush in public squares
and in secret places they murder the innocent; *
    they spy out the helpless.
   
9 They lie in wait, like a lion in a covert;
they lie in wait to seize upon the lowly; *
    they seize the lowly and drag them away in their net.
   
10 The innocent are broken and humbled before them; *
    the helpless fall before their power.
   
11 They say in their heart, "God has forgotten; *
    he hides his face; he will never notice."
   
12 Rise up, O LORD;
lift up your hand, O God; *
    do not forget the afflicted.
   
13 Why should the wicked revile God? *
    why should they say in their heart, "You do not care"?
   
14 Surely, you behold trouble and misery; *
    you see it and take it into your own hand.
   
15 The helpless commit themselves to you, *
    for you are the helper of orphans.
   
16 Break the power of the wicked and evil; *
    search out their wickedness until you find none.

 

 

Psalm 10     595

 

17 The LORD is King for ever and ever; *
    the ungodly shall perish from his land.
   
18 The LORD will hear the desire of the humble; *
    you will strengthen their heart and your ears shall hear;
   
19 To give justice to the orphan and oppressed, *
    so that mere mortals may strike terror no more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

596    Psalm 10