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¹A psalm of Asaph. The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets.

²From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.

³Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages.

⁴He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people:

⁵“Gather to me this consecrated people, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”

⁶And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice.

⁷“Listen, my people, and I will speak; I will testify against you, Israel: I am God, your God.

⁸I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.

⁹I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens,

¹⁰for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine.

¹²If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴“Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High,

¹⁵and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked person, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips?

¹⁷You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you.

¹⁸When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers.

¹⁹You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit.

²⁰You sit and testify against your brother and slander your own mother’s son.

²¹When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly like you. But I now arraign you and set my accusations before you.

²²“Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:

²³Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.”

¹For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

²Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

³For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

⁴Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.

⁵Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

⁶Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

⁷Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

⁸Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

⁹Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

¹¹Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹²Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

¹³Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.

¹⁴Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

¹⁵Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.

¹⁶You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

¹⁷My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

¹⁸May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

¹For the director of music. A maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.” Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?

²You who practice deceit, your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor.

³You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth.

⁴You love every harmful word, you deceitful tongue!

⁵Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and pluck you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living.

⁶The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at you, saying,

⁷“Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!”

⁸But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.

⁹For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good.

¹For the director of music. According to mahalath. A maskil of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good.

²God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.

³Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.

⁴Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on God.

⁵But there they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to dread. God scattered the bones of those who attacked you; you put them to shame, for God despised them.

⁶Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

¹For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David. When the Ziphites had gone to Saul and said, “Is not David hiding among us?” Save me, O God, by your name; vindicate me by your might.

²Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.

³Arrogant foes are attacking me; ruthless people are trying to kill me— people without regard for God.

⁴Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.

⁵Let evil recoil on those who slander me; in your faithfulness destroy them.

⁶I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, LORD, for it is good.

⁷You have delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

¹For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David. Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea;

²hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught

³because of what my enemy is saying, because of the threats of the wicked; for they bring down suffering on me and assail me in their anger.

⁴My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me.

⁵Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.

⁶I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.

⁷I would flee far away and stay in the desert;

⁸I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.”

⁹Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words, for I see violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it.

¹¹Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets.

¹²If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide.

¹³But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend,

¹⁴with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers.

¹⁵Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the realm of the dead, for evil finds lodging among them.

¹⁶As for me, I call to God, and the LORD saves me.

¹⁷Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.

¹⁸He rescues me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.

¹⁹God, who is enthroned from of old, who does not change— he will hear them and humble them, because they have no fear of God.

²⁰My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant.

²¹His talk is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords.

²²Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

²³But you, God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of decay; the bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you.