Psalms 131, 138-139,
143-145, 111-118

Psalm 131
World English Bible
A Song of Ascents. By David.
131 Yahweh, my heart isn’t arrogant, nor my eyes lofty;
nor do I concern myself with great matters,
or things too wonderful for me.
2 Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with his mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 Israel, hope in Yahweh,
from this time forward and forever more.

Psalm 138-139
World English Bible
By David.
138 I will give you thanks with my whole heart.
Before the gods,[a] I will sing praises to you.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple,
and give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth;
for you have exalted your Name and your Word above all.
3 In the day that I called, you answered me.
You encouraged me with strength in my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, Yahweh,
for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 Yes, they will sing of the ways of Yahweh,
for Yahweh’s glory is great!
6 For though Yahweh is high, yet he looks after the lowly;
but he knows the proud from afar.
7 Though I walk in the middle of trouble, you will revive me.
You will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies.
Your right hand will save me.
8 Yahweh will fulfill that which concerns me.
Your loving kindness, Yahweh, endures forever.
Don’t forsake the works of your own hands.

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.
139 Yahweh, you have searched me,
and you know me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up.
You perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
but behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in behind and before.
You laid your hand on me.
6 This knowledge is beyond me.
It’s lofty.
I can’t attain it.
7 Where could I go from your Spirit?
Or where could I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in Sheol,[b] behold, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand will lead me,
and your right hand will hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me.
The light around me will be night,”
12 even the darkness doesn’t hide from you,
but the night shines as the day.
The darkness is like light to you.
13 For you formed my inmost being.
You knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to you,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful.
My soul knows that very well.
15 My frame wasn’t hidden from you,
when I was made in secret,
woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my body.
In your book they were all written,
the days that were ordained for me,
when as yet there were none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is their sum!
18 If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand.
When I wake up, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would kill the wicked.
Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 For they speak against you wickedly.
Your enemies take your name in vain.
21 Yahweh, don’t I hate those who hate you?
Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred.
They have become my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart.
Try me, and know my thoughts.
24 See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the everlasting way.

Footnotes
138:1 The word elohim, used here, usually means “God” but can also mean “gods”, “princes”, or “angels”.
139:8 Sheol is the place of the dead.
Psalm 143-145
World English Bible
A Psalm by David.
143 Hear my prayer, Yahweh.
Listen to my petitions.
In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me.
2 Don’t enter into judgment with your servant,
for in your sight no man living is righteous.
3 For the enemy pursues my soul.
He has struck my life down to the ground.
He has made me live in dark places, as those who have been long dead.
4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me.
My heart within me is desolate.
5 I remember the days of old.
I meditate on all your doings.
I contemplate the work of your hands.
6 I spread out my hands to you.
My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land. Selah.
7 Hurry to answer me, Yahweh.
My spirit fails.
Don’t hide your face from me,
so that I don’t become like those who go down into the pit.
8 Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning,
for I trust in you.
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
for I lift up my soul to you.
9 Deliver me, Yahweh, from my enemies.
I flee to you to hide me.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
Your Spirit is good.
Lead me in the land of uprightness.
11 Revive me, Yahweh, for your name’s sake.
In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble.
12 In your loving kindness, cut off my enemies,
and destroy all those who afflict my soul,
for I am your servant.

By David.
144 Blessed be Yahweh, my rock,
who trains my hands to war,
and my fingers to battle—
2 my loving kindness, my fortress,
my high tower, my deliverer,
my shield, and he in whom I take refuge,
who subdues my people under me.
3 Yahweh, what is man, that you care for him?
Or the son of man, that you think of him?
4 Man is like a breath.
His days are like a shadow that passes away.
5 Part your heavens, Yahweh, and come down.
Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.
6 Throw out lightning, and scatter them.
Send out your arrows, and rout them.
7 Stretch out your hand from above,
rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters,
out of the hands of foreigners,
8 whose mouths speak deceit,
whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song to you, God.
On a ten-stringed lyre, I will sing praises to you.
10 You are he who gives salvation to kings,
who rescues David, his servant, from the deadly sword.
11 Rescue me, and deliver me out of the hands of foreigners,
whose mouths speak deceit,
whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

12 Then our sons will be like well-nurtured plants,
our daughters like pillars carved to adorn a palace.
13 Our barns are full, filled with all kinds of provision.
Our sheep produce thousands and ten thousands in our fields.
14 Our oxen will pull heavy loads.
There is no breaking in, and no going away,
and no outcry in our streets.
15 Happy are the people who are in such a situation.
Happy are the people whose God is Yahweh.

A praise psalm by David.[a]
145 I will exalt you, my God, the King.
I will praise your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you.
I will extol your name forever and ever.
3 Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised!
His greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation will commend your works to another,
and will declare your mighty acts.
5 I will meditate on the glorious majesty of your honor,
on your wondrous works.
6 Men will speak of the might of your awesome acts.
I will declare your greatness.
7 They will utter the memory of your great goodness,
and will sing of your righteousness.
8 Yahweh is gracious, merciful,
slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.
9 Yahweh is good to all.
His tender mercies are over all his works.
10 All your works will give thanks to you, Yahweh.
Your saints will extol you.
11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom,
and talk about your power,
12 to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts,
the glory of the majesty of his kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
Yahweh is faithful in all his words,
and loving in all his deeds.[b]
14 Yahweh upholds all who fall,
and raises up all those who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all wait for you.
You give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand,
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 Yahweh is righteous in all his ways,
and gracious in all his works.
18 Yahweh is near to all those who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear him.
He also will hear their cry, and will save them.
20 Yahweh preserves all those who love him,
but he will destroy all the wicked.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh.
Let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Psalm 127
World English Bible
A Song of Ascents. By Solomon.
127 Unless Yahweh builds the house,
they who build it labor in vain.
Unless Yahweh watches over the city,
the watchman guards it in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early,
to stay up late,
eating the bread of toil,
for he gives sleep to his loved ones.
3 Behold, children are a heritage of Yahweh.
The fruit of the womb is his reward.
4 As arrows in the hand of a mighty man,
so are the children of youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them.
They won’t be disappointed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.

Psalm 111-118
World English Bible
111 Praise Yah![a]
I will give thanks to Yahweh with my whole heart,
in the council of the upright, and in the congregation.
2 Yahweh’s works are great,
pondered by all those who delight in them.
3 His work is honor and majesty.
His righteousness endures forever.
4 He has caused his wonderful works to be remembered.
Yahweh is gracious and merciful.
5 He has given food to those who fear him.
He always remembers his covenant.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the heritage of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are truth and justice.
All his precepts are sure.
8 They are established forever and ever.
They are done in truth and uprightness.
9 He has sent redemption to his people.
He has ordained his covenant forever.
His name is holy and awesome!
10 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom.
All those who do his work have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!

112 Praise Yah![b]
Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh,
who delights greatly in his commandments.
2 His offspring will be mighty in the land.
The generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house.
His righteousness endures forever.
4 Light dawns in the darkness for the upright,
gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5 It is well with the man who deals graciously and lends.
He will maintain his cause in judgment.
6 For he will never be shaken.
The righteous will be remembered forever.
7 He will not be afraid of evil news.
His heart is steadfast, trusting in Yahweh.
8 His heart is established.
He will not be afraid in the end when he sees his adversaries.
9 He has dispersed, he has given to the poor.
His righteousness endures forever.
His horn will be exalted with honor.
10 The wicked will see it, and be grieved.
He shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away.
The desire of the wicked will perish.

113 Praise Yah!
Praise, you servants of Yahweh,
praise Yahweh’s name.
2 Blessed be Yahweh’s name,
from this time forward and forever more.
3 From the rising of the sun to its going down,
Yahweh’s name is to be praised.
4 Yahweh is high above all nations,
his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like Yahweh, our God,
who has his seat on high,
6 who stoops down to see in heaven and in the earth?
7 He raises up the poor out of the dust,
and lifts up the needy from the ash heap,
8 that he may set him with princes,
even with the princes of his people.
9 He settles the barren woman in her home
as a joyful mother of children.
Praise Yah!

114 When Israel went out of Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of foreign language,
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
3 The sea saw it, and fled.
The Jordan was driven back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the little hills like lambs.
5 What was it, you sea, that you fled?
You Jordan, that you turned back?
6 You mountains, that you skipped like rams?
You little hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turned the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of waters.

115 Not to us, Yahweh, not to us,
but to your name give glory,
for your loving kindness, and for your truth’s sake.

2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God, now?”

3 But our God is in the heavens.
He does whatever he pleases.

4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of men’s hands.

5 They have mouths, but they don’t speak.
They have eyes, but they don’t see.

6 They have ears, but they don’t hear.
They have noses, but they don’t smell.

7 They have hands, but they don’t feel.
They have feet, but they don’t walk,
neither do they speak through their throat.

8 Those who make them will be like them;
yes, everyone who trusts in them.

9 Israel, trust in Yahweh!
He is their help and their shield.

10 House of Aaron, trust in Yahweh!
He is their help and their shield.

11 You who fear Yahweh, trust in Yahweh!
He is their help and their shield.

12 Yahweh remembers us. He will bless us.
He will bless the house of Israel.
He will bless the house of Aaron.

13 He will bless those who fear Yahweh,
both small and great.

14 May Yahweh increase you more and more,
you and your children.

15 Blessed are you by Yahweh,
who made heaven and earth.

16 The heavens are Yahweh’s heavens,
but he has given the earth to the children of men.

17 The dead don’t praise Yah,
nor any who go down into silence,

18 but we will bless Yah,
from this time forward and forever more.
Praise Yah!

116 I love Yahweh, because he listens to my voice,
and my cries for mercy.
2 Because he has turned his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death surrounded me,
the pains of Sheol[c] got a hold of me.
I found trouble and sorrow.
4 Then I called on Yahweh’s name:
“Yahweh, I beg you, deliver my soul.”
5 Yahweh is gracious and righteous.
Yes, our God is merciful.
6 Yahweh preserves the simple.
I was brought low, and he saved me.
7 Return to your rest, my soul,
for Yahweh has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
and my feet from falling.
9 I will walk before Yahweh in the land of the living.
10 I believed, therefore I said,
“I was greatly afflicted.”
11 I said in my haste,
“All people are liars.”
12 What will I give to Yahweh for all his benefits toward me?
13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call on Yahweh’s name.
14 I will pay my vows to Yahweh,
yes, in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in Yahweh’s sight is the death of his saints.
16 Yahweh, truly I am your servant.
I am your servant, the son of your servant girl.
You have freed me from my chains.
17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and will call on Yahweh’s name.
18 I will pay my vows to Yahweh,
yes, in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of Yahweh’s house,
in the middle of you, Jerusalem.
Praise Yah!

117 Praise Yahweh, all you nations!
Extol him, all you peoples!
2 For his loving kindness is great toward us.
Yahweh’s faithfulness endures forever.
Praise Yah!

118 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loving kindness endures forever.
2 Let Israel now say
that his loving kindness endures forever.
3 Let the house of Aaron now say
that his loving kindness endures forever.
4 Now let those who fear Yahweh say
that his loving kindness endures forever.
5 Out of my distress, I called on Yah.
Yah answered me with freedom.
6 Yahweh is on my side. I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
7 Yahweh is on my side among those who help me.
Therefore I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh,
than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh,
than to put confidence in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me,
but in Yahweh’s name I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me.
In Yahweh’s name I indeed cut them off.
12 They surrounded me like bees.
They are quenched like the burning thorns.
In Yahweh’s name I cut them off.
13 You pushed me back hard, to make me fall,
but Yahweh helped me.
14 Yah is my strength and song.
He has become my salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous.
“The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly.
16 The right hand of Yahweh is exalted!
The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly!”
17 I will not die, but live,
and declare Yah’s works.
18 Yah has punished me severely,
but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness.
I will enter into them.
I will give thanks to Yah.
20 This is the gate of Yahweh;
the righteous will enter into it.
21 I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me,
and have become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.[d]
23 This is Yahweh’s doing.
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day that Yahweh has made.
We will rejoice and be glad in it!
25 Save us now, we beg you, Yahweh!
Yahweh, we beg you, send prosperity now.
26 Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name!
We have blessed you out of Yahweh’s house.
27 Yahweh is God, and he has given us light.
Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you.
You are my God, I will exalt you.
29 Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loving kindness endures forever.