Paraphrase of the Psalms 1–32

Of David, prophet and king. … has not walked in the counsel of the impious, but has kept his heart from youth in accord with the ordinance, singing the divine ordinance nights and days. He will be like a sapling by watery paths; all things will be directed for him as is due, whatever … But [the impious are] like dust, which the wind has scattered from the earth. Therefore the wicked will never rise up in judgment, nor sinners in the counsels of the wise and righteous. For the King knows the path of the pious righteous; therefore the race of the wretched will perish root and all.

This psalm was found without a title, but it is joined to the verses [of the first] among the Hebrews, since among them it is reckoned without one. And the kings of the earth … against their great King and against God’s Christ? … God laughed at them from heaven … and, breathing anger from his heart, he will confound them all … proclaiming the decree of the heavenly King: “You are my Son,” God the Father said to me; “on a new day I myself caused you to be born. Ask of me, so that you may receive as your lot, as I give it, the nations, and may hold all the ends of the earth under the moon. With a rod of iron [you will shepherd] them … and like a potter’s vessels …” Then, you kings of mortals, understand; be instructed, you who hold power under the height of heaven; … and rejoice in him with trembling mind, taking delight. [Lay hold] then of wisdom, lest he dash you all together from the road, when he swiftly rouses his fiery, wrathful mind. All are blessed together who always trust in him.

The mournful third song of David, when, fleeing from his son Absalom, … the lord … [Many say] to my soul that there is no help for it from God? [But you are my helper,] having become my glory, lifting my head above my neck … I call out crying, and he heard me from his holy mountain. I myself lay down, and sweet sleep held me … [and I rose,] since the King will uphold my strength … [I will not be afraid] though I be terrified by myriads of peoples, because you have struck all my vainglorious enemies. … Your light, O King, and your blessing, grant to the people.

… this psalm was made from the songs of David. Be gracious, O Lord, and hear my prayers. Men, how long do you nourish a grievous spirit? How long do you set your love on vanity and on all falsehoods? The heavenly Lord himself will hear me as I cry … Let hope and the sacrifice of righteousness honour the King. Many say, “Who [will show us good things]?” … On us [is set] the golden sign, the light of your face … you gave to my heart all … In peace I will lie down at once and sleep, because you, Blessed One, alone establish me in hope.

[This is the] fifth [psalm] … Hear my voice quickly, and look upon the prayer of my voice. You yourself are Lord God, and I always beseech you. In the morning the Lord will hear our … because you have never been a God who wishes transgression; nor will any evil-devising dweller be with you. God hates the deceitful and murderous man. But I will come to your house by your compassion, and … I will embrace your pure holy [temple]. Let your righteousness lead me, because of my enemies; direct our path before your eyes. For they never carry truth upon their mouth … their tongues are always busied with deceitful words … And according to the multitude of their transgressions [cast them out] … But let all who pray to you, O King, rejoice. Let them rejoice, and may you dwell among them … they will boast in your name, because [you bless] the man who proclaims righteousness …

… But pity my feebleness, O King; be my healer, and stop the trembling of my bones, and my soul, which … Save my … setting aside your former wrath, … my heart from necessity. For who, bound by death, would remember you? And who in Hades would sing you a song of praise? Every night I will wash my chaste bed … I grew old among my enemies. … because my King has heard the sound of my weeping; God most high has received our prayer. Let shame and confusion be on my enemies.

Once Chusi insulted David; but he … the seventh [song] of the king … From all who pursue me, I beseech you, [save me], lest someone seize my heart like a lion. But if I did such a thing as rouses your wrath, if I lay lawless hands on hateful deeds, if I myself did evil to one who did evil, then let a hostile man pursue and take my soul, and trample my life to the ground with his feet, and [lay] my resounding glory … You yourself, Lord, will always be judge for the peoples. Judge me, O King, according to the ordinance of my justice, and make things fitting for my good mind … let … have an end, and may you direct the righteous. You alone test the kidneys and the hidden recesses of the heart, always rescuing the upright races of mortals. The Lord is always holy and …, strong in might, and has a patient spirit, [not] rousing wrath on every occasion. Cease, before [he whets his] sword and stretches his bow; for it has been made most ready. For he has fashioned against him the weapons of destructive death; for those who are burning he has worked bitter [arrows]. Look now at the lawless work of his travail: [he conceived] toil and bore … He dug out a great pit and hollowed it with evil intent; but may the evildoer fall into the very pit he made, and upon his head … I will sing praise worthy of the King’s justice; I will cry out the name of the Most High with the clear-toned lyre.

This eighth hymn of David is for the winepresses. How wonderful is your name on earth! And your glorious boast ran up to heaven itself. Out of the mouth of infants you therefore made praise ready, O undefiled Father, for the sake of your bitter enemies, so that you might destroy together the enemy and … [I will see your heavens,] the wide …, which your fingers made, the stars and the moon, whose foundation you laid with your hand. For what was man, that you remember him? Or the son of man, that you are his overseer? You made him less than the heavenly hosts …; you set him to direct the works of your hands …: the field-ranging oxen and the race of fleecy sheep, the birds of the air and the fishy brood. How wonderful is your name on earth!

An immortal hymn of David, concerning the hidden things, for the son. With unceasing heart, O King, I will sing your praise; in you I will bring to completion lovely gladness and joy; with the lyre [I will sing] your highest name … because you have requited my destroyers according to the ordinance. With a great din their memorial perished everywhere; but the heavenly King remains always, altogether. … he established his throne most high, so that he might judge the famous ends of the earth with justice and hold out straight judgment to his peoples. God is immortal …; you have become the hope of all who learned your name. … he remembered them when they had died, seeking out their blood; nor [did he forget] the cry of the wretched … raising me up even from death, so that in the gates of Zion I may sing all your praise. The King has become manifest, doing upright justice; the sinner has been fettered in the works of his own hand. Let the wicked be turned back into Hades, all the nations that have forgotten God who always is. Nor will the hope of the weak ever pass by. Arise, and let not man rule, prevailing by force; let the races be judged before your eyes. Set, O Lord, another good lawgiver over them; let the nations know that they are of mortal race. … desire … all … and lawless in words; nor [has he] God before his eyes … For he considered in his heart that he would remain, trusting in evil; his mouth is crammed with chilling deceit and cursing; he always has a deceitful tongue … As a deadly lion in the thickets sends out evil plans … swiftly, so that [he may seize] the pitiable … of his rapacious counsel, so that the snares may finish him … But may he fall, having crouched down, before the Lord is called upon by the poor. For he spoke a thought forgetful of the Lord of old, and that he has turned away his all-seeing [face] altogether … [Arise] for me, O King, [lift] your hand on high; do not forget the cry of the toiling. Why does the evildoer always provoke God who always is? For he said in his heart that the King no longer seeks. You see, because you increase both toil and anger, holding [them] in your hands to take those who are unwilling by necessity. For the Lord has not abandoned the needy man … O Lord, break into small pieces the arm of the dreadful man; nor would anyone, seeking, find an end of his wickedness. But God will reign for ever among all; and he has known with his ears the most ready longing of their heart, so that [he may judge] for the orphans and …, so that no one among human beings may have a boastful voice.

This is David’s tenth praise, much prayed for. How will anyone say to me, whose spirit is very confident in God, … since they destroyed what you fashioned, O Shepherd? But what has the man cared for by God done? [The Lord], who has the starry heaven for his lot …, stretching out his all-surveying eye toward the poor man, and seeking out with his eyelids the works of the mortal race — the Lord himself will judge the good and the destructive man. He who loves injustice has become the enemy of his own soul. Fire and brimstone together, and the blast of a joyless storm, … because the Lord is righteous and greatly loves justice; and to him always the straight road …

Save me, you alone; for the holy race has perished utterly, and the works of truth have perished from the root of mortal men. With their lips they spoke, devising deceits in their hearts. And … the boastful tongue of the overweening … and they thought to carry their works upon their lips: “Who of you, a mortal, has become an undefiled king?” The mighty Lord nodded that he himself would rise up … Divine words, words … cleansed by more measures, sevenfold beyond the due measure. But [you will be] a guard and watcher over us in all things … from now, O Lord, and as far as … as good … the races of mortals …

Why have you forgotten me so greatly? How long shall I brood over anxious cares in my mind, in travail in my heart night and day? How long will my enemy strike above my head? … quickly, and hear my voice. Give light, so that I may escape the sleep of death …, lest my enemy boast greatly that he has overcome me. But I, trusting in your mercy, rejoice in your hope. May I always rejoice in my mind at your help.

This is the thirteenth hymn of mighty David. The fool said in his heart that there is no God. There is no doer of good order, not even one. … to see whether anyone would be seeking God the Lord. All turned aside together … There is no doer of good order, not even one. Ignorant of good things, always counsellors of ruin, devouring my people as though it were … they forgot God the King. They were greatly afraid where there was no need of fear … let no one dishonour my cares, because the immortal God has become their hope. When God turns back the day of slavery of the people, …

Of wise David, the [four]teenth … Who would dwell on your undefiled mountain? A man who cares for justice and purity; … the evil-devising race [is despised] before the King; but may God grant great glory to those who fear him. And whoever swears an oath and keeps faithful oaths, nor gathers grievous interest into his hands, nor harms an innocent man in judgment for gifts …

This is the fifteenth after the tenth, a … song. … me, since you are my hope. I said to God the King: You alone are my God; for you yourself have no need of our good things. … has shown forth to those on earth the race of the holy …, and … the plans of the heart among them. Their weaknesses are multiplied, and among them they are swift. … apart from unjust bloodshed … gathering their assemblies into one; and I will not remember their name from my heart nor with my lips. The Lord himself is my lot, and the portion of my cup; the King himself grants me a life-giving inheritance. The measuring lines have fallen for me on strong works; for my lot has become strong and faithful. … before my right hand, so that he may support me. … and my dear body will rest in hope … nor would you make your holy one one of the number of corrupted men. You have shown me the paths of a pious life. Fill me, Blessed One, with gladness with your face.

A prayer of David is the sixteenth hymn. From you may the end of lawful justice appear to us; let my eyes see your straight path. And examining me you found me much purified by fire. For the sake of your [lips] I have kept the untrodden paths of words. Support my dear footstep in your good tracks, so that my feet, rooted, may be fearless. I myself cried out, O Lord, and you heard my dear voice. Incline your ear to me, and hear my words. … your compassionate counsel, rescuing all who hope in your might from lawless men, who have done evil to me. … with satiety they shut up their fat. Like a lion they pursued their most ready prey, … like a whelp … a dark ambush. Arise, and, coming first, throw him to the ground, loosing his knees … snatch my soul … Save me from the few, and from the earth, immortal Shepherd, … while still living through the earth. With your hidden things they filled their capacious belly … they left the remnants of the feast to their sons. But may I appear before the King with justice; your glory, appearing to us, has become enough to satisfy.

Of David, the servant of the heavenly [King] … when the Lord delivered him from all … the eighteenth he addressed … My strength: for I will love you alone always, O God. You yourself have become my support and defence and helper; you are my hope and the protector of my works, the unbreakable horn of my life and championing might. Praising you with prayers, I will escape the hands of my enemies. But I called on God when pressed by ruin, crying to the King from heaven for his helping hand. The mighty earth was shaken, and trembling took hold of all of it; … the foundations of the mountains were troubled, trembling at the divine wrath and anger of the Lord. And the strength of the Blessed One, shining with fire, rose …; darkness was carried beside the feet of the Immortal God …; for he wished to take a defence, like the water hidden in the clouds of the air …; the clouds under their … Then God himself thundered even from heaven; the Most High cried from the sky with his immortal voice. All were stirred up together under …; for all things were terrified at the blast and anger of your spirit. He will rescue me from enemies whose strength is exceeding; and he set me boldly on … He will rescue me from enemies, and will convict those who hate me. May he grant a reward for justice and worthy glory; … this is the gain of the purity of my hands, because I kept the dear paths of the Immortal. Nor did I think of another God in my mind; for there was none. … his ordinances in my heart always, nor did I leave the keeping of his undefiled laws. … I will keep my mind for the King. May he grant a reward for justice and worthy glory. If you are a companion of the holy, you would become holy, and with an understanding mind you would learn from the innocent what is innocent; mixing in all things with a good man, may you hear good things. You yourself will always rescue the humble people from ruin. You yourself will always make my lamp shine bright; may your radiance light up the dark gloom for us. By your nod may I escape the painful trial of evils. Trusting in God who always is, I would leap over a tower. [The ways] of the immortal King are pure; he champions all who have their hope in him. Who is blessed and immortal except the immortal King? Or who has become God apart from our God? He set our path pure and blameless; and setting my dear footstep on the highest places, he made my arms like a bow all of bronze. And your right hand has always been my champion. With your wisdom, Blessed One, I always direct my heart. I have a steady footstep, and you have widened my paths. None of my enemies will pass me as I am driven on in the race; nor have they a steady footing when hard pressed, but may they fall, subdued under our feet. … my enemies were terrified, turning their backs in flight. They themselves cried out, but there was no defender for them. And may you establish me, O Lord, as ruler of peoples. A people I did not know has set its neck as a slave under my yoke; … received our voice with quick obedience. Sons … born lied to me … Sons of strangers came to old age in vain. My King lives, and has always been much praised. May God be the highest of our life, … always … guard me from the evil of opponents; but may I be far stronger, O King, than those who rise up against me. … your highest name with the lyre … your light, warding off evil … you fashioned immortal mercy for [your] anointed.

The heavens proclaim the immortal glory of God, and the firmament of heaven sings the works of his immortal hands. Day poured out an honoured word to day, and night set ambrosial wisdom before night. … a great noise of foreign tongues, nor any words …, and they would not hear … of all; and the words flew through the famous ends of the earth. He himself, shining, rose like a bridegroom from his chamber; going from the other end of heaven he will go forth …; nor is there anyone who may escape the flaming ray when it appears. A faithful testimony plants wisdom in infants, … and light to the eyes. Divine fear has always been pure and steadfast. These your servant knows how to keep with rejoicing, having an exceeding reward of good works for keeping them. What mortal could recognize the multitude of transgressions? … Nor let there be in my heart desire for the possessions of others. … If they do not rule over me, I shall be blameless; and let the meditation of my heart be before your eyes.

… may God ward off the day of necessity; and may the immortal God of Jacob be your champion. … may the averter of evil come near …, and fill your burnt offering with fat. May the Immortal do for you all that is cared for in your heart; may he fulfil all the fitting gifts of your prayers. Now I have learned that God has saved his anointed; and from heaven he will eagerly hear him when he calls, … glorious light by the strength of his right hand. These, then, have mounted on horses and chariots, but we, trusting in the Immortal, will always magnify ourselves. These were fettered in their feet and fell terribly unawares, but for us who have risen all things were directed rightly.

May the king always rejoice, Undefiled One, in your strength, and always delight in his heart at your help. For you have given him the pleasure dear to his soul; … you have fulfilled, and he has taken fruit with his lips abundantly. You crowned his head with a crown of precious stones; he has far-famed glory through your averting strength; and may you extend to him superiority and still greater glory. … Blessed One, by your face. May you arm your hand against all opponents together; may they be burnt up under your eyes like a furnace; and the tireless flame will destroy them as they perish. May you destroy utterly all their fruit from their field, because, pressing upon you, they set countless pains. But be confident, Shepherd, and be magnified in strength; and I will sing in hymns your famous might.

… for the help at dawn. Look, why, Blessed One, have you [forsaken] me, Blessed One, altogether? … the words of my transgression … I cried to you, Blessed One, … nor was I ignorant of your mind in my heart at night. But you dwell in the holy place, the unspeakable glory of Israel. The conspicuous hope of our fathers … They cried to you, Blessed One, and were saved from their necessity, nor did they find shame in return for their immortal hope in you. But I became a worm and not a man, a reproach among men … of the people. As many as saw me before with their eyes spoke with their lips and shook their arrogant head: “He had his hope in God; let him rescue him from ruin … from evil, if he is dear to him.” I call you my hope even at my mother’s breasts; I trusted in you while still dwelling in the recesses of the womb. You yourself are my God in my dear mother’s belly. Do not stand far from me, because the day of necessity is near me, nor has any other helper come to me in my need. … and besides these, bulls surrounded me; they rushed around me, opening their mouths terribly, like a destructive lion roaring with a rapacious spirit. Like water poured out, all my bones were scattered; like wax my heart melted in the middle of my belly; … stuck to my throat …; and they dragged me down to the end of death and set me there. A countless swarm of dogs surrounded me with their eyes; they dug through our hands and feet together; they counted all my bones with their eyes. … they divided my tunics, and shook lots for whoever might carry off my garments. … save me, O King, from the mouth of the grim lion. Let all who shudder at the Lord sing praise; let the seed of Jacob honour God the King, and let all the offspring of Israel fear him. For he did not despise and loathe the prayer of the poor man, nor turn away from me his graceful face. From you is my praise in the great assembly of men; … all the nations will bow the knee before him. Divine is the rule, and God has become Lord of the peoples. … all who go down below the earth will bow the knee before him. And my soul lives for him, and my offspring is his fellow-worker. Let the races of those born later declare these things to God the King.

This is the sweet twenty-second … he roused my heart to return, and directed it to the holy paths of righteousness. For even if I walk in the middle of shadowy death, I had your sceptre and your club as the consolation of my mind. You set your immortal table before me, O Lord, laden … in the face of my shuddering enemies. You anointed my head with good oil; let your cup of gladness be firm for me as …

For the famous day, the first of the Sabbath, a song … The earth is the King’s, and all the adornment of the earth, the cities, and all … He himself founded it upon the barren sea, and built it above the rivers by his counsel. Or who will set his dear footstep on the holy ground? One who never deceived his heart with vain things, nor swore a deceitful oath to his friend against what is due; this man will receive praise from the immortal Lord. This is the race of mortals that longs for God the King, … to know God himself, [the God] of Jacob. … Who is this undefiled King of glory? Immortal and strong, and immortal, steadfast in battle, … always exulting in might. … Who is this undefiled King of glory? The Lord alone, being strong, he …

… Let me not, having trusted in you, take reproachful blame, nor become a laughing-stock to my destructive opponents. For all whose hope is God are blameless. And teaching me good and God-built paths …, good …, I drag on the whole course of the day … But be mindful of your mercy … may you assign compassionate … to all. God, being [good], … worthy of mercy; God has always been gentle-minded and accepting of the upright … he showed the way to the heart. He will lead men of gentle spirit in justice, and … their paths. … of the Immortal are all unerring … For the sake of the immortal, mighty King, be gracious concerning my many transgressions. What man is it who so trembles at the Immortal? May he accomplish the God-pleasing ordinance, hastening toward virtue, feeding his heart, full of joy, always on most blessed things; and may his children possess the honoured land. The name of the Immortal brings profit to those who tremble, so that … [look] upon me from heaven, O Lord, … because I have become an only one and poor; seeing my weakness and toil, be gracious. … the multitude of my enemies … care for our [soul], and guard me; nor let shame seize me from anywhere, since you have become my hope … For your sake I found companions upright of mind and gentle.

This is David’s twenty-fifth hymn. … Judge me, O Lord, with gentle-minded … If you will, test me, and examine my counsel; judge my kidneys and heart with a warming torch. The mercy of my eyes is before you, and I have always been pleasing to your truth. … I will wash my hands in water, and … your altar, … sing the famous praise of my voice, and declare clearly your wondrous works. … of your glorious might. Do not destroy my soul, O Lord, with the impious, nor ever give me a portion of life with murderers. But I have always hastened to lead a gentle life. Rescue me and pity me, since I have obtained a steady footstep.

My defence and my light, O Lord: whom should I fear? He himself is the champion of my life: who could frighten me? I do not care, not even if a whole army comes against me; God is my hope: what fear of battle have I? … I asked of God, and that became thrice-desired for me: always … the undefiled temple of the Lord … famous upon a rock; and now he has lifted up my head thus over my opponents. Hear my voice, Blessed One, as I cry to you. Hear, and pity me; my mind said to you: our heart longs to perceive your eye. May I always seek your gracious light. … your graceful … from me … Be my helper yourself, O Lord, and do not let me go, nor forsake me, being God, always a defender. For my father and lady mother have left me, but the Immortal received me and saved me, guarding me. Ordain for me, Blessed One, always to walk in your paths. … In the land of the blessed I shall see God, the blessedness, with my eyes. … entrust all to God the King. Take courage, and let your heart always be most strong; entrust all to God the King.

The twenty-seventh song of David. To you, Blessed One, I cry; … in silence … Hear my prayer, Blessed One, when I lift up my hands toward your undefiled temple. Do not drag my heart along together with sinners … who hide [evil] in their breasts … ruin worthy of their labours. Give them, O King, what is worthy of their works; may they receive gifts like what they did with their hands; may they take a reward cared for by justice for what they gave to others, because they were wholly forgetful of the works of the Immortal and forgot the works of the great hands of God. May you cast them down for ever and never raise them up. The immortal God of my … is much praised. The Lord himself has become my helper and champion; I know in my mind how great a gain of help hope has found. … my body like … and willingly I will sing to him good and unspeakable praise. The Lord has always been the force and strength of the people; may you save your people and your famous inheritance, and … them continually with good things …

The twenty-eighth song … Bring to the honoured one glory that bears his name; pray in the undefiled court to the Shepherd of the world. The fearless voice of the Immortal thundered upon the waters; … making … like a calf of Lebanon, and as an only-begotten son … The divine voice of the Shepherd cuts the flame of fire; the voice of God through the desert … the sound of the Lord is like the noise of the running of deer that begin [to bear young]; and let everyone in the temple of the blessed God sing glory. … The immortal and unceasing … He himself [gives] unbreakable strength to his own; he himself [blesses] the people with life-giving peace.

May I exalt your strength, because you received me, Shepherd, and rescued me from those who go down to the bottom of the earth. Because the anger of God when he is wrathful is heavy-minded, … evening weeping will be exchanged for morning delight. In good cheer I said that no tossing would ever [come] to me. … let immortal strength from you be for our beauty. When you turned away your eye, trembling seized my limbs. Crying to you, Blessed One, I beseech God who always is: what more if I gave my blood and went down to Hades? … He changed my lament, and exchanged groaning for joy.

Do not put me to shame, since you have become my hope. You are our God, a defender as is due; you yourself are my bronze-founded seat and steady defence. Having become the nourisher of our life, may you lead, because you alone have been the champion of our life. Into your life-bearing hands I commit my dear spirit. But I, trusting in your mercy, rejoice in your hope. … you set my footsteps on a spacious road. … pity me, since I am terribly grieved in our belly and in my heart full of pain. I drag on a life withering amid frequent pains, and a dreadful trouble has seized all my bones. I became an exceeding reproach above all my enemies; those who saw me before went far away, fleeing. I was forgotten from the heart like a dead man, useless. … And those gathered together against me, … devising in their breasts to take my life. But I called on you, God; for you are my hope. My lots are in your hands, Blessed One. Save me for the sake of your good mercy; may shame never seize me, for I called on you as helper. Let the wicked be brought down to Hades, put to shame. … which you have hidden … guarding those who tremble before you … Take courage; and let your heart be very steadfast.

… God has passed over the works … For always, my Lord, your hand was heavy upon me; I became wretched, because thorns were fixed in my skin. I revealed my transgression, and did not cover the ruin of my mind. I said: I will confess to God my reckless deed; and you yourself have passed over the ruin of our heart. For this reason the holy pray at the fitting time. My dear joy, make me free … [I will show you] by what road you must walk. On you, Blessed One, I have fixed my eyes continually; I will set the gleams of my eyes under you. … and horses … becoming; for they have no share in glorious wisdom; they do not wish to come near you with gladness. Scourges of every kind always … May joy and gladness [surround] men pleasing to God.

He cried out this thirty-second hymn … Rejoice in the King, you men who interpret justice. … a new hymn from your hearts …, because the word of the immortal God is upright, and all his royal works are very faithful. The King loves the one who prays rightly, and is careful for … and justice. All the earth of God is filled abundantly with mercy, and all their strength by the breath of the immortal mouth. As in a wineskin … the stream of the sea, setting it by art in hidden … Let the famous ends of the earth fear God the King, because he himself spoke, and all things were accomplished; the Lord himself commanded, and they … the cares of his heart from generation to generation. Blessed always is the race that trusts its King, the people whom he chose out of all to take as his inheritance. The King stretched out his all-seeing [eye] from heaven …; from his chamber he saw the race … the Lord … nor would a giant escape evil, very bold in might. A horse is useless in wars to save a man, nor could he himself escape, raging in his strength. [The eyes] of the great God look on those who tremble, all who are concerned with divine mercy, … and to feed those oppressed in mind by groaning famine. … our soul hangs greatly upon the Lord, because he has become our champion and helper. … let our mind rejoice in him; and his famous name has become our hope. As we hope in you, may we always receive help.