Day 14 Audio

For the director of music. Of David.

¹ The fool ^[1] says in his heart,
"There is no God."
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does good.

² The LORD looks down from heaven
on the sons of men
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
³ All have turned aside,
they have together become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.

⁴ Will evildoers never learn-
those who devour my people as men eat bread
and who do not call on the LORD ?
⁵ There they are, overwhelmed with dread,
for God is present in the company of the righteous.
⁶ You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
but the LORD is their refuge.

⁷ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the LORD restores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.
^[1]
1 We have heard with our ears, O God;
our fathers have told us
what you did in their days,
in days long ago.
² With your hand you drove out the nations
and planted our fathers;
you crushed the peoples
and made our fathers flourish.
³ It was not by their sword that they won the land,
nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your face, for you loved them.

⁴ You are my King and my God,
who decrees ^[2] victories for Jacob.
⁵ Through you we push back our enemies;
through your name we trample our foes.
⁶ I do not trust in my bow,
my sword does not bring me victory;
⁷ but you give us victory over our enemies,
you put our adversaries to shame.
⁸ In God we make our boast all day long,
and we will praise your name forever.
Selah

⁹ But now you have rejected and humbled us;
you no longer go out with our armies.
¹⁰ You made us retreat before the enemy,
and our adversaries have plundered us.
¹¹ You gave us up to be devoured like sheep
and have scattered us among the nations.
¹² You sold your people for a pittance,
gaining nothing from their sale.

¹³ You have made us a reproach to our neighbors,
the scorn and derision of those around us.
¹⁴ You have made us a byword among the nations;
the peoples shake their heads at us.
¹⁵ My disgrace is before me all day long,
and my face is covered with shame
¹⁶ at the taunts of those who reproach and revile me,
because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.

¹⁷ All this happened to us,
though we had not forgotten you
or been false to your covenant.
¹⁸ Our hearts had not turned back;
our feet had not strayed from your path.
¹⁹ But you crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals
and covered us over with deep darkness.

²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
²¹ would not God have discovered it,
since he knows the secrets of the heart?
²² Yet for your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.

²³ Awake, O Lord! Why do you sleep?
Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever.
²⁴ Why do you hide your face
and forget our misery and oppression?

²⁵ We are brought down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.
²⁶ Rise up and help us;
redeem us because of your unfailing love.

A maskil of Asaph.
^[1]
1 Why have you rejected us forever, O God?
Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
² Remember the people you purchased of old,
the tribe of your inheritance, whom you redeemed-
Mount Zion, where you dwelt.
³ Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,
all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.

⁴ Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;
they set up their standards as signs.
⁵ They behaved like men wielding axes
to cut through a thicket of trees.
⁶ They smashed all the carved paneling
with their axes and hatchets.
⁷ They burned your sanctuary to the ground;
they defiled the dwelling place of your Name.
⁸ They said in their hearts, "We will crush them completely!"
They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.
⁹ We are given no miraculous signs;
no prophets are left,
and none of us knows how long this will be.

¹⁰ How long will the enemy mock you, O God?
Will the foe revile your name forever?
¹¹ Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!

¹² But you, O God, are my king from of old;
you bring salvation upon the earth.
¹³ It was you who split open the sea by your power;
you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.
¹⁴ It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan
and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.
¹⁵ It was you who opened up springs and streams;
you dried up the ever flowing rivers.
¹⁶ The day is yours, and yours also the night;
you established the sun and moon.
¹⁷ It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made both summer and winter.

¹⁸ Remember how the enemy has mocked you, O LORD ,
how foolish people have reviled your name.
¹⁹ Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts;
do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever.
²⁰ Have regard for your covenant,
because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.
²¹ Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;
may the poor and needy praise your name.

²² Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;
remember how fools mock you all day long.
²³ Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries,
the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually.

¹ Praise the LORD , O my soul.

O LORD my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
² He wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent
³ and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
He makes the clouds his chariot
and rides on the wings of the wind.
⁴ He makes winds his messengers, ^[1]
flames of fire his servants.

⁵ He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.
⁶ You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
⁷ But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
⁸ they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.
⁹ You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth.

¹⁰ He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
¹¹ They give water to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
¹² The birds of the air nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.
¹³ He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
¹⁴ He makes grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate-
bringing forth food from the earth:
¹⁵ wine that gladdens the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine,
and bread that sustains his heart.
¹⁶ The trees of the LORD are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
¹⁷ There the birds make their nests;
the stork has its home in the pine trees.
¹⁸ The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
the crags are a refuge for the coneys. <sup>[2]

19</sup> The moon marks off the seasons,
and the sun knows when to go down.
²⁰ You bring darkness, it becomes night,
and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
²¹ The lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
²² The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.
²³ Then man goes out to his work,
to his labor until evening.

²⁴ How many are your works, O LORD !
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
²⁵ There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number-
living things both large and small.
²⁶ There the ships go to and fro,
and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

²⁷ These all look to you
to give them their food at the proper time.
²⁸ When you give it to them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
²⁹ When you hide your face,
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
³⁰ When you send your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.

³¹ May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD rejoice in his works-
³² he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

³³ I will sing to the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice in the LORD.
³⁵ But may sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked be no more.

Praise the LORD , O my soul.

Praise the LORD . ^[3]

A song of ascents.

¹ Praise the LORD , all you servants of the LORD
who minister by night in the house of the LORD .
² Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and praise the LORD .

³ May the LORD , the Maker of heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion.
Praise the name of the LORD ;praise him,
you servants of the LORD,
² you who minister in the house of the LORD ,
in the courts of the house of our God.
³ Praise the LORD , for the LORD is good;sing
praise to his name, for that is pleasant.
⁴ For the LORD has chosen Jacob to be his own,
Israel to be his treasured possession.
⁵ I know that the LORD is great,that our Lord is
greater than all gods.
⁶ The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens
and on the earth,in the seas and all their depths.
⁷ He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the
wind from his storehouses.
⁸ He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,the firstborn
of men and animals.
⁹ He sent his signs and wonders into your midst,
O Egypt,against Pharaoh and all his servants.
¹⁰ He struck down many nations and killed mighty kings-
¹¹ Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan and all
the kings of Canaan-
¹² and he gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance
to his people Israel.
¹³ Your name, O LORD, endures forever, your renown,
O LORD , through all generations.
¹⁴ For the LORD will vindicate his people and have
compassion on his servants.
¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold,made by
the hands of men.
¹⁶ They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they
cannot see;
¹⁷ they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath
in their mouths.
¹⁸ Those who make them will be like them, and so will all
who trust in them.
¹⁹ O house of Israel, praise the LORD; O house of Aaron,
praise the LORD ;
²⁰ O house of Levi, praise the LORD; you who fear him,
praise the LORD .
²¹ Praise be to the LORD from Zion, to him who dwells in
Jerusalem.
Praise the LORD .

¹ The wise woman builds her house,
but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

² He whose walk is upright fears the LORD ,
but he whose ways are devious despises him.

³ A fool's talk brings a rod to his back,
but the lips of the wise protect them.

⁴ Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty,
but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.

⁵ A truthful witness does not deceive,
but a false witness pours out lies.

⁶ The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none,
but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.

⁷ Stay away from a foolish man,
for you will not find knowledge on his lips.

⁸ The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways,
but the folly of fools is deception.

⁹ Fools mock at making amends for sin,
but goodwill is found among the upright.

¹⁰ Each heart knows its own bitterness,
and no one else can share its joy.

¹¹ The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
but the tent of the upright will flourish.

¹² There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death.

¹³ Even in laughter the heart may ache,
and joy may end in grief.

¹⁴ The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways,
and the good man rewarded for his.

¹⁵ A simple man believes anything,
but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.

¹⁶ A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil,
but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.

¹⁷ A quick-tempered man does foolish things,
and a crafty man is hated.

¹⁸ The simple inherit folly,
but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹ Evil men will bow down in the presence of the good,
and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

²⁰ The poor are shunned even by their neighbors,
but the rich have many friends.

²¹ He who despises his neighbor sins,
but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.

²² Do not those who plot evil go astray?
But those who plan what is good find ^[1]
love and faithfulness.

²³ All hard work brings a profit,
but mere talk leads only to poverty.

²⁴ The wealth of the wise is their crown,
but the folly of fools yields folly.

²⁵ A truthful witness saves lives,
but a false witness is deceitful.

²⁶ He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress,
and for his children it will be a refuge.

²⁷ The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
turning a man from the snares of death.

²⁸ A large population is a king's glory,
but without subjects a prince is ruined.

²⁹ A patient man has great understanding,
but a quick-tempered man displays folly.

³⁰ A heart at peace gives life to the body,
but envy rots the bones.

³¹ He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,
but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.

³² When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down,
but even in death the righteous have a refuge.

³³ Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning
and even among fools she lets herself be known. <sup>[2]

34</sup> Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a disgrace to any people.

³⁵ A king delights in a wise servant,
but a shameful servant incurs his wrath.