Psalm 21-22

Psalm 21In Hebrew texts 21:1-13 is numbered 21:2-14. 1For the director of music. A psalm of David. The king rejoices in your strength, LORD . How great is his joy in the victories you give!

2You have granted him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.

3You came to greet him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.

4He asked you for life, and you gave it to him— length of days, for ever and ever.

5Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.

6Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

7For the king trusts in the LORD ; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken.

8Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; your right hand will seize your foes.

9When you appear for battle, you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and his fire will consume them.

10You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from mankind.

11Though they plot evil against you and devise wicked schemes, they cannot succeed.

12You will make them turn their backs when you aim at them with drawn bow. 13Be exalted in your strength, LORD ; we will sing and praise your might.

Psalm 22In Hebrew texts 22:1-31 is numbered 22:2-32. 1For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?

2My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Or night, and am not silent

3Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. Or Yet you are holy, / enthroned on the praises of Israel

4In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.

5To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

7All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

8“He trusts in the LORD,” they say, “let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”

9Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.

10From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.

12Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.

13Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me.

14I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me.

15My mouth Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

16Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce Dead Sea Scrolls and some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Septuagint and Syriac; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text me, / like a lion my hands and my feet.

17All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me.

18They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

19But you, LORD, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.

20Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.

21Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

22I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.

23You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

24For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

25From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you Hebrew him I will fulfill my vows.

26The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the LORD will praise him— may your hearts live forever!

27All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,

28for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations.

29All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive.

30Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. 31They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!