1A Psalm of 31. 1 Gr. for or, of.instruction by David.31. 1 Rom. 4. 7,8. Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
5I acknowledged my sin, and hid not mine iniquity: I said, I will confess mine iniquity to the Lord against myself; and thou forgavest the ungodliness of my heart. Pause.
7Thou art my refuge from the affliction that encompasses me; my joy, to deliver me from them that have compassed me. Pause.
3Many say concerning my soul, There is no deliverance for him in his God. 3. 3 The word Διάψαλμα (Selah) has been rendered Pause, as most intelligible to the English reader.Pause.
5I cried to the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy mountain. Pause.
9Deliverance is the Lord’s, and thy blessing is upon thy people.
22For they will suddenly punish the ungodly, and who can know the vengeance inflicted by both?24. 22 Heb. omits to the end.[A son that keeps the commandment shall 24. 22 Lit. be outside of.escape destruction; for such an one has fully received it. Let no falsehood be spoken by the king from the tongue; yea, let no falsehood proceed from his tongue. The king’s tongue is a sword, and not one of flesh; and whosoever shall be given up to it shall be destroyed: for if his wrath should be provoked, he destroys men with cords, and devours men’s bones, and burns them up as a flame, so that they are not even fit to be eaten by the young eagles. My son, reverence my words, and receive them, and repent.]These things says the man to them that trust in God; and I cease.For I am the most simple of all men, and there is not in me the wisdom of men. God has taught me wisdom, and I know the knowledge of the holy. Who has gone up to heaven, and come down? who has gathered the winds in his bosom? who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? who has dominion of all the ends of the earth? what is his name? or what is the name of his children? For all the words of God are tried in the fire, and he defends those that reverence him. Add not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be made a liar.Two things I ask of thee; take not favour from me before I die. Remove far from me vanity and falsehood: and give me not wealth or poverty; but appoint me what is needful and sufficient: lest I be filled and become false, and say, Who sees me? or be poor and steal, and swear vainly by the name of God.Deliver not a servant into the hands of his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be utterly destroyed. A wicked generation curse their father, and do not bless their mother. A wicked generation judge themselves to be just, but do not cleanse their way. A wicked generation have lofty eyes, and exalt themselves with their eyelids. A wicked generation have swords for teeth and jaw-teeth as knives, so as to destroy and devour the lowly from the earth, and the poor of them from among men.
50A lion’s whelp, stronger than all other beasts, which turns not away, nor fears any beast;
55What wilt thou keep, my son, what? the words of God. My firstborn son, I speak to thee: what? son of my womb? what? son of my vows?
8Song. Give thanks to the Lord, call upon him by his name, make known his designs among the people.
23Sing ye to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation from day to day. Declare among the nations his glory, his wondrous deeds among all peoples.
36Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting and to everlasting:And all the people shall say, Amen. So they praised the Lord.
3God shall come from Thæman, and the Holy One from the dark shady mount Pharan. Pause.
9Surely thou didst bend thy bow at sceptres, saith the Lord. Pause. The land of rivers shall be torn asunder.
13Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, to save thine anointed: thou shalt bring death on the heads of transgressors; thou hast brought bands upon their neck. Pause.
8And he gave him the copy of the writing that was published in Susa concerning their destruction, to shew to Esther; and told him to charge her to go in and intreat the king, and to beg him for the people, remembering, said he, the days of thy low estate, how thou wert nursed by my hand: because Aman who holds the next place to the king has spoken against us for death. Do thou call upon the Lord, and speak to the king concerning us, to deliver us from death.
14For if thou shalt refuse to hearken on this occasion, help and protection will be to the Jews from another quarter; but thou and thy father’s house will perish: and who knows, if thou hast been made queen for this very occasion?
17So Mardochæus went and did all that Esther commanded him.[And he besought the Lord, making mention of all the works of the Lord; and he said, Lord God, king ruling over all, for all things are in thy power, and there is no one that shall oppose thee in thy purpose to save Israel.— For thou hast made the heaven and the earth, and every wonderful thing in the world under heaven. And thou art Lord of all, and there is no one who shall resist thee the Lord. Thou knowest all things: thou knowest, Lord, that it is not in insolence, nor haughtiness, nor love of glory, that I have done this, to refuse obeisance to the haughty Aman. For I would gladly have kissed the soles of his feet for the safety of Israel. But I have done this, that I might not set the glory of man above the glory of God: and I will not worship any one except thee, my Lord, and I will not do these things in haughtiness. And now, O Lord God, the King, the God of Abraam, spare thy people, for our enemies are looking upon us to our destruction, and they have desired to destroy thine ancient inheritance. Do not overlook thy peculiar people, whom thou hast redeemed for thyself out of the land of Egypt. Hearken to my prayer, and be propitious to thine inheritance, and turn our mourning into gladness, that we may live and sing praise to thy name, O Lord; and do not utterly destroy the mouth of them that praise thee, O Lord.And all Israel cried with all their might, for their death was before their eyes. And queen Esther betook herself for refuge to the Lord, being taken as it were in the agony of death. And having taken off her glorious apparel, she put on garments of distress and mourning; and instead of grand perfumes she filled her head with ashes and dung, and she greatly brought down her body, and she filled every place of her glad adorning with the torn curls of her hair.And she besought the Lord God of Israel, and said, O my Lord, thou alone art our king: help me who am destitute, and have no helper but thee, for my danger is near at hand. I have heard from my birth, in the tribe of my kindred, that thou, Lord, tookest Israel out of all the nations, and our fathers out of all their kindred for a perpetual inheritance, and hast wrought for them all that thou hast said. And now we have sinned before thee, and thou hast delivered us into the hands of our enemies, because we honoured their gods: thou art righteous, O Lord. But now they have not been contented with the bitterness of our slavery, but have laid their hands on the hands of their idols, in order to abolish the decree of thy mouth, and utterly to destroy thine inheritance, and to stop the mouth of them that praise thee, and to extinguish the glory of thine house and thine altar, and to open the mouth of the Gentiles to speak the praises of vanities, and in order that a mortal king should be admired for ever.O Lord, do not resign thy sceptre to them that are not, and let them not laugh at our fall, but turn their counsel against themselves, and make an example of him who has begun to injure us. Remember us, O Lord, manifest thyself in the time of our affliction, and encourage me, O king of gods, and ruler of all dominion. Put harmonious speech into my mouth before the lion, and turn his heart to hate him that fights against us, to the utter destruction of him and of them that consent with him. But deliver us by thine hand, and help me who am destitute, and have none but thee, O Lord. Thou knowest all things, and knowest that I hate the glory of transgressors, and that I abhor the couch of the uncircumcised, and of every stranger. Thou knowest my necessity, for I abhor the symbol of my proud station, which is upon my head in the days of my splendour: I abhor it as a menstruous cloth, and I wear it not in the days of my tranquillity. And thy handmaid has not eaten at the table of Aman, and I have not honoured the banquet of the king, neither have I drunk wine of libations. Neither has thy handmaid rejoiced since the day of my promotion until now, except in thee, O Lord God of Abraam. O God, who hast power over all, hearken to the voice of the desperate, and deliver us from the hand of them that devise mischief; and deliver me from my fear.
16They themselves having held fast their God unto death, and having enjoyed a full deliverance, departed from the city garlanded with sweet-flowered wreaths of every kind. Uttering exclamations of joy, with songs of praise, and melodious hymns they thanked the God of their fathers, the eternal Saviour of Israel.
22Every man received back his own, according to inventory; those who had obtained their goods, giving them up with the greatest terror. For the greatest God wrought with perfectness wonders for their salvation.
23Blessed be the Redeemer of Israel unto everlasting. Amen.
415. 4 Gr. the healing of the tongue.The wholesome tongue is a tree of life, and he that keeps it shall be filled with 15. 4 Gr. spirit.understanding.
5A fool scorns his father’s instruction: but he that keeps his commandments is more prudent. In abounding righteousness is great strength: but the ungodly shall 15. 5 Gr. with the roots wholly torn up.utterly perish from the earth.
29God is far from the ungodly; but he hearkens to the prayers of the righteous. Better are small receipts with righteousness, than abundant fruits with unrighteousness.Let the heart of a man think justly, that his steps may be rightly ordered of God.
8O Lord, thou art the hope of Israel, and deliverest us in time of troubles; why art thou become as a sojourner upon the land, or as one born in the land, yet turning aside for a resting-place?
21Refrain for thy name’s sake, destroy not the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
22Is there any one among the idols of the Gentiles that can give rain? and will the sky yield his fulness at their bidding? Art not thou he? we will even wait on thee, O Lord: for thou hast made all these things.
2Lo! my lords, turn aside to the house of your servant, and rest from your journey, and wash your feet, and having risen early in the morning ye shall depart on your journey. And they said, Nay, but we will lodge in the street.
8But I have two daughters, who have not known a man. I will bring them out to you, and do ye use them as it may please you, only do not injury to these men, to avoid which they came under the shelter of my 19. 8 Lit. beams.roof.
19since thy servant has found mercy before thee, and thou hast magnified thy righteousness, in what thou doest towards me that my soul may live,—but I shall not be able to escape to the mountain, lest perhaps the calamity overtake me and I die.
2O Lord, Lord, King of the heavens, and Ruler of the whole creation, Holy among the holy, sole Governor, Almighty, give ear to us who are oppressed by a wicked and profane one, who exulteth in his confidence and strength.
13see now, holy King, how through our many and great sins we are borne down, and made subject to our enemies, and are become weak and powerless.
20Let thy mercies quickly go before us. Grant us peace, that the cast down and broken hearted may praise thee with their mouth.
6Wherewithal shall I reach the Lord, and lay hold of my God most high? shall I reach him by whole-burnt-offerings, by calves of a year old?
7Will the Lord accept thousands of rams, or ten thousands of fat goats? should I give my first-born for ungodliness, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
9The Lord’s voice shall be proclaimed in the city, and he shall save those that fear his name: hear, O tribe; and who shall order the city?