1{An instruction. Of Ethan the Ezrahite.} I will sing of the loving-kindness of Jehovah for ever; with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness from generation to generation.
2For I said, Loving-kindness shall be built up for ever; in the very heavens wilt thou establish thy faithfulness.
3I have made a covenant with mine elect, I have sworn unto David my servant:
4Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne from generation to generation. Selah.
5And the heavens shall celebrate thy wonders, O Jehovah, and thy faithfulness in the congregation of the saints.
6For who in the heaven can be compared to Jehovah? who among the sons of the mighty shall be likened to Jehovah?
7God is greatly to be feared in the council of the saints, and terrible for all that are round about him.
8Jehovah, God of hosts, who is like unto thee, the strong Jah? And thy faithfulness is round about thee.
9Thou rulest the pride of the sea: when its waves arise, thou stillest them.
10Thou hast crushed Rahab as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with the arm of thy strength.
11Thine are the heavens, the earth also is thine; the world and its fulness, thou hast founded them.
12The north and the south, thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon triumph in thy name.
13Thine is the arm of might: strong is thy hand, high is thy right hand.
14Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of thy throne; loving-kindness and truth go before thy face.
15Blessed is the people that know the shout of joy: they walk, O Jehovah, in the light of thy countenance.
16In thy name are they joyful all the day, and in thy righteousness are they exalted.
17For thou art the glory of their strength; and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
18For Jehovah is our shield, and the Holy One of Israel, our king.
19Then thou spakest in vision of thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon a mighty one; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
20I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:
21With whom my hand shall be established; and mine arm shall strengthen him.
22No enemy shall exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him;
23But I will beat down his adversaries before his face, and will smite them that hate him.
24And my faithfulness and my loving-kindness shall be with him, and by my name shall his horn be exalted.
25And I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.
26He shall call unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation;
27And as to me, I will make him firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
28My loving-kindness will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him;
29And I will establish his seed for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
30If his sons forsake my law, and walk not in mine ordinances;
31If they profane my statutes, and keep not my commandments:
32Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
33Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor belie my faithfulness;
34My covenant will I not profane, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
35Once have I sworn by my holiness; I will not lie unto David:
36His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me;
37It shall be established for ever as the moon, and the witness in the sky is firm. Selah.
38But thou hast rejected and cast off; thou hast been very wroth with thine anointed:
39Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant; thou hast profaned his crown to the ground:
40Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin.
41All that pass by the way plunder him; he is become a reproach to his neighbours.
42Thou hast exalted the right hand of his oppressors; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice:
43Yea, thou hast turned back the edge of his sword, and hast not made him stand in the battle.
44Thou hast made his brightness to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground;
45The days of his youth hast thou shortened; thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.
46How long, Jehovah, wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy fury burn like fire?
47Remember, as regards me, what life is. Wherefore hast thou created all the children of men to be vanity?
48What man liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah.
49Where, Lord, are thy former loving-kindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy faithfulness?
50Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants that I bear in my bosom that of all the mighty peoples —
51Wherewith thine enemies, O Jehovah, have reproached, wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
52Blessed be Jehovah for evermore! Amen, and Amen.