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¹ Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.² For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever; thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.³ I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant;⁴ Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah

⁵ And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD; thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.⁶ For who in the skies can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty is like unto the LORD,⁷ A God very terrible in the council of the holy ones, and to be feared above all them that are round about him?⁸ O LORD God of hosts, who is a mighty one, like unto thee, O JAH? and thy faithfulness is round about thee.⁹ Thou rulest the pride of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.¹⁰ Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with the arm of thy strength.¹¹ The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.¹² The north and the south, thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon rejoice in thy name.¹³ Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.¹⁴ Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of thy throne: mercy and truth go before thy face.

¹⁵ Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.¹⁶ In thy name do they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness are they exalted.¹⁷ For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.¹⁸ For our shield belongeth unto the LORD; and our king to the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁹ Then thou spakest in vision to thy saints, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.²⁰ I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:²¹ With whom my hand shall be established; mine arm also shall strengthen him.²² The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.²³ And I will beat down his adversaries before him, and smite them that hate him.²⁴ But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him; and in my name shall his horn be exalted.²⁵ I will set his hand also on the sea, and his right hand on the rivers.²⁶ He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.²⁷ I also will make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.²⁸ My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.²⁹ His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.³⁰ If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;³¹ If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;³² Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.³³ But my mercy will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.³⁴ My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.³⁵ Once have I sworn by my holiness; I will not lie unto David;³⁶ His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.³⁷ It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as the faithful witness in the sky. Selah

³⁸ But thou hast cast off and rejected, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.³⁹ Thou hast abhorred the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown even to the ground.⁴⁰ Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to rain.⁴¹ All that pass by the way spoil him: he is become a reproach to his neighbours.⁴² Thou hast exalted the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.⁴³ Yea, thou turnest back the edge his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.⁴⁴ Thou hast made his brightness to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.⁴⁵ The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame. Selah⁴⁶ How long, O LORD, wilt thou hid thyself for ever? how long shall thy wrath burn like fire?⁴⁷ O remember how short my time is: for what vanity hast thou created all the children of men!⁴⁸ What man is he that shall live and not see death, that shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah⁴⁹ Lord, where are thy former mercies, which thou swarest unto David in thy faithfulness?⁵⁰ Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty peoples:⁵¹ Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD, wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.⁵² Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen.