The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 Your love, God, is my song, and I'll sing it! I'm forever telling everyone how faithful you are.
1
I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
2 I'll never quit telling the story of your love - how you built the cosmos and guaranteed everything in it. Your love has always been our lives' foundation, your fidelity has been the roof over our world.
2
For I said, "Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness."
3 You once said, "I joined forces with my chosen leader, I pledged my word to my servant, David, saying,
3
You have said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant:
4 'Everyone descending from you is guaranteed life; I'll make your rule as solid and lasting as rock.'"
4
'I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.'" Selah
5 God! Let the cosmos praise your wonderful ways, the choir of holy angels sing anthems to your faithful ways!
5
Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
6 Search high and low, scan skies and land, you'll find nothing and no one quite like God.
6
For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD,
7 The holy angels are in awe before him; he looms immense and august over everyone around him.
7
a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him?
8 God of the Angel Armies, who is like you, powerful and faithful from every angle?
8
O LORD God of hosts, who is mighty as you are, O LORD, with your faithfulness all around you?
9 You put the arrogant ocean in its place and calm its waves when they turn unruly.
9
You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them.
10 You gave that old hag Egypt the back of your hand, you brushed off your enemies with a flick of your wrist.
10
You crushed Rahab like a carcass; you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11 You own the cosmos - you made everything in it, everything from atom to archangel.
11
The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them.
12 You positioned the North and South Poles; the mountains Tabor and Hermon sing duets to you.
12
The north and the south, you have created them; Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
13 With your well-muscled arm and your grip of steel - nobody trifles with you!
13
You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand.
14 The Right and Justice are the roots of your rule; Love and Truth are its fruits.
14
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
15 Blessed are the people who know the passwords of praise, who shout on parade in the bright presence of God.
15
Blessed are the people who know the festal shout, who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face,
16 Delighted, they dance all day long; they know who you are, what you do - they can't keep it quiet!
16
who exult in your name all the day and in your righteousness are exalted.
17 Your vibrant beauty has gotten inside us - you've been so good to us! We're walking on air!
17
For you are the glory of their strength; by your favor our horn is exalted.
18 All we are and have we owe to God, Holy God of Israel, our King!
18
For our shield belongs to the LORD, our king to the Holy One of Israel.
19 A long time ago you spoke in a vision, you spoke to your faithful beloved: "I've crowned a hero, I chose the best I could find;
19
Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one, and said: "I have granted help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20 I found David, my servant, poured holy oil on his head,
20
I have found David, my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him,
21 And I'll keep my hand steadily on him, yes, I'll stick with him through thick and thin.
21
so that my hand shall be established with him; my arm also shall strengthen him.
22 No enemy will get the best of him, no scoundrel will do him in.
22
The enemy shall not outwit him; the wicked shall not humble him.
23 I'll weed out all who oppose him, I'll clean out all who hate him.
23
I will crush his foes before him and strike down those who hate him.
24 I'm with him for good and I'll love him forever; I've set him on high - he's riding high!
24
My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25 I've put Ocean in his one hand, River in the other;
25
I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers.
26 he'll call out, 'Oh, my Father - my God, my Rock of Salvation!'
26
He shall cry to me, 'You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.'
27 Yes, I'm setting him apart as the First of the royal line, High King over all of earth's kings.
27
And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 I'll preserve him eternally in my love, I'll faithfully do all I so solemnly promised.
28
My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him.
29 I'll guarantee his family tree and underwrite his rule.
29
I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens.
30 If his children refuse to do what I tell them, if they refuse to walk in the way I show them,
30
If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules,
31 If they spit on the directions I give them and tear up the rules I post for them
31
if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments,
32 - I'll rub their faces in the dirt of their rebellion and make them face the music.
32
then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes,
33 But I'll never throw them out, never abandon or disown them.
33
but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness.
34 Do you think I'd withdraw my holy promise? or take back words I'd already spoken?
34
I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
35 I've given my word, my whole and holy word; do you think I would lie to David?
35
Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David.
36 His family tree is here for good, his sovereignty as sure as the sun,
36
His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me.
37 Dependable as the phases of the moon, inescapable as weather."
37
Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies." Selah
38 But God, you did walk off and leave us, you lost your temper with the one you anointed.
38
But now you have cast off and rejected; you are full of wrath against your anointed.
39 You tore up the promise you made to your servant, you stomped his crown in the mud.
39
You have renounced the covenant with your servant; you have defiled his crown in the dust.
40 You blasted his home to kingdom come, reduced his city to a pile of rubble
40
You have breached all his walls; you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
41 Picked clean by wayfaring strangers, a joke to all the neighbors.
41
All who pass by plunder him; he has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42 You declared a holiday for all his enemies, and they're celebrating for all they're worth.
42
You have exalted the right hand of his foes; you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 Angry, you opposed him in battle, refused to fight on his side;
43
You have also turned back the edge of his sword, and you have not made him stand in battle.
44 You robbed him of his splendor, humiliated this warrior, ground his kingly honor in the dirt.
44
You have made his splendor to cease and cast his throne to the ground.
45 You took the best years of his life and left him an impotent, ruined husk.
45
You have cut short the days of his youth; you have covered him with shame. Selah
46 How long do we put up with this, God? Are you gone for good? Will you hold this grudge forever?
46
How long, O LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember my sorrow and how short life is. Did you create men and women for nothing but this?
47
Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
48 We'll see death soon enough. Everyone does. And there's no back door out of hell.
48
What man can live and never see death? Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
49 So where is the love you're so famous for, Lord? What happened to your promise to David?
49
Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David?
50 Take a good look at your servant, dear Lord; I'm the butt of the jokes of all nations,
50
Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked, and how I bear in my heart the insults of all the many nations,
51 The taunting jokes of your enemies, God, as they dog the steps of your dear anointed.
51
with which your enemies mock, O LORD, with which they mock the footsteps of your anointed.
52 Blessed be God forever and always! Yes. Oh, yes.
52
Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.