88:1 (Of understanding, for Ethan the Ezrahite.)
88:2 The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever. I will shew forth thy truth with my mouth to generation and generation.
88:3 For thou hast said: Mercy shall be built up for ever in the heavens: thy truth shall be prepared in them.
88:4 I have made a covenant with my elect: I have sworn to David my servant:
88:5 Thy seed will I settle for ever. And I will build up thy throne unto generation and generation.
88:6 The heavens shall confess thy wonders, O Lord: and thy truth in the church of the saints.
88:7 For who in the clouds can be compared to the Lord: or who among the sons of God shall be like to God?
88:8 God, who is glorified in the assembly of the saints: great and terrible above all them that are about him.
88:9 O Lord God of hosts, who is like to thee? thou art mighty, O Lord, and thy truth is round about thee.
88:10 Thou rulest the power of the sea: and appeasest the motion of the waves thereof.
88:11 Thou hast humbled the proud one, as one that is slain: with the arm of thy strength thou hast scattered thy enemies.
88:12 Thine are the heavens, and thine is the earth: the world and the fulness thereof thou hast founded:
88:13 The north and the sea thou hast created. Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name:
88:14 Thy arm is with might. Let thy hand be strengthened, and thy right hand exalted:
88:15 Justice and judgment are the preparation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before thy face:
88:16 Blessed is the people that knoweth jubilation. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance:
88:17 And in thy name they shall rejoice all the day, and in thy justice they shall be exalted.
88:18 For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy good pleasure shall our horn be exalted.
88:19 For our protection is of the Lord, and of our king the holy one of Israel.
88:20 Then thou spokest in a vision to thy saints, and saidst: I have laid help upon one that is mighty, and have exalted one chosen out of my people.
88:21 I have found David my servant: with my holy oil I have anointed him.
88:22 For my hand shall help him: and my arm shall strengthen him.
88:23 The enemy shall have no advantage over him: nor the son of iniquity have power to hurt him.
88:24 And I will cut down his enemies before his face; and them that hate him I will put to flight.
88:25 And my truth and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
88:26 And I will set his hand in the sea; and his right hand in the rivers.
88:27 He shall cry out to me: Thou art my father: my God, and the support of my salvation.
88:28 And I will make him my firstborn, high above the kings of the earth.
88:29 I will keep my mercy for him for ever: and my covenant faithful to him.
88:30 And I will make his seed to endure for evermore: and his throne as the days of heaven.
88:31 And if his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments:
88:32 If they profane my justices: and keep not my commandments:
88:33 I will visit their iniquities with a rod and their sins with stripes.
88:34 But my mercy I will not take away from him: nor will I suffer my truth to fail.
88:35 Neither will I profane my covenant: and the words that proceed from my mouth I will not make void.
88:36 Once have I sworn by my holiness: I will not lie unto David:
88:37 His seed shall endure for ever.
88:38 And his throne as the sun before me: and as the moon perfect for ever, and a faithful witness in heaven.
88:39 But thou hast rejected and despised: thou hast been angry with my anointed.
88:40 Thou hast overthrown the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his sanctuary on the earth.
88:41 Thou hast broken down all his hedges: thou hast made his strength fear.
88:42 All that pass by the way have robbed him: he is become a reproach to his neighbours.
88:43 Thou hast set up the right hand of them that oppress him: thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
88:44 Thou hast turned away the help of his sword; and hast not assisted him in battle.
88:45 Thou hast made his purification to cease: and thou hast cast his throne down to the ground.
88:46 Thou hast shortened the days of his time: thou hast covered him with confusion.
88:47 How long, O Lord, turnest thou away unto the end? shall thy anger burn like fire?
88:48 Remember what my substance is: for hast thou made all the children of men in vain?
88:49 Who is the man that shall live, and not see death: that shall deliver his soul from the hand of hell?
88:50 Lord, where are thy ancient mercies, according to what thou didst swear to David in thy truth?
88:51 Be mindful, O Lord, of the reproach of thy servants (which I have held in my bosom) of many nations:
88:52 Wherewith thy enemies have reproached, O Lord; wherewith they have reproached the change of thy anointed.
88:53 Blessed be the Lord for evermore. So be it. So be it.