A Maskil of Etan the Ezraĥite.

A maskil of Eitan the Ezrachite.

I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord for ever: with my mouth I will make known Thy faithfulness to all generations.

I shall eternally sing the lovingkindnesses of the L rd. Through all the generations I shall make known Your faithfulness [(to Your word)] with my mouth.

For I have said, The world is built by love: Thou dost establish Thy faithfulness in the very heavens.

For I said: Forever will [the throne of David] be built up [with] lovingkindness [viz. II Samuel 7:13]. Your faithfulness will be as firmly established as the heavens.

I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn to David my servant,

[(And this is the lovingkindness:)] I have made a covenant for My chosen one; I have sworn to David, My servant.

Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. (Sela.)

I shall establish your children [(for kingdom)] forever. I have built up your throne for all generations, forever.

And the heavens shall praise Thy wonders, O Lord: Thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.

And [(in keeping Your word)], the heavens will acknowledge Your wonder, O L rd], also Your faithfulness [i.e., the faithfulness of Your words] in the congregation of the holy ones [(Israel)].

For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord?

For who in the heavens can be compared to the L rd, can be likened to the L rd among the sons of the mighty?

A God dreaded in the great council of the holy ones, and had in reverence by all those round about him.

He is a mighty G d in the great council of the holy ones [(the angels)] and fearful over all who surround Him.

O Lord God of hosts, O Lord, who is strong like Thee? and Thy faithfulness is round about Thee.

O L rd, G d of hosts, who is like You? [You,] the L rd, are mighty, and Your faithfulness encompasses You.

Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof rise up, Thou stillest them.

You rule over the pride of the sea. When its waves are uplifted, You lower them.

Thou hast trodden down Rahav like carrion; Thou hast scattered Thy enemies with Thy strong arm.

You broke the Egyptians as the slain [are broken]. With the arm of Your might You scattered Your foes.

The skies are Thine, the earth also is Thine: the world and the fulness thereof, Thou hast founded them.

Yours are the heavens. Yours, too, is the earth. The world and all that fills it — You founded them.

The north and the south, Thou hast created them: Tavor and Ḥermon shall rejoice in Thy name.

North and south, You created them. Tavor and Chermon shall sing in Your name.

Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is Thy hand, and high is Thy right hand.

Your arm [is stretched out] with strength. You strengthen Your hand; You lift up Your right hand.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Thy throne: love and truth shall go before Thee.

[Not strength, however, but] righteousness and justice is the foundation of Your throne. Lovingkindness and truth will precede Your countenance [in the governance of the world].

Happy is the people that know the joyful note: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.

Happy are the people who know teruah [(the shofar blast) i.e., who know how to conciliate their Creator on Rosh Hashanah with teruah, the matrix of malchuyoth (Dominion), zichronoth (Remembrance) and shofaroth].

In Thy name they rejoice all the day: and in Thy righteousness they are exalted.

In [the salvation of] Your name they will rejoice all the day, and in Your righteousness they will be uplifted.

For Thou art the glory of their strength: and in Thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

For You are the glory of their strength, and in Your conciliation our horn will be exalted.

For our shield belongs to the Lord; and our king to the Holy One of Yisra᾽el.

For [our estate was thus elevated] when our shields [i.e., our kings] were the L rd's [i.e., G d fearing] and our kings [were dedicated] to the G d of Israel.

Then Thou didst speak in vision to Thy pious one, and didst say, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; have exalted one chosen out of the people.

Then You spoke in a vision to Your saintly ones [(Nathan the prophet and Gad the seer)], and You said: I have placed saving [(to abet him always)] upon the strong one [David]; I have elevated the select one from among the people.

I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:

I have found David, My servant; I have anointed him with My holy oil.

with whom my hand shall be established: my arm also shall strengthen him.

My hand will be established with him [to aid him]; My arm, too, shall strengthen him.

The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

The foe will not [strengthen itself over him to] be as a creditor to him, and a doer of wrong will not afflict him.

And I will beat down his foes before his face, and strike down those who hate him.

And I shall cut off his oppressors from his face and I shall send a plague upon his foes.

But my faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

My faith and lovingkindness shall be [forever] with him, and through My name his horn shall be exalted.

I will set his hand also on the sea, and his right hand on the rivers.

I shall place his hand [i.e., rule] over the seas, and his right hand over the rivers.

He shall cry to me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

He shall call me: "You are my Father, my G d and the rock of my salvation."

Also I will make him firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.

I, likewise, shall grant him greatness, [making him] supreme above the kings of the earth.

I will keep my truth with him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.

I shall observe My lovingkindness with him forever and My covenant shall be faithful to him.

His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne like the days of heaven.

And I shall make his children [rule thus] forever, and their throne as the days of the heavens.

If his children forsake my Tora, and walk not in my judgments;

[But,] if his sons forsake My Torah and do not walk in My judgments,

if they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;

if they desecrate My statutes and do not keep My mitzvoth,

then I will punish their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with strokes.

then I shall remove [their kingdom] through the rod [of chastisement] for their offenses, and through plagues for their transgressions [viz. II Samuel 7:14].

Nevertheless I will not utterly take my steadfast love from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

[But] I shall not [eternally] remove my lovingkindness from him and I shall not belie my trust, [for the kingdom shall revert to his children in the days of the Messiah.]

My covenant I will not break, nor alter that which has issued from my lips.

I shall not desecrate My covenant and I shall not change the utterance of My lips.

Once I have sworn by my holiness that I will not fail unto David.

One [(unique)] oath have I sworn in My holiness. Forefend that I lie to David!

His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne shall be like the sun before me.

His children shall be [kings] forever, and his throne as the sun before Me.

It shall be established for ever like the moon, and the witness in the sky is sure. (Sela.)

As the moon, they will be established forever, [the sun and the moon being] witness in the heavens [(that David's kingdom will endure as long as they do)], faithful forever.

But Thou hast cast off and rejected, Thou hast been angry with Thy anointed.

And You have [(now, because of his children's transgression,)] abandoned and despised [(the Davidic kingdom [in the days of Tzidkiyahu])]. You have been wroth with Your anointed one.

Thou hast renounced the covenant of Thy servant: Thou hast profaned his crown to the ground.

You have nullified the covenant of Your servant; You have desecrated his crown unto the ground.

Thou hast broken down all his fences; Thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin.

You have breached all of his fences [(that he built in Jerusalem)]. You have caused his strongholds [(the Temple Mount and the fortress of Zion)] to be broken.

All that pass by the way plunder him: he is a taunt to his neighbours.

They have been trodden down by all the passersby; he was a shame to his neighbors.

Thou hast exalted the right hand of his adversaries; Thou hast made all his enemies rejoice.

You have raised the right hand of his oppressors; You have caused all of his foes to rejoice.

Thou hast also turned back the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.

You have turned back, too, the sharpness of his sword, and You did not sustain him in the battle.

Thou hast made his brightness to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.

You have cut off his splendor and You have cast his throne to the ground.

The days of his youth Thou hast shortened: Thou hast covered him with shame. (Sela.)

You have shortened the days of his youth and decked him with shame forever.

How long, Lord? wilt Thou hide Thyself forever? shall Thy wrath burn like fire?

How long, O L rd, [shall we remain in exile]? Will You conceal Yourself forever? Will Your wrath burn as fire?

Remember how short my time is: for what nothingness hast Thou created all the sons of men!

I am conscious of the shortness of my days. [i.e., Does it not suffice that You exact punishment of me in my dying young?] Why did You create all men in vain [if they will not live long enough to witness Your salvation]?

What man is he that lives, and shall not see death, but shall deliver his soul from the power of She᾽ol? (Sela.)

Who is the man that will live [eternally] and not see death, who will rescue his soul from the pit forever?

Lord, where are Thy former oaths of steadfast love which Thou didst make to David in Thy faithfulness?

Where are Your first lovingkindnesses, O L rd, that You swore to David in Your faith?

Remember, Lord, the disgrace of Thy servants: how I bear in my bosom the insults of all the many peoples,

Remember, O L rd, the shame of Your servants, my bearing in my bosom [(in exile the burdens of)] all the many peoples.

wherewith Thy enemies have insulted, O Lord; wherewith they have insulted the footsteps of Thy anointed.

[the peoples] who shamed — Your foes, O L rd — the footsteps [i.e., the coming] of Your anointed one [the Messiah].

Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and Amen.

[(But though I bewail the delay of the salvation,)] Blessed is the L rd forever — Amen, Amen.