Psalms

We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.

1God, we have heard it with our own ears. Our fathers told us what you did back in their day, long ago.

2How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.

2With your own hand you drove out the other nations and planted our fathers in that land. You crushed those peoples and pushed them out.

3For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.

3Our fathers did not win the land with their own swords. Their own strength did not save them. It was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, because you loved them.

4Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.

4You are my King, God. Give the command that brings victory to Jacob's people.

5Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.

5With your help we push our enemies back. In your name we trample down those who attack us.

6For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.

6I do not put my trust in my bow. My sword will not save me.

7But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.

7It is you who saves us from our enemies. You shame the people who hate us.

8In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.

8All day long we are proud of God. We will praise your name forever. Selah.

Note"Selah" is a Hebrew word left untranslated. It probably marked a pause or a musical break in the song.

9But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.

9But now you have turned away from us and shamed us. You no longer march out with our armies.

10Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.

10You make us run away from the enemy, and those who hate us take whatever they want from us.

11Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.

11You have handed us over like sheep to be eaten. You have scattered us among the other nations.

Note"Appointed for meat" in 1611 English meant set aside for food. "Meat" then meant food of any kind.

12Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase thy wealth by their price.

12You sell your own people for nothing. You gain no profit at all from the sale.

13Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.

13You have made our neighbors look down on us. The people around us laugh at us and make fun of us.

14Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.

14Other nations use our name as a joke. People shake their heads at us.

15My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,

15My disgrace is in front of me all day long. Shame covers my face,

Note"Confusion" in older English meant public disgrace or humiliation, not being puzzled.

16For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger.

16because of the voice of the one who insults and mocks, and because of the enemy who wants revenge.

17All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.

17All of this has happened to us, and still we have not forgotten you. We have not broken our promise to you.

18Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way;

18Our hearts have not turned away. Our feet have not wandered off your path.

19Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.

19Yet you have badly broken us in the place where jackals live. You have covered us with deep darkness.

NoteThe KJV's "place of dragons" refers to a wild, ruined place where jackals live.

20If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;

20Suppose we had forgotten our God's name, or lifted our hands in prayer to a foreign god.

21Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.

21Wouldn't God have found it out? He knows the secrets inside every heart.

22Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.

22But it is for your sake that we face death all day long. People count us as sheep to be killed.

23Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.

23Wake up, Lord! Why are you sleeping? Get up! Do not turn away from us forever.

24Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?

24Why do you hide your face from us? Why do you forget how we suffer and how we are crushed?

25For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.

25We have sunk down into the dust. Our bodies lie flat against the ground.

26Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies’ sake.

26Get up and help us. Save us because of your faithful love.