Psalms

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.

1Lord, you have been our home in every generation.

2Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

2Before the mountains were born, before you made the earth and the world, you were God. You always were, and you always will be.

3Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.

3You turn people back into dust. You say, "Go back, children of Adam."

4For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.

4To you, a thousand years are like yesterday once it is over. They are like a few hours of watch in the night.

5Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.

5You sweep people away like a flood. They are like a sleep. They are like grass that comes up in the morning.

6In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.

6In the morning it is green and growing. By evening it is cut down and dried up.

7For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.

7Your anger wears us down. Your fury leaves us shaken.

8Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.

8You have laid our sins out in front of you. Even the sins we hide stand in the light of your face.

9For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.

9All our days pass away under your anger. Our years end with a sigh.

Note"A tale that is told" in the KJV does not mean a story. The Hebrew word means a sigh or a moan, so the line is about years ending in a groan.

10The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

10Our lives last about seventy years, or eighty if we are strong. Yet even the best of them is hard work and sorrow. They pass quickly, and we are gone.

Note"Threescore years and ten" means seventy years. A score is twenty, so threescore is sixty. "Fourscore" means eighty.

11Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.

11Who really understands how strong your anger is? Your fury is as great as the awe you are owed.

12So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

12So teach us to count our days, so that we may gain a wise heart.

13Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.

13Come back, LORD. How long must we wait? Feel pity for us, your servants.

Note"Let it repent thee" does not mean God did wrong. In 1611 English it meant to change one's mind or to feel pity, so the prayer is asking God to soften toward his people.

14O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

14Fill us each morning with your faithful love, so that we can sing and be glad all our days.

15Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.

15Give us as many glad days as the days you made us suffer, as many as the years we saw trouble.

16Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.

16Let your servants see the things you do. Let their children see how great you are.

17And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

17Let the kindness of the Lord our God rest on us. Make the work of our hands last. Yes, make our work last.

Note"Beauty" here means favor or kindness shown to someone, not how something looks.