Psalm 134

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General Information

Psalms 120 - 134 are called the Hammaaloth psalms, meaning 'step', with each psalm apparently representing one of the 15 steps of the temple in Jerusalem. The Latin text still has canticum graduum, a literal translation for 'stepsong'. They are frequently quoted as psalms of pilgrimage, though this is doubted by scholars.

Settings by composers

In Latin unless otherwise stated.

Anonymous 16c (Oxford, Christ Church Mus 979-83) SSATBB Thomas Clark SATB (English, metrical Old Version) Christoph Dalitz AT (German/French, metrical version from Genevan Psalter) Claude Goudimel SATB (French) Samuel Holyoke STB (English, Isaac Watts paraphrase, sts. 1-3) Orlando di Lasso SSMsATTB Samuel Lucena de Medeiros SATB (Portuguese) Antonio Nola (with doxology) SATB, 2vln & bc Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina TTBB SATB

Martin Peerson SATB (English, metrical Old Version) Benjamin Rogers SATB (English BCP) Heinrich Schütz SATB (German) Scottish Psalter of 1635 SATB (English, William Kethe in Old Version) Alastair Stout SATB (English BCP) Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck SSATB František Tůma SATB Tomás Luis de Victoria SATB.SATB

Other settings possibly not included in the manual list above

• Sebastiano Cherici — Ecce nunc benedicite
• John Dowland — A psalme before Evening praier
• John Dowland — Behold and have regard
• Israel Holdroyd — Psalm 134

Text and translations

Clementine Vulgate (Psalm 133) Latin text 1  Canticum graduum. Ecce nunc benedicite Dominum, omnes servi Domini:   qui statis in domo Domini, in atriis domus Dei nostri. 2  In noctibus extollite manus vestras in sancta, et benedicite Dominum. 3  Benedicat te[tibi] Dominus ex Sion, qui fecit caelum et terram.

Church of England 1662 Book of Common Prayer English translation 1  Behold now, praise the Lord: all ye servants of the Lord; 2  Ye that by night stand in the house of the Lord: even in the courts of the house of our God. 3  Lift up your hands in the sanctuary: and praise the Lord. 4  The Lord that made heaven and earth: give thee blessing out of Sion.

Metrical 'Old Version' English text By William Kethe Behold, and have regard, Ye servants of the Lord, Who in his house by night do watch, Praise him with one accord. Lift up your hands on high, Unto his holy place. And give the Lord his praises due, His benefits embrace. For why? the Lord our God Who heaven and earth did frame. Doth Zion bless, and will preserve For evermore the same.

Metrical 'New Version' (Tate & Brady) English text Bless God, ye servants that attend Upon his solemn state, That in his temple, night by night, With humble rev'rence wait: Within his house lift up your hands, And bless his holy name; From Sion bless thy Israel, Lord, Who earth and heav'n didst frame.

Metrical Paraphrase by Isaac Watts English text Ye that obey the immortal King, Attend his holy place; Bow to the glories of his power, And bless his wondrous grace. Lift up your hands by morning light, And send your souls on high; Raise your admiring thoughts by night Above the starry sky. The God of Zion cheers our hearts With rays of quickening grace; The God that spread the heavens abroad, And rules the swelling seas.

Metrical version by James Merrick English text Ye servants of th'eternal King, Your grateful hymns triumphant sing: To you I call, the chosen band, Who take amid his courts your stand, While, gliding round the dusky pole, The starry orbs in silence roll. Within his temple's vaulted frame, With lifted hands, his praise proclaim: And he, may he, whose pow'r has made The earth, and heav'n's wide arch display'd, From sacred Sion bid thee prove The blessings of his boundless love.

Statenbijbel (1637) Dutch translation 1  Een lied Hammaaloth. Ziet, looft den Here, alle gij knechten des Heren! 2  Gij, die allen nacht in het huis des Heren staat. 3  Heft uw handen op naar het heiligdom, en looft den Here. 4  De Here zegene u uit Sion, Hij, Die den hemel en de aarde gemaakt heeft. Allioli-Bibel (1832) German translation 1  Wohlan! jetzo preiset den Herrn, alle Diener des Herrn: die ihr stehet im Hause des Herrn, in den Vorhöfen des Hauses unsers Gottes. 2  Erhebet des Nachts eure Hände zum Heiligthum, und preiset den Herrn! 3  Der Herr segne dich aus Sion, der Himmel und Erde gemacht hat.

Káldi fordítás (133. zsoltár) Hungarian translation Ime most áldjátok az Urat, ti az Úr minden szolgái! kik az Úr házában állotok, a mi Istenünk háza tornácaiban. Emeljétek föl éjjel kezeiteket a szent helyhez, és áldjátok az Urat. Áldjon meg téged az Úr Sionból, ki a mennyet és földet teremtette.

Stuttgart Vulgate Latin text 1  Canticum graduum ecce benedicite Domino omnes servi Domini qui statis in domo Domini 2  In noctibus levate manus vestras ad sanctum et benedicite Domino 3  Benedicat tibi Dominus ex Sion factor caeli et terrae.