English text
- Metrical 'Old Version' (Thomas Sternhold)
2 Incline thine ears, O Lord, and let
My words have free access
3 To thee, who art my God and King,
From whom I seek redress.
4 Hear me betimes, Lord, tarry not,
For I will have respect,
My supplication in the morn
To thee for to direct.
5 And I will patiently still trust
In thee, my God, alone:
Thou art not pleas'd with wickedness,
And ill with thee dwells none.
6 Such as be foolish shall not stand
In sight of thee, O Lord :
Vain workers of iniquity
Thou hast always abhorr'd.
7 The liars and base flatterers
Shall be destroy'd by thee;
Blood-thirsty and deceitful men
Likewise shall hated be.
6 Therefore will I come to thy house,
Trusting upon thy grace:
And rev'rently will worship thee
Towards thy holy place.
9 Lord, lead me in thy righteousness,
For to confound my foes;
Also the way that I should walk
Before my face disclose:
10 For in their mouths there is no truth,
Their inward filth is great;
Their throat an open sepulchre,
And tongues full of deceit.
11 Destroy their false conspiracies,
That they may come to nought;
Subvert them in their heaps of sin,
Who have rebellion wrought:
12 But those that put their trust in thee,
Let them be glad always;
And render thanks for thy defence,
And give thy Name the praise.
13 For thou with favour wilt increase
The just and righteous still;
And with thy grace, as with a shield,
Defend him from all ill.
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English text
- Metrical 'New Version' (Tate/Brady)
2 Lord, hear the voice of my complaint,
Accept my secret pray'r;
3 To thee alone, my King, my God,
Will I for help repair.
4 Thou in the morn my voice shall hear,
And with the dawning day.
To thee devoutly I'll look up,
To thee devoutly pray.
5 For thou the wrongs that I sustain
Canst never, Lord, approve;
Who from thy sacred dwelling-place
All evil dost remove.
6 Not long shall stubborn fools remain
Unpunish'd in thy view;
All such as act unrighteous things
Thy vengeance shall pursue.
7 The sland'ring tongue, O God of truth,
By thee shall be destroy'd;
Who hat'st alike the man in blood
And in deceit employ'd.
8 But when thy boundless grace shall me
To thy lov'd courts restore,
On thee I'll fix my longing eyes,
And humbly there adore.
9 Conduct me by thy righteous laws,
For watchful is my foe;
Therefore, O Lord, make plain the way
Wherein I ought to go.
10 Their mouth vents nothing but deceit,
Their heart is set on wrong;
Their throat is a devouring grave,
They flatter with their tongue.
11 By their own counsels let them fall,
Oppress'd with loads of sin;
For they against thy righteous laws
Have harden'd rebels been.
12 But let all those who trust in thee
With shouts their joy proclaim;
Let them rejoice whom thou preserv'st,
And all that love thy name.
13 To righteous men the righteous Lord
His blessing will extend,
And with his favour all his saints,
As with a shield, defend.
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English text
- Metrical version by James Merrick
2 The words that from my lips proceed,
My thoughts, (for thou those thoughts canst read,)
3 My God, my King, attentive weigh,
And hear, O hear me, when I pray.
4 With earliest zeal, with wakeful care,
To thee my soul shall pour its pray'r,
And, e'er the dawn has streak'd the sky,
To thee direct its longing eye:
5 To thee, whom nought obscur'd by stain
Can please; whose doors to feet profane
Inexorable stand; whose law
Offenders from thy sight shall awe.
6 Let each whose tongue to lies is turn'd,
Who lessons of deceit has learn'd,
Or thirsts a brother's blood to shed,
Thy hate and heaviest vengeance dread.
7 But I, whose hope thy love supports,
(How great that love!) will tread thy courts,
My knees in lowliest rev'rence bend,
And tow'rd thy shrine my hands extend.
8 Do thou, just God, my path prepare,
And guard me from each hostile snare;
O lend me thy conducting ray,
And level to my steps thy way.
9 Behold me by a troop inclos'd,
Of falsehood and of guilt compos'd,
Nurs'd in deceit, in sin allied,
Nor faith nor trust their actions guide:
10 Their throat a sepulchre displays,
Deep, wide, insatiate; in their praise
Lurks flatt'ry, and with specious art
Belies the purpose of their heart.
11 O let the mischiefs they intend
Retorted on themselves descend,
And let thy wrath correct their sin,
Whose hearts thy mercy fails to win.
12 May all whose trust on thee employ
Their grateful voice in songs of joy,
And share the gifts on those bestow'd,
Who love the name of Jacob's God.
13 To each, who bears a guiltless heart,
Thy grace its blessing shall impart;
Strong as the brazen shield, thy aid
Around him casts its cov'ring shade.
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