Amplified Bible (AMP)

God’s Eternity and Man’s Transitoriness.

A Prayer of Moses the man of God.

1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place [our refuge, our sanctuary, our stability] in all generations.

2 Before the mountains were born

Or before You had given birth to the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are [the eternal] God.

3 You turn man back to dust,

And say, “Return [to the earth], O children of [mortal] men!”

4 For athousand years in Your sight

Are like yesterday when it is past,

Or as a watch in the night.

5 You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep [forgotten as soon as they are gone];

In the morning they are like grass which grows anew–

6 In the morning it flourishes and springs up;

In the evening it wilts and withers away.

7 For we have been consumed by Your anger

And by Your wrath we have been terrified.

8 You have placed our wickedness before you,

Our secretsins[which we tried to conceal, You have placed] in the [revealing] light of Your presence.

9 For all our days pass away in Your wrath;

We have finished our years like a whispered sigh.

10 The days of our life areseventy years–

Or even, if because of strength, eighty years;

Yet their pride [in additional years] is only labor and sorrow,

For it is soon gone and we fly away.

11 Who understands the power of Your anger? [Who connects this brevity of life among us with Your judgment of sin?]

And Your wrath, [who connects it] with the [reverent] fear that is due You?

12 So teach us to number our days,

That we may cultivateandbring to You a heart of wisdom.

13 Turn, O Lord[from Your fierce anger]; how long will it be?

Be compassionate toward Your servants–revoke Your sentence.

14 O satisfy us with Your lovingkindness in the morning [now, before we grow older],

That we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad in proportion to the days You have afflicted us,

And the years we have suffered evil.

16 Let Your work [the signs of Your power] be revealed to Your servants

And Your [glorious] majesty to their children.

17 And let the [gracious] favor of the Lord our God be on us;

Confirm for us the work of our hands–

Yes, confirm the work of our hands.

Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord.

1 He whodwells in the shelter of the Most High

Will remain secureandrest in the shadow of the Almighty [whose power no enemy can withstand].

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,

My God, in whom I trust [with great confidence, and on whom I rely]!”

3 For He will save you from the trap of the fowler,

And from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover youandcompletely protect you with His pinions,

And under His wings you will find refuge;

His faithfulness is a shield and a wall.

5 You will not be afraid of the terror of night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

6 Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction (sudden death) that lays waste at noon.

7 A thousand may fall at your side

And ten thousand at your right hand,

But danger will not come near you.

8 You will only [be a spectator as you] look on with your eyes

And witness the [divine] repayment of the wicked [as you watch safely from the shelter of the Most High].

9 Because you have made the Lord, [who is] my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10 No evil will befall you,

Nor will any plague come near your tent.

11 For He will command His angels in regard to you,

To protectanddefendandguard you in all your ways [of obedience and service].

12 They will lift you up in their hands,

So that you do not [even] strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and cobra;

The young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

14 “Because he set his love on Me, therefore I will save him;

I will set him [securely] on high, because he knows My name [he confidently trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never abandon him, no, never].

15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will rescue him and honor him.

16 “With a long life I will satisfy him

And I will let him see My salvation.”

Praise for the Lord’s Goodness.

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day.

1 It is a goodanddelightful thing to give thanks to the Lord,

To sing praises to Your name, O Most High,

2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning

And Your faithfulness by night,

3 With an instrument of ten strings and with the harp,

With a solemn sound on the lyre.

4 For You, O Lord, have made me glad by Your works;

At the works of Your hands I joyfully sing.

5 How great are Your works, O Lord!

Your thoughts are very deep [beyond man’s understanding].

6 A senseless man [in his crude and uncultivated state] knows nothing,

Nor does a [self-righteous] fool understand this:

7 That though the wicked sprout up like grass

And all evildoers flourish,

They will be destroyed forever.

8 But You, Lord, are on high forever.

9 For behold, Your enemies, O Lord,

For behold, Your enemies will perish;

All who do evil will be scattered.

10 But my horn [my emblem of strength and power] You have exalted like that of a wild ox;

I am anointed with fresh oil [for Your service].

11 My eye has looked on my foes;

My ears hear of the evildoers who rise up against me.

12 The righteous will flourish like the date palm [long-lived, upright and useful];

They will grow like a cedar in Lebanon [majestic and stable].

13 Planted in the house of the Lord,

They will flourish in the courts of our God.

14 [Growing in grace] they will still thriveandbear fruitandprosper in old age;

They will flourishandbevital and fresh [rich in trust and love and contentment];

15 [They are living memorials] to declare that the Lordis uprightandfaithful [to His promises];

He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

The Majesty of the Lord.

1 The Lordreigns, He is clothed with majestyandsplendor;

The Lordhas clothed and encircled Himself with strength;

the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved.

2 Your throne is established from of old;

You are from everlasting.

3 The floods have lifted up, O Lord,

The floods have lifted up their voice;

The floods lift up their pounding waves.

4 More than the sounds of many waters,

More than the mighty breakers of the sea,

The Lordon high is mighty.

5 Your precepts are fully confirmedandcompletely reliable;

Holiness adorns Your house,

O Lord, forever.

The Lord Implored to Avenge His People.

1 O LordGod, You to whom vengeance belongs,

O God, You to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth [in judgment]!

2 Rise up, O Judge of the earth;

Give to the proud a fitting compensation.

3 O Lord, how long will the wicked,

How long will the wicked rejoice in triumph?

4 They pour outwords,speaking arrogant things;

All who do evil boast proudly.

5 They crush Your people, O Lord,

And afflictandabuse Your heritage.

6 They kill the widow and the alien

And murder the fatherless.

7 Yet they say, “The Lorddoes not see,

Nor does the God of Jacob (Israel) notice it.”

8 Consider thoughtfully, you senseless (stupid ones) among the people;

And you [dull-minded] fools, when will you become wiseandunderstand?

9 He who made the ear, does He not hear?

He who formed the eye, does He not see?

10 He who instructs the nations,

Does He not rebukeandpunish,

He who teaches man knowledge?

11 The Lordknows the thoughts of man,

That they are a mere breath (vain, empty, futile).

12 Blessed [with wisdom and prosperity] is the man whom You disciplineandinstruct, O Lord,

And whom You teach from Your law,

13 That You may grant him [power to calm himself and find] peace in the days of adversity,

Until the pit is dug for the wickedandungodly.

14 For the Lordwill not abandon His people,

Nor will He abandon His inheritance.

15 For judgment will again be righteous,

And all the upright in heart will follow it.

16 Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?

Who will take a stand for me against those who do wickedness?

17 If the Lordhad not been my help,

I would soon have dwelt in [the land of] silence.

18 If I say, “My foot has slipped,”

Your compassionandlovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up.

19 When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,

Your comforts delight me.

20 Can a throne of destruction be allied with You,

One which framesanddevises mischief by decree [under the sacred name of law]?

21 They band themselves together against the life of the righteous

And condemn the innocent to death.

22 But the Lordhas become my high toweranddefense,

And my God the rock of my refuge.

23 He has turned back their own wickedness upon them

And will destroy them by means of their own evil;

The Lordour God will wipe them out.

Praise to the Lord, and Warning against Unbelief.

1 O come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord;

Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before His presence with a song of thanksgiving;

Let us shout joyfully to Him with songs.

3 For the Lordis a great God

And a great King above all gods,

4 In whose hand are the depths of the earth;

The peaks of the mountains are His also.

5 The sea is His, for He made it [by His command];

And His hands formed the dry land.

6 O come, let us worship and bow down,

Let us kneel before the Lordour Maker [in reverent praise and prayer].

7 For He is our God

And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.

Today, if you will hear His voice,

8 Do not harden your heartsandbecome spiritually dull as at Meribah [the place of strife],

And as at Massah [the place of testing] in the wilderness,

9 “When your fathers tested Me,

They tried Me, even though they had seen My work [of miracles].

10 “For forty years I was grievedanddisgusted with that generation,

And I said, ‘They are a people who err in their heart,

And they do not acknowledgeorregard My ways.’

11 “Therefore I swore [an oath] in My wrath,

‘They absolutely shall not enter My rest [the land of promise].’”

A Call to Worship the Lord the Righteous Judge.

1 O sing to the Lorda new song;

Sing to the Lord, all the earth!

2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;

Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day.

3 Declare His glory among the nations,

His marvelous worksandwonderful deeds among all the peoples.

4 For great is the Lordand greatly to be praised;

He is to be feared above all gods.

5 For all the gods of the peoples are [worthless, lifeless] idols,

But the Lordmade the heavens.

6 Splendor and majesty are before Him;

Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

Ascribe to the Lordglory and strength.

8 Ascribe to the Lordthe glory of His name;

Bring an offering and come into His courts.

9 Worship the Lordin the splendor of holiness;

Tremble [in submissive wonder] before Him, all the earth.

10 Say among the nations, “The Lordreigns;

Indeed, the world is firmlyandsecurely established, it shall not be moved;

He will judgeandrule the people with fairness.”

11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

Let the sea roar, and all the things it contains;

12 Let the field be exultant, and all that is in it.

Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy

13 Before the Lord, for He is coming,

For He is coming to judge the earth.

He will judge the world with righteousness

And the peoples in His faithfulness.

The Lord’s Power and Dominion.

1 The Lordreigns, let the earth rejoice;

Let the many islandsandcoastlands be glad.

2 Clouds and thick darkness surround Him [as at Sinai];

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

3 Fire goes before Him

And burns up His adversaries on all sides.

4 His lightnings have illuminated the world;

The earth has seen and trembled.

5 The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord,

At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

6 The heavens declare His righteousness,

And all the peoples see His gloryandbrilliance.

7 Let all those be [deeply] ashamed who serve carved images,

Who boast in idols.

Worship Him, all you gods!

8 Zion heard this and was glad,

And the daughters (cities) of Judah rejoiced [in relief]

Because of Your judgments, O Lord.

9 For You are the LordMost High over all the earth;

You are exalted far above all gods.

10 You who love the Lord, hate evil;

He protects the souls of His godly ones (believers),

He rescues them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light is sown [like seed] for the righteousandilluminates their path,

And [irrepressible] joy [is spread] for the upright in heart [who delight in His favor and protection].

12 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones [those whose moral and spiritual integrity places them in right standing with God],

And praiseandgive thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.

A Call to Praise the Lord for His Righteousness.

A

Psalm.

1 O sing to the Lorda new song,

For He has done marvelousandwonderful things;

His right hand and His holy arm havegained the victory for Him.

2 The Lordhas made known His salvation;

He has [openly] revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.

3 He has [graciously] remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel;

All the ends of the earth have witnessed the salvation of our God.

4 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth;

Shout [in jubilation] and sing for joy and sing praises.

5 Sing praises to the Lordwith the lyre,

With the lyre and the sound of melody.

6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn

Shout with joy before the King, the Lord.

7 Let the sea thunderandroar, and all the things it contains,

The world and those who dwell in it.

8 Let the rivers clap their hands;

Let the mountains sing together for joyanddelight

9 Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth;

He will judge the world with righteousness

And the peoples with fairness.

Praise to the Lord for His Fidelity to Israel.

1 The Lordreigns, let the peoples tremble [with submissive wonder]!

He sits enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!

2 The Lordis great in Zion,

And He is exaltedandmagnified above all the peoples.

3 Let them [reverently] praise Your great and awesome name;

Holy is He.

4 The strength of the King loves justiceandrighteous judgment;

You have established fairness;

You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob (Israel).

5 Exalt the Lordour God

And worship at His footstool;

Holy is He.

6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests,

And Samuel was among those who called on His name;

They called upon the Lordand He answered them.

7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud;

They kept His testimonies

And the statutes that He gave them.

8 You answered them, O Lordour God;

You were a forgiving God to them,

And yet an avenger of theirevilpractices.

9 Exalt the Lordour God

And worship at His holy hill [Zion, the temple mount],

For the Lordour God is holy.