1371 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down.
Yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion. 2 On the willows in its midst,
we hung up our harps. 3 For there, those who led us captive asked us for songs.
Those who tormented us demanded songs of joy:
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” 4 How can we sing Yahweh’s song in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill. 6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I don’t remember you;
if I don’t prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7 Remember, Yahweh, against the children of Edom,
the day of Jerusalem;
who said, “Raze it!
Raze it even to its foundation!” 8 Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
he will be happy who rewards you,
as you have served us. 9 Happy shall he be,
who takes and dashes your little ones against the rock.
1381 I will give you thanks with my whole heart.
Before the gods [1], I will sing praises to you. 2 I will bow down toward your holy temple,
and give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth;
for you have exalted your Name and your Word above all. 3 In the day that I called, you answered me.
You encouraged me with strength in my soul. 4 All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, Yahweh,
for they have heard the words of your mouth. 5 Yes, they will sing of the ways of Yahweh;
for great is Yahweh’s glory.
6 For though Yahweh is high, yet he looks after the lowly;
but the proud, he knows from afar. 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me.
You will stretch forth your hand against the wrath of my enemies.
Your right hand will save me. 8 Yahweh will fulfill that which concerns me;
your loving kindness, Yahweh, endures forever.
Don’t forsake the works of your own hands.
1391 Yahweh, you have searched me,
and you know me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up.
You perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in behind and before.
You laid your hand on me. 6 This knowledge is beyond me.
It’s lofty.
I can’t attain it.
7 Where could I go from your Spirit?
Or where could I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there your hand will lead me,
and your right hand will hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me;
the light around me will be night;” 12 even the darkness doesn’t hide from you,
but the night shines as the day.
The darkness is like light to you. 13 For you formed my inmost being.
You knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to you,
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful.
My soul knows that very well. 15 My frame wasn’t hidden from you,
when I was made in secret,
woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my body.
In your book they were all written,
the days that were ordained for me,
when as yet there were none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand.
When I wake up, I am still with you. 19 If only you, God, would kill the wicked.
Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men! 20 For they speak against you wickedly.
Your enemies take your name in vain. 21 Yahweh, don’t I hate those who hate you?
Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred.
They have become my enemies. 23 Search me, God, and know my heart.
Try me, and know my thoughts. 24 See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the everlasting way.
131 If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing. 3 If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, 5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; 6 doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; 10 but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with. 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
