Ketuvim (Scriptures)

Ketuvim Part III (Tanakh)

Ketuvim (Scriptures)
Tehillim (Psalms)
Mishlei (Proverbs)
Iyov (Job)
Shir Hashirim (The Song of Songs)
Rut (Ruth)
Eichah (Lamentations)
Kohelet (Ecclesiastes)
Esther
Daniel
Ezra
Nechemiah (Nehemiah)
Divrei Hayamim I (Chronicles I)
Divrei Hayamim II (Chronicles II)

Psalms

Book One

1 Happy is the man who has not followed the counsel of the wicked,
or taken the path of sinners,
or joined the company of the insolent;
2rather, the teaching of the LORD is his delight,
and he studiesa that teaching day and night.
3He is like a tree planted beside streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season,
whose foliage never fades,
and whatever b-it produces thrives.-b
4Not so the wicked;
rather, they are like chaff that wind blows away.
5Therefore the wicked will not survive judgment,
nor will sinners, in the assembly of the righteous.
6For the LORD cherishes the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked is doomed.
2 Why do nations assemble,
and peoples plota vain things;
2kings of the earth take their stand,
and regents intrigue together
against the LORD and against His anointed?
3“Let us break the cords of their yoke,
shake off their ropes from us!”
4He who is enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord mocks at them.
5Then He speaks to them in anger,
terrifying them in His rage,
6“But I have installed My king
on Zion, My holy mountain!”
7Let me tell of the decree:
the LORD said to me,
b-“You are My son,
I have fathered you this day.-b
8Ask it of Me,
and I will make the nations your domain;
your estate, the limits of the earth.
9You can smash them with an iron mace,
shatter them like potter’s ware.”
10So now, O kings, be prudent;
accept discipline, you rulers of the earth!
11Serve the LORD in awe;
c-tremble with fright,-c
12 d-pay homage in good faith,-d
lest He be angered, and your way be doomed
in the mere flash of His anger.
Happy are all who take refuge in Him.
3 A psalm of David when he fled from his son Absalom.
2O LORD, my foes are so many!
Many are those who attack me;
3many say of me,
“There is no deliverance for him through God.” Selah.a
4But You, O LORD, are a shield about me,
my glory, He who holds my head high.
5I cry aloud to the LORD,
and He answers me from His holy mountain. Selah.
6I lie down and sleep and wake again,
for the LORD sustains me.
7I have no fear of the myriad forces
arrayed against me on every side.
8Rise, O LORD!
Deliver me, O my God!
For You slap all my enemies in the face;b
You break the teeth of the wicked.
9Deliverance is the LORD’s;
Your blessing be upon Your people! Selah.
4 a-For the leader; with instrumental music.-a A psalm of David.
2Answer me when I call,
O God, my vindicator!
You freed me from distress;
have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
3You men, how long will my glory be mocked,
will you love illusions,
have recourse to frauds? Selah.
4Know that the LORD singles out the faithful for Himself;
the LORD hears when I call to Him.
5So tremble, and sin no more;
ponder it on your bed, and sigh.b
6Offer sacrifices in righteousness
and trust in the LORD.
7Many say, “O for good days!”
c-Bestow Your favor on us,-c O LORD.
8You put joy into my heart
when their grain and wine show increase.
9Safe and sound, I lie down and sleep,
d-for You alone, O LORD, keep me secure.-d
5 a-For the leader; on nehiloth.-a A psalm of David.
2Give ear to my speech, O LORD;
consider my utterance.
3Heed the sound of my cry,
my king and God,
for I pray to You.
4Hear my voice, O LORD, at daybreak;
at daybreak I plead before You, and wait.
5For You are not a God who desires wickedness;
evil cannot abide with You;
6wanton men cannot endure in Your sight.
You detest all evildoers;
7You doom those who speak lies;
murderous, deceitful men the LORD abhors.
8But I, through Your abundant love, enter Your house;
I bow down in awe at Your holy temple.
9O LORD, b-lead me along Your righteous [path]-b
because of my watchful foes;
make Your way straight before me.
10For there is no sincerity on their lips;c
their heart is [filled with] malice;
their throat is an open grave;
their tongue slippery.
11Condemn them, O God;
let them fall by their own devices;
cast them out for their many crimes,
for they defy You.
12But let all who take refuge in You rejoice,
ever jubilant as You shelter them;
and let those who love Your name exult in You.
13For You surely bless the righteous man, O LORD,
encompassing him with favor like a shield.
6 a-For the leader; with instrumental music on the sheminith.-a A psalm of David.
2O LORD, do not punish me in anger,
do not chastise me in fury.
3Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I languish;
heal me, O LORD, for my bones shake with terror.
4My whole being is stricken with terror,
while You, LORD—O, how long!
5O LORD, turn! Rescue me!
Deliver me as befits Your faithfulness.
6For there is no praise of You among the dead;
in Sheol, who can acclaim You?
7I am weary with groaning;
every night I drench my bed,
I melt my couch in tears.
8My eyes are wasted by vexation,
worn out because of all my foes.
9Away from me, all you evildoers,
for the LORD heeds the sound of my weeping.
10The LORD heeds my plea,
the LORD accepts my prayer.
11All my enemies will be frustrated and stricken with terror;
they will turn back in an instant, frustrated.
7 a-Shiggaion of David,-a which he sang to the LORD, concerning Cush, a Benjaminite.
2O LORD, my God, in You I seek refuge;
deliver me from all my pursuers and save me,
3lest, like a lion, they tear me apart,
rending in pieces, and no one save me.
4O LORD, my God, if I have done such things,
if my hands bear the guilt of wrongdoing,
5if I have dealt evil to my ally,
—b-I who rescued my foe without reward-b—
6then let the enemy pursue and overtake me;
let him trample my life to the ground,
and lay my body in the dust. Selah.
7Rise, O LORD, in Your anger;
assert Yourself c-against the fury of my foes;-c
bestir Yourself on my behalf;
You have ordained judgment.
8 a-Let the assembly of peoples gather about You,
with You enthroned above, on high.-a
9The LORD judges the peoples;
vindicate me, O LORD,
for the righteousness and blamelessness that are mine.
10Let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous;
he who probes the mind and conscienced is God the
righteous.
11e-I look to God to shield me;-e
the deliverer of the upright.
12God vindicates the righteous;
God f-pronounces doom-f each day.
13g-If one does not turn back, but whets his sword,
bends his bow and aims it,
14then against himself he readies deadly weapons,
and makes his arrows sharp.-g
15See, he hatches evil, conceives mischief,
and gives birth to fraud.
16He has dug a pit and deepened it,
and will fall into the trap he made.
17His mischief will recoil upon his own head;
his lawlessness will come down upon his skull.
18I will praise the LORD for His righteousness,
and sing a hymn to the name of the LORD Most High.
8 a-For the leader; on the gittith.-a A psalm of David.
2O LORD, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name throughout the earth,
b-You who have covered the heavens with Your splendor! -b
3a-From the mouths of infants and sucklings
You have founded strength on account of Your foes,
to put an end to enemy and avenger.-a
4When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
the moon and stars that You set in place,
5what is man that You have been mindful of him,
mortal man that You have taken note of him,
6that You have made him little less than divine,c
and adorned him with glory and majesty;
7You have made him master over Your handiwork,
laying the world at his feet,
8sheep and oxen, all of them,
and wild beasts, too;
9the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea,
whatever travels the paths of the seas.
10O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name throughout
the earth!
9 a-For the leader; ‘almuth labben.-a A psalm of David.
2I will praise You, LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell all Your wonders.
3I will rejoice and exult in You,
singing a hymn to Your name, O Most High.
4When my enemies retreat,
they stumble to their doom at Your presence.
5For You uphold my right and claim,
enthroned as righteous judge.
6You blast the nations;
You destroy the wicked;
You blot out their name forever.
7 b-The enemy is no more—
ruins everlasting;
You have torn down their cities;
their very names are lost.-b
8But the LORD abides forever;
He has set up His throne for judgment;
9it is He who judges the world with righteousness,
rules the peoples with equity.
10The LORD is a haven for the oppressed,
a haven in times of trouble.
11Those who know Your name trust You,
for You do not abandon those who turn to You, O LORD.
12Sing a hymn to the LORD, c-who reigns in Zion;-c
declare His deeds among the peoples.
13 d-For He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted;
He who requites bloodshed is mindful of them.-d
14Have mercy on me, O LORD;
see my affliction at the hands of my foes,
You who lift me from the gates of death,
15so that in the gates of e-Fair Zion-e
I might tell all Your praise,
I might exult in Your deliverance.
16The nations sink in the pit they have made;
their own foot is caught in the net they have hidden.
17The LORD has made Himself known:
He works judgment;
the wicked man is snared by his own devices. Higgaion.b Selah.
18Let the wicked bef in Sheol,
all the nations who ignore God!
19Not always shall the needy be ignored,
nor the hope of the afflicted forever lost.
20Rise, O LORD!
Let not men have power;
let the nations be judged in Your presence.
21b-Strike fear into them,-b O LORD;
let the nations know they are only men. Selah.
10 Why, O LORD, do You stand aloof,
heedless in times of trouble?
2The wicked in his arrogance hounds the lowly—
a-may they be caught in the schemes they devise!-a
3b-The wicked crows about his unbridled lusts;
the grasping man reviles and scorns the LORD.
4The wicked, arrogant as he is,
in all his scheming [things],-b
“He does not call to account;
c-God does not care.”-c
5His ways prosper at all times;
Your judgments are far beyond him;
he snorts at all his foes.
6He thinks, “I shall not be shaken,
through all time never be in trouble.”
7His mouth is full of oaths, deceit, and