1  By the waters of Babylon,

there we sat down and wept,

when we remembered Zion.

2  On the willows¹ there

we hung up our lyres.

3  For there our captors

required of us songs,

and our tormentors, mirth, saying,

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4  ^sHow shall we sing the Lord’s song

in a foreign land?

5  If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

^tlet my right hand forget its skill!

6  Let my ^utongue stick to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem

above my highest joy!

7  Remember, O Lord, against the ^vEdomites

^wthe day of Jerusalem,

how they said, ^x“Lay it bare, lay it bare,

down to its foundations!”

8  O daughter of Babylon, ^ydoomed to be destroyed,

blessed shall he be who ^zrepays you

with what you have done to us!

9  Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones

and ^adashes them against the rock!

1  ^bI give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

before ^cthe gods I sing your praise;

2  I bow down ^dtoward your ^eholy temple

and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things

your name and your word.²

3  On the day I called, you answered me;

my strength of soul you increased.³

4  ^fAll the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,

for they have heard the words of your mouth,

5  and they shall sing of ^gthe ways of the Lord,

for great is the glory of the Lord.

6  ^hFor though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,

but the haughty he knows from afar.

7  ⁱThough I walk in the midst of trouble,

you ^jpreserve my life;

you ^kstretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

and your ^lright hand delivers me.

8  The Lord will ^mfulfill his purpose for me;

ⁿyour steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not forsake ^othe work of your hands.

1  O Lord, you have ^psearched me and known me!

2  You ^qknow when I sit down and when I rise up;

you ^rdiscern my thoughts from afar.

3  You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

4  Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, ^syou know it altogether.

5  You ^them me in, behind and before,

and ^ulay your hand upon me.

6  ^vSuch knowledge is ^wtoo wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.

7  ^xWhere shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where ^yshall I flee from your presence?

8  ^zIf I ascend to heaven, you are there!

^aIf I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

9  If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10  even there your hand shall ^blead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

11  If I say, ^c“Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

12  ^deven the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

13  For you ^eformed my inward parts;

you ^fknitted me together in my mother’s womb.

14  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.⁴

^gWonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

15  ^hMy frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in ⁱthe depths of the earth.

16  Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your ^jbook were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

17  How precious to me are your ^kthoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

18  ^lIf I would count them, they are more than ^mthe sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

19  Oh that you would ⁿslay the wicked, O God!

O ^omen of blood, ^pdepart from me!

20  They ^qspeak against you with malicious intent;

your enemies ^rtake your name in vain.⁵

21  ^sDo I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

And do I not ^tloathe those who ^urise up against you?

22  I hate them with complete hatred;

I count them my enemies.

23  Search me, O God, and know my heart!

^vTry me and know my thoughts!⁶

24  And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and ^wlead me in ^xthe way everlasting!⁷