Psalms 44

1Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, for the sons of Core, for understanding. A canticle for the Beloved.

1To the Overseer. --By sons of Korah. An Instruction. O God, with our ears we have heard, Our fathers have recounted to us, The work Thou didst work in their days, In the days of old.

2My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the king: My tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly.

2Thou, <FI>with<Fi> Thy hand, nations hast dispossessed. And Thou dost plant them. Thou afflictest peoples, and sendest them away.

3Thou art beautiful above the sons of men: grace is poured abroad in thy lips; therefore hath God blessed thee for ever.

3For, not by their sword Possessed they the land, And their arm gave not salvation to them, But Thy right hand, and Thine arm, And the light of Thy countenance, Because Thou hadst accepted them.

4Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most mighty.

4Thou <FI>art<Fi> He, my king, O God, Command the deliverances of Jacob.

5With thy comeliness and thy beauty set out, proceed prosperously, and reign. Because of truth and meekness and justice: and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully.

5By Thee our adversaries we do push, By Thy name tread down our withstanders,

6Thy arrows are sharp: under thee shall people fall, into the hearts of the king's enemies.

6For, not in my bow do I trust, And my sword doth not save me.

7Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness.

7For Thou hast saved us from our adversaries, And those hating us Thou hast put to shame.

8Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

8In God we have boasted all the day, And Thy name to the age we thank. Selah.

9Myrrh and stacte and cassia perfume thy garments, from the ivory houses: out of which

9In anger Thou hast cast off and causest us to blush, And goest not forth with our hosts.

10The daughters of kings have delighted thee in thy glory. The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety.

10Thou causest us to turn backward from an adversary, And those hating us, Have spoiled for themselves.

11Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: and forget thy people and thy father's house.

11Thou makest us food like sheep, And among nations Thou hast scattered us.

12And the king shall greatly desire thy beauty; for he is the Lord thy God, and him they shall adore.

12Thou sellest Thy people--without wealth, And hast not become great by their price.

13And the daughters of Tyre with gifts, yea, all the rich among the people, shall entreat thy countenance.

13Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, A scorn and a reproach to our surrounders.

14All the glory of the king's daughter is within in golden borders,

14Thou makest us a simile among nations, A shaking of the head among peoples.

15Clothed round about with varieties. After her shall virgins be brought to the king: her neighbours shall be brought to thee.

15All the day my confusion <FI>is<Fi> before me, And the shame of my face hath covered me.

16They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing: they shall be brought into the temple of the king.

16Because of the voice of a reproacher and reviler, Because of an enemy and a self-avenger.

17Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee: thou shalt make them princes over all the earth.

17All this met us, and we did not forget Thee, Nor have we dealt falsely in Thy covenant.

18They shall remember thy name throughout all generations. Therefore shall people praise thee for ever; yea, for ever and ever.

18We turn not backward our heart, Nor turn aside doth our step from Thy path.

19(not in this translation)

19But Thou hast smitten us in a place of dragons, And dost cover us over with death-shade.

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20If we have forgotten the name of our God, And spread our hands to a strange God,

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21Doth not God search out this? For He knoweth the secrets of the heart.

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22Surely, for Thy sake we have been slain all the day, Reckoned as sheep of the slaughter.

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23Stir up--why dost Thou sleep, O Lord? Awake, cast us not off for ever.

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24Why Thy face hidest Thou? Thou forgettest our afflictions and our oppression,

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25For bowed to the dust hath our soul, Cleaved to the earth hath our belly.

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26Arise, a help to us, And ransom us for thy kindness' sake.