{An instruction. Of Ethan the Ezrahite.} I will sing of the loving-kindness of Jehovah for ever; with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness from generation to generation.
For I said, Loving-kindness shall be built up for ever; in the very heavens wilt thou establish thy faithfulness.
I have made a covenant with mine elect, I have sworn unto David my servant:
Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne from generation to generation. Selah.
And the heavens shall celebrate thy wonders, O Jehovah, and thy faithfulness in the congregation of the saints.
For who in the heaven can be compared to Jehovah? who among the sons of the mighty shall be likened to Jehovah?
God is greatly to be feared in the council of the saints, and terrible for all that are round about him.
Jehovah, God of hosts, who is like unto thee, the strong Jah? And thy faithfulness is round about thee.
Thou rulest the pride of the sea: when its waves arise, thou stillest them.
Thou hast crushed Rahab as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with the arm of thy strength.
Thine are the heavens, the earth also is thine; the world and its fulness, thou hast founded them.
The north and the south, thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon triumph in thy name.
Thine is the arm of might: strong is thy hand, high is thy right hand.
Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of thy throne; loving-kindness and truth go before thy face.
Blessed is the people that know the shout of joy: they walk, O Jehovah, in the light of thy countenance.
In thy name are they joyful all the day, and in thy righteousness are they exalted.
For thou art the glory of their strength; and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
For Jehovah is our shield, and the Holy One of Israel, our king.
Then thou spakest in vision of thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon a mighty one; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:
With whom my hand shall be established; and mine arm shall strengthen him.
No enemy shall exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him;
But I will beat down his adversaries before his face, and will smite them that hate him.
And my faithfulness and my loving-kindness shall be with him, and by my name shall his horn be exalted.
And I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.
He shall call unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation;
And as to me, I will make him firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
My loving-kindness will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him;
And I will establish his seed for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
If his sons forsake my law, and walk not in mine ordinances;
If they profane my statutes, and keep not my commandments:
Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor belie my faithfulness;
My covenant will I not profane, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
Once have I sworn by my holiness; I will not lie unto David:
His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me;
It shall be established for ever as the moon, and the witness in the sky is firm. Selah.
But thou hast rejected and cast off; thou hast been very wroth with thine anointed:
Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant; thou hast profaned his crown to the ground:
Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin.
All that pass by the way plunder him; he is become a reproach to his neighbours.
Thou hast exalted the right hand of his oppressors; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice:
Yea, thou hast turned back the edge of his sword, and hast not made him stand in the battle.
Thou hast made his brightness to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground;
The days of his youth hast thou shortened; thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.
How long, Jehovah, wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy fury burn like fire?
Remember, as regards me, what life is. Wherefore hast thou created all the children of men to be vanity?
What man liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah.
Where, Lord, are thy former loving-kindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy faithfulness?
Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants that I bear in my bosom that of all the mighty peoples —
Wherewith thine enemies, O Jehovah, have reproached, wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
Blessed be Jehovah for evermore! Amen, and Amen.