Psalms 89
1 Yahweh, I will sing forever about the ways you faithfully love me; people not yet born will hear that you faithfully [do all that you have promised].
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.
2 I will tell people that you will faithfully love us forever, and that your being faithful [to do what you have promised] is as permanent as the sky.
For I said, Loving-kindness shall be built up for ever; in the very heavens wilt thou establish thy faithfulness.
3 Yahweh said, “I have made an agreement with David, whom I chose [to serve me]. I have made this solemn (agreement with/promise to) him:
I have made a covenant with mine elect, I have sworn unto David my servant:
4 ‘I will enable various ones of your descendants to always be kings; the line of kings descended from you [MTY] will never end.’”
Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne from generation to generation. (Selah)
5 Yahweh, I desire that all [those beings who are in] [MTY] heaven will praise you for the wonderful things that you do, and that all your holy angels will sing about how you faithfully [do what you promise].
And the heavens shall celebrate thy wonders, O Jehovah, and thy faithfulness in the congregation of the saints.
6 There is no one [RHQ] in heaven who can be compared with you, Yahweh. There are no angels [RHQ] in heaven who are equal to you.
For who in the heaven can be compared to Jehovah? [who] among the sons of the mighty shall be likened to Jehovah?
7 When your holy angels gather together, they declare that you must be revered; they say that you are more awesome than all the angels that surround your throne!
God is greatly to be feared in the council of the saints, and terrible for all that are round about him.
8 O Yahweh, God Almighty, there is no one [RHQ] who is powerful like you are; your faithfully doing [all that you promise] is [like a cloak that] [MET] [always] surrounds you.
Jehovah, God of hosts, who is like unto thee, the strong Jah? And thy faithfulness is round about thee.
9 You rule over the powerful seas; when their waves rise up, you calm them.
Thou rulest the pride of the sea: when its waves arise, thou stillest them.
10 You are the one who crushed [and killed the great sea monster named] Rahab. You [defeated and] scattered your enemies with your great power [MTY].
Thou hast crushed Rahab as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with the arm of thy strength.
11 The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours; and everything on the earth is yours, because you created it all.
Thine are the heavens, the earth also is thine; the world and its fulness, thou hast founded them.
12 You created [everything from] the north to the south. Tabor [Mountain] and Hermon [Mountain] joyfully praise you [MTY].
The north and the south, thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon triumph in thy name.
13 (You/Your arms) are very powerful; (you/your hands) are extremely strong.
Thine is the arm of might: strong is thy hand, high is thy right hand.
14 (Your rule [MTY] over us is based on/As you rule over us, you are always) treating people fairly and justly, and on/are always faithfully loving us and doing [what you promised].
Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of thy throne; loving-kindness and truth go before thy face.
15 Yahweh, happy are the people who worship you with joyful shouts, who live knowing that you are always watching over them.
Blessed is the people that know the shout of joy: they walk, O Jehovah, in the light of thy countenance.
16 Every day, throughout the day, they rejoice in what you [MTY] [have done], and they praise you for being very good [to them].
In thy name are they joyful all the day, and in thy righteousness are they exalted.
17 You give us your glorious strength; because you act in our favor, we defeat [MET] [our enemies].
For thou art the glory of their strength; and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
18 Yahweh, you gave us [the one who] protects us [MET]; you, the holy God whom we Israelis worship, chose a king for us.
For Jehovah is our shield, and the Holy One of Israel, our king.
19 Long ago you spoke in a vision to one of your servants/prophets, saying, “I have helped a famous soldier; I chose him from among all the people to be a 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.
20 That man is David, the one who will serve me [faithfully], and I anointed him with sacred olive oil [to make him king].
I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:
21 I [MTY] will always strengthen him; with my power [MTY] I will make him strong.
With whom my hand shall be established; and mine arm shall strengthen him.
22 His enemies will never find ways to defeat him, and wicked people will never defeat him.
No enemy shall exact upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him;
23 I will crush his enemies in front of him and get rid of those who hate him.
But I will beat down his adversaries before his face, and will smite them that hate him.
24 I will always be loyal to him and faithfully love him and enable him to defeat [MET] [his enemies].
And my faithfulness and my loving-kindness shall be with him, and by my name shall his horn be exalted.
25 I will cause (his kingdom/the area that he rules) to include all the land from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Euphrates] River.
And I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.
26 He will say to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the one who protects [MET] and saves me.’
He shall call unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation;
27 I will give him [the rights/privileges that a man’s] firstborn son has [MET]; he will be the greatest king on the earth.
And as to me, I will make him firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 I will always be loyal to him, and my agreement [to bless] him will last forever.
My loving-kindness will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him;
29 I will establish a line of his descendants that will never end, various ones of his descendants will always be kings.
And I will establish his seed for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
30 But, if [some of] his descendants disobey my laws, and do not not behave like my commands say that they should,
If his sons forsake my law, and walk not in mine ordinances;
31 if they disregard my requirements and do not do the right things that I have told them to do,
If they profane my statutes, and keep not my commandments:
32 I will punish them severely [MTY] and cause them to suffer for doing wrong.
Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.
33 But I will not stop faithfully loving [David], and I will always do what I promised him.
Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor belie my faithfulness;
34 I will not break the agreement that I made with him; I will not change even one word that I spoke [to him].
My covenant will I not profane, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
35 Once I made a solemn promise to David, and that will never change, and because I am God, I will never lie to David.
Once have I sworn by my holiness; I will not lie unto David:
36 [I promised that] the line of kings descended from him will go on forever; it will last as long as the sun [shines].
His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me;
37 That line will (be as permanent/last as long) as the moon that is always watching everything from the sky.
It shall be established for ever as the moon, and the witness in the sky is firm. (Selah)
38 But [Yahweh], now you have rejected [DOU] David! You are very angry with the king whom you appointed.
But thou hast rejected and cast off; thou hast been very wroth with thine anointed:
39 [It seems that] you have broken the agreement that you made with your servant, [David]; it seems as though you [have signaled that he is no longer the king by] throwing his crown into the dust/dirt.
Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant; thou hast profaned his crown to the ground:
40 You have torn down the walls [that protect] his [city], and allowed all his forts to become ruins.
Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strongholds to ruin.
41 All those who pass by plunder/steal his possessions; his neighbors (laugh at/ridicule) him.
All that pass by the way plunder him; he is become a reproach to his neighbours.
42 You have enabled his enemies to defeat him; you have made them all happy.
Thou hast exalted the right hand of his oppressors; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice:
43 You have caused his sword to become useless, and you have not helped him in his battles.
Yea, thou hast turned back the edge of his sword, and hast not made him stand in the battle.
44 You have caused his splendor to end (OR, You have taken away his power by knocking his throne to the ground.
Thou hast made his brightness to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground;
45 You have caused him to look old when he is still young and caused him to be very shamed/disgraced.
The days of his youth hast thou shortened; thou hast covered him with shame. (Selah)
46 O Yahweh, how long [will this continue]? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your anger burn like a fire?
How long, Jehovah, wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy fury burn like fire?
47 Do not forget that life is very short; have you created all us people in vain?
Remember, as regards me, what life is. Wherefore hast thou created all the children of men to be vanity?
48 No one can [RHQ] keep on living and never die; (No one can [RHQ] avoid going/Everyone will go) to the place of the dead. (Sheol h7585)
What man liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? (Selah) (Sheol h7585)
49 Yahweh, you promised long ago that you would faithfully love us; why are you not doing that? You solemnly promised that to David!
Where, Lord, are thy former loving-kindnesses, [which] thou swarest unto David in thy faithfulness?
50 Yahweh, do not forget that people insult me! (Heathen people/People who do not know you) curse me!
Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants — that I bear in my bosom [that of] all the mighty peoples —
51 Yahweh, your enemies insult your chosen king! They insult/ridicule him wherever he goes.
Wherewith thine enemies, O Jehovah, have reproached, wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
52 I hope/desire that Yahweh will be praised forever! Amen! May it be so!
Blessed be Jehovah for evermore! Amen, and Amen.
