Psalm 119:1-176
א [ʼAʹleph]*
119 * Happy are the ones faultless in [their] way,+The ones walking in the law of Jehovah.+
2 Happy are those observing his reminders;+With all the heart they keep searching for him.+
3 Really they have practiced no unrighteousness.+In his ways they have walked.+
4 You yourself have commandingly given your orders+To be carefully kept.+
5 O that my ways were firmly established+To keep your regulations!+
6 In that case I should not be ashamed,+When I look to all your commandments.+
7 I shall laud you in uprightness of heart,+When I learn your righteous judicial decisions.+
8 Your regulations I continue to keep.+O do not leave me entirely.+
ב [Behth]*
9 How will a young man+ cleanse his path?By keeping on guard according to your word.*+
10 With my whole heart I have searched for you.+Do not cause me to go astray from your commandments.+
11 In my heart I have treasured up* your saying,+In order that I may not sin against you.+
12 Blessed you are, O Jehovah.Teach me your regulations.+
13 With my lips I have declared+All the judicial decisions of your mouth.+
14 In the way of your reminders I have exulted,+Just as over all other valuable things.*+
15 With your orders I will concern myself,+And I will look to your paths.+
16 For your statutes I shall show a fondness.+I shall not forget your word.+
ג [Giʹmel]*
17 Act appropriately toward your servant, that I may live+And that I may keep your word.+
18 Uncover my eyes, that I may look+At the wonderful things out of your law.+
19 I am but an alien resident in the land.+Do not conceal from me your commandments.+
20 My soul is crushed with longing+For your judicial decisions all the time.+
21 You have rebuked the cursed presumptuous ones,+Who are straying from your commandments.+
22 Roll off me reproach and contempt,+For I have observed your own reminders.+
23 Even princes have sat; against me they have spoken with one another.+As for your servant, he concerns himself with your regulations.+
24 Also, your reminders are what I am fond of,+As men of my counsel.+
ד [Daʹleth]*
25 My soul has been cleaving to the very dust.+Preserve me alive* according to your word.+
26 I have declared my own ways, that you may answer me.+Teach me your regulations.+
27 Make me understand the way of your own orders,+That I may concern myself with your wonderful works.+
28 My soul has been sleepless from grief.+Raise me up according to your word.+
29 Remove from me even the false way,+And favor me with your own law.+
30 The way of faithfulness I have chosen.+Your judicial decisions I have considered appropriate.+
31 I have cleaved to your reminders.+O Jehovah, do not put me to shame.+
32 I shall run the very way of your commandments,+Because you make my heart have the room.*+
ה [Heʼ]*
33 Instruct me, O Jehovah, in the way of your regulations,+That I may observe it down to the last.+
34 Make me understand, that I may observe your law+And that I may keep it with the whole heart.+
35 Cause me to tread in the pathway of your commandments,+For in it I have taken delight.+
36 Incline my heart to your reminders,+And not to profits.*+
37 Make my eyes pass on from seeing what is worthless;+Preserve me alive in your own way.+
38 Carry out to your servant your saying+That [tends] to the fear of you.+
39 Make my reproach pass away, of which I have been scared,+For your judicial decisions are good.+
40 Look! I have longed for your orders.+In your righteousness preserve me alive.+
ו [Waw]*
41 And may your loving-kindnesses* come to me, O Jehovah,+Your salvation according to your saying,+
42 That I may answer the one reproaching me with a word,+For I have trusted in your word.+
43 And do not take away from my mouth the word of truth entirely,+For I have waited for your own judicial decision.+
44 And I will keep your law constantly,+To time indefinite, even forever.+
45 And I will walk about in a roomy place,+For I have searched even for your orders.+
46 I will also speak about your reminders in front of kings,+And I shall not be ashamed.+
47 And I shall show a fondness for your commandments+That I have loved.+
48 And I shall raise my palms to your commandments that I have loved,+And I will concern myself with your regulations.+
ז [Zaʹyin]*
49 Remember the word to your servant,+For which you have made me wait.+
50 This is my comfort in my affliction,+For your own saying has preserved me alive.+
51 The presumptuous ones themselves have derided me to the extreme.+From your law I have not deviated.+
52 I have remembered your judicial decisions from time indefinite, O Jehovah,+And I find comfort for myself.+
53 A raging heat itself has taken hold of me because of the wicked,+Who are leaving your law.+
54 Melodies your regulations have become to me+In the house of my alien residences.+
55 In the night I have remembered your name, O Jehovah,+That I may keep your law.+
56 Even this has become mine,Because your orders I have observed.+
ח [Chehth]*
57 Jehovah is my share;+I have promised to keep your words.+
58 I have softened your face with all [my] heart.+Show me favor according to your saying.+
59 I have considered my ways,+That I may turn back my feet to your reminders.+
60 I hurried up, and I did not delay+To keep your commandments.+
61 The very ropes of the wicked ones surrounded me.+Your law I did not forget.+
62 At midnight I get up to give thanks to you+For your righteous judicial decisions.+
63 A partner I am of all those who do fear you,+And of those keeping your orders.+
64 Your loving-kindness,* O Jehovah, has filled the earth.+Teach me your own regulations.+
ט [Tehth]*
65 You have dealt well indeed with your servant,+O Jehovah, according to your word.+
66 Teach me goodness,+ sensibleness+ and knowledge themselves,+For in your commandments I have exercised faith.+
67 Before I was under affliction I was sinning by mistake,+But now I have kept your very saying.+
68 You are good and are doing good.+Teach me your regulations.+
69 The presumptuous have smeared me with falsehood.+As for me, with all [my] heart I shall observe your orders.+
70 Their heart has become unfeeling just like fat.+I, for my part, have been fond of your own law.+
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted,+In order that I may learn your regulations.+
72 The law+ of your mouth is good for me,+More so than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.+
י [Yohdh]*
73 Your own hands have made me, and they proceeded to fix me solidly.+Make me understand, that I may learn your commandments.+
74 Those fearing you are the ones that see me and rejoice,+For I have waited for your own word.+
75 I well know, O Jehovah, that your judicial decisions are righteousness+And that with faithfulness you have afflicted me.+
76 May your loving-kindness serve, please, to comfort me,+According to your saying to your servant.+
77 Let your mercies come to me, that I may keep living;+For your law is what I am fond of.+
78 Let the presumptuous ones be ashamed, for without cause* they have misled me.+As for me, I concern myself with your orders.+
79 Let those fearing you turn back to me,+Those also knowing your reminders.*+
80 Let my heart prove faultless in your regulations,+In order that I may not be ashamed.+
כ [Kaph]*
81 For your salvation my soul has pined away;+For your word I have waited.+
82 My eyes have pined away for your saying,+While I say: “When will you comfort me?”+
83 For I have become like a skin bottle+ in the smoke.Your regulations I have not forgotten.+
84 How many are the days of your servant?+When will you execute judgment against those persecuting me?+
85 The presumptuous have excavated pitfalls to get me,+Those who are not in accord with your law.+
86 All your commandments are faithfulness itself.+Without cause they have persecuted me. O help me.+
87 In a little while they would have exterminated me in the earth;+But I myself did not leave your orders.+
88 According to your loving-kindness preserve me alive,+That I may keep the reminder of your mouth.+
ל [Laʹmedh]*
89 To time indefinite, O Jehovah,+Your word is stationed in the heavens.*+
90 Your faithfulness is for generation after generation.*+You have solidly fixed the earth, that it may keep standing.+
91 According to your judicial decisions they have stood [till] today,+For they are all your servants.+
92 If your law had not been what I am fond of,+Then I should have perished in my affliction.+
93 To time indefinite I shall not forget your orders,+Because by them you have preserved me alive.+
94 I am yours. O save me,+Because I have searched for your own orders.+
95 For me the wicked have waited, to destroy me.+To your reminders I keep showing myself attentive.+
96 To all perfection I have seen an end.+Your commandment is very broad.
מ [Mem]*
97 How I do love your law!+All day long it is my concern.+
98 Wiser than my enemies your commandment makes me,*+Because to time indefinite it is mine.+
99 More insight than all my teachers I have come to have,+Because your reminders are a concern to me.+
100 With more understanding than older men I behave,+Because I have observed your own orders.+
101 From every bad path I have restrained my feet,+For the purpose that I may keep your word.+
102 From your judicial decisions I have not turned aside,+For you yourself have instructed me.+
103 How smooth to my palate your sayings* have been,More so than honey to my mouth!+
104 Owing to your orders I behave with understanding.+That is why I have hated every false path.+
נ [Nun]*
105 Your word is a lamp to my foot,*+And a light to my roadway.+
106 I have made a sworn statement, and I will carry it out,+To keep your righteous judicial decisions.+
107 I have been afflicted to a great extent.+O Jehovah, preserve me alive according to your word.+
108 Please take pleasure in the voluntary offerings of my mouth, O Jehovah,+And teach me your own judicial decisions.+
109 My soul is in my palm constantly;+But your law I have not forgotten.+
110 The wicked have set a trap for me,+But from your orders I have not wandered.+
111 I have taken your reminders as a possession to time indefinite,+For they are the exultation of my heart.+
112 I have inclined my heart to do your regulations+To time indefinite, down to the last.+
ס [Saʹmekh]*
113 The halfhearted ones I have hated,+But your law I have loved.+
114 You are my place of concealment and my shield.+For your word I have waited.+
115 Get away from me, YOU evildoers,+That I may observe the commandments of my God.+
116 Support me according to your saying, that I may keep living,+And do not put me to shame for my hope.+
117 Sustain me, that I may be saved,+And I shall gaze upon your regulations constantly.+
118 You have tossed away all those straying from your regulations;+For their trickiness is falsehood.+
119 As scummy dross you have made all the wicked ones of the earth to cease.+Therefore I have loved your reminders.+
120 From the dread of you my flesh has had a creepy feeling;+And because of your judicial decisions I have been afraid.+
ע [ʽAʹyin]*
121 I have executed judgment* and righteousness.+O do not abandon me to those defrauding me!+
122 Act as a surety for your servant for what is good.+May the presumptuous ones not defraud me.+
123 My very eyes have pined away for your salvation+And for your righteous saying.+
124 Do with your servant according to your loving-kindness,+And teach me your own regulations.+
125 I am your servant.+ Make me understand,+That I may know your reminders.+
126 It is the time for Jehovah to act.+They have broken your law.+
127 That is why I have loved your commandments+More than gold, even refined gold.+
128 That is why I have considered all orders regarding all things to be right;+Every false path I have hated.+
פ [Peʼ]*
129 Your reminders are wonderful.+That is why my soul has observed them.+
130 The very disclosure of your words gives light,+Making the inexperienced ones understand.+
131 My mouth I have opened wide, that I may pant,+Because for your commandments I have longed.+
132 Turn to me and show me favor,+According to [your] judicial decision* toward those loving your name.+
133 Fix my own steps solidly in your saying,+And may no kind of hurtful thing domineer over me.+
134 Redeem me from any defrauder of mankind,*+And I will keep your orders.+
135 Make your own face shine upon your servant,+And teach me your regulations.+
136 Streams of water have run down my eyes+Over the fact that they have not kept your law.+
צ [Tsa·dhehʹ]*
137 You are righteous, O Jehovah,+And your judicial decisions are upright.+
138 You have commanded your reminders+ in righteousnessAnd in exceeding faithfulness.+
139 My ardor has made an end of me,+Because my adversaries have forgotten your words.+
140 Your saying is very much refined,+And your own servant loves it.+
141 I am insignificant and contemptible.+Your orders I have not forgotten.+
142 Your righteousness is a righteousness to time indefinite,+And your law is truth.+
143 Distress and difficulty themselves found me.+Your commandments I was fond of.+
144 The righteousness of your reminders is to time indefinite.+Make me understand, that I may keep living.+
ק [Qohph]*
145 I have called with [my] whole heart.+ Answer me, O Jehovah.+Your regulations I will observe.+
146 I have called upon you. O save me!+And I will keep your reminders.+
147 I have been up early in the morning twilight,+ that I may cry for help.+For your words I have waited.+
148 My eyes have been ahead of the night watches,+[For me] to concern myself with your saying.+
149 O do hear my own voice according to your loving-kindness.+O Jehovah, according to your judicial decision preserve me alive.+
150 Those in pursuit of loose conduct*+ have come near;*They have got far away from your own law.+
151 You are near, O Jehovah,+And all your commandments are truth.+
152 Long ago I have known some of your reminders,+For to time indefinite you have founded them.+
ר [Rehsh]*
153 O see my affliction, and rescue me;+For I have not forgotten your own law.+
154 O do conduct my legal case and recover me;+Preserve me alive in agreement with your saying.+
155 Salvation is far away from the wicked ones,+For they have not searched for your own regulations.+
156 Many are your mercies, O Jehovah.+According to your judicial decisions, O preserve me alive.+
157 My persecutors and my adversaries are many.+From your reminders I have not deviated.+
158 I have seen those who are treacherous in dealing,+And I do feel a loathing, because they have not kept your own saying.+
159 O see that I have loved your own orders.+O Jehovah, according to your loving-kindness preserve me alive.+
160 The substance* of your word is truth,+And every righteous judicial decision of yours is to time indefinite.+
ש [Sin] or [Shin]*
161 Princes themselves have persecuted me for no cause,+But my heart has been in dread of your own words.+
162 I am exulting over your saying+Just as one does when finding much spoil.+
163 Falsehood I have hated,+ and I do keep detesting it.+Your law I have loved.+
164 Seven times in the day I have praised you+Because of your righteous judicial decisions.+
165 Abundant peace belongs to those loving your law,+And for them there is no stumbling block.+
166 I have hoped for your salvation, O Jehovah,+And I have done your own commandments.+
167 My soul has kept your reminders,+And I love them exceedingly.+
168 I have kept your orders and your reminders,+For all my ways are in front of you.+
ת [Taw]*
169 May my entreating cry come near before you, O Jehovah.+According to your word, O make me understand.+
170 May my request for favor enter in before you.+According to your saying, O deliver me.+
171 May my lips bubble forth praise,+For you teach me your regulations.+
172 May my tongue sing forth your saying,+For all your commandments are righteousness.+
173 May your hand serve to help me,+Because your orders I have chosen.+
174 I have longed for your salvation, O Jehovah,+And your law I am fond of.+
175 May my soul keep living and praising you,+And may your own judicial decisions help me.+
176 I have wandered like a lost sheep.+ O look for your servant,+For I have not forgotten your own commandments.*+
Footnotes
^ In this opening section each vs begins with the first letter of the Heb. alphabet, ʼAʹleph. It is generally unpronounced and is transliterated as a single closing quote or raised comma ( ʼ ).
^ This is an acrostic, or alphabetic, psalm with 22 sections to correspond to the 22 letters of the Heb. alphabet; each section contains eight vss.
^ In this second section each vs begins with the second letter of the Heb. alphabet, Behth, English “B.”
^ Or, “cleanse his path so as to keep on guard according to your word?”
^ Or, “I have concealed.”
^ “More than over all other riches,” Sy.
^ In this third section each vs begins with the third letter of the Heb. alphabet, Giʹmel, English “G.”
^ In this fourth section each vs begins with the fourth letter of the Heb. alphabet, Daʹleth, English “D.”
^ Or, “Bring me to life.”
^ Or, “confidence; courage.”
^ In this fifth section each vs begins with the fifth letter of the Heb. alphabet, Heʼ, English “H.”
^ Or, “unjust profit.”
^ In this sixth section each vs begins with the sixth letter of the Heb. alphabet, Waw, English “W.”
^ “Loving-kindnesses,” TSy and many Heb. mss; M, “loving-kindness,” but with a pl. verb.
^ In this seventh section each vs begins with the seventh letter of the Heb. alphabet, Zaʹyin, English “Z.”
^ In this eighth section each vs begins with the eighth letter of the Heb. alphabet, Chehth, transliterated into English as ch and pronounced with a strongly guttural sound.
^ Or, “loyal love.”
^ In this ninth section each vs begins with the ninth letter of the Heb. alphabet, Tehth, English “T,” pronounced emphatically.
^ In this tenth section each vs begins with the tenth letter of the Heb. alphabet, Yohdh, English “Y.”
^ “Without cause.” Lit., “[with] falsehood.”
^ According to MmarginTLXXSy and many Heb. mss; M, “that they may know your reminders.”
^ In this 11th section each vs begins with the 11th letter of the Heb. alphabet, Kaph, English “K.”
^ In this 12th section each vs begins with the 12th letter of the Heb. alphabet, Laʹmedh, English “L.”
^ “You are to time indefinite, O Jehovah; your word is stationed in the heavens,” Sy.
^ “For generation after generation.” Or, “to all generations.” Heb., ledhorʹ wa·dhorʹ.
^ In this 13th section each vs begins with the 13th letter of the Heb. alphabet, Mem, English “M.”
^ According to one Heb. ms, because of the sing. Heb. verb. M, in agreement with LXXVg, “Wiser than my enemies you make me [by] your commandments.”
^ “Sayings,” TLXXSyVg and five Heb. mss; M, “saying,” but the verb is pl.
^ In this 14th section each vs begins with the 14th letter of the Heb. alphabet, Nun, English “N.”
^ “Foot,” M; LXXSyVg and one Heb. ms, “feet.”
^ In this 15th section each vs begins with the 15th letter of the Heb. alphabet, Saʹmekh, English “S.”
^ In this 16th section each vs begins with the 16th letter of the Heb. alphabet, ʽAʹyin, which has a peculiar guttural sound. It is transliterated as ( ʽ ).
^ Or, “judicial decision.”
^ In this 17th section each vs begins with the 17th letter of the Heb. alphabet, Peʼ, English “P.”
^ Or, “[your] custom.”
^ “Mankind.” Heb., ʼa·dhamʹ.
^ In this 18th section each vs begins with the 18th letter of the Heb. alphabet, Tsa·dhehʹ, English ts sound.
^ In this 19th section each vs begins with the 19th letter of the Heb. alphabet, Qohph, transliterated into English as “Q,” pronounced like a strong English “K” formed at the back of the palate.
^ According to MT; LXXSyVg and by a slight correction of M, “Those persecuting me have drawn near to loose conduct.”
^ In this 20th section each vs begins with the 20th letter of the Heb. alphabet, Rehsh, English “R.”
^ Or, “sum.”
^ In this 21st section each vs begins with the 21st letter of the Heb. alphabet, Sin or Shin, English s or sh sound.
^ In this 22nd section each vs begins with the 22nd and last letter of the Heb. alphabet, Taw, English “T.”
^ Except for vss 90 and 122, every vs of this alphabetic psalm contains one or more of the following ten expressions: WAY(S), 13 times (X); REMINDER(S), 23X; ORDERS, 21X; COMMANDMENT(S), 22X; SAYING(S), 19X; LAW, 25X; JUDICIAL DECISION(S) or JUDGMENT, 23X; RIGHT or RIGHTEOUS(NESS), 15X; REGULATIONS or STATUTES, 22X, and WORD(S), 24X. Also in each of the 22 sections the eight leading legal terms of Ps 19:7-14 occur, namely, LAW, REMINDER, ORDERS, COMMANDMENT, FEAR, JUDICIAL DECISIONS, RIGHTEOUS and SAYINGS.