Psalm 119:1-176

א [ʼAʹleph]* 119 * Happy are the ones faultless in [their] way,+The ones walking in the law of Jehovah.+   Happy are those observing his reminders;+With all the heart they keep searching for him.+   Really they have practiced no unrighteousness.+In his ways they have walked.+   You yourself have commandingly given your orders+To be carefully kept.+   O that my ways were firmly established+To keep your regulations!+   In that case I should not be ashamed,+When I look to all your commandments.+   I shall laud you in uprightness of heart,+When I learn your righteous judicial decisions.+   Your regulations I continue to keep.+O do not leave me entirely.+ ב [Behth]*   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.
“Loose conduct.” Heb., zim·mahʹ; Lat., in·i·qui·taʹte. See Ga 5:19 ftn, “Conduct.”
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.