PSALMS OF SALOMON
TO THE READER

EDITION OF THE GREEK TEXT

Since no critical edition of the Psalms of Salomon’s (PsSal) Greek text is available at the present time, the NETS translation is based on the edition of Alfred Rahlfs (Septuaginta. Id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interpretes, 2 vols. [Stuttgart: Württembergische Bibelanstalt, 1935]). Rahlfs’s text is, for the most part, a reprint of the edition of Oscar von Gebhardt (Die Psalmen Salomo’s zum ersten Male mit Benutzung der Athoshandschriften und des Codex Casanatensis [Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1895]). Rahlfs frequently incorporated many of von Gebhardt’s conjectural emendations, which are referred to in Rahlfs’ text by the siglum “Gebh.” The remaining conjectural emendations included in Rahlfs’ Greek text are largely derived from the edition of Henry B. Swete (The Psalms of Solomon with the Greek Fragments of the Book of Enoch [Cam-bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1899]) and are indicated in Rahlfs’ notes by the siglum “Sw.” This book is basically a reprint of Swete’s earlier edition of the Greek text of PsSal (The Old Testament in Greek According to the Septuagint [vol. 3; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1894] 765–787), but it incorporates readings from three new manuscripts that were included in von Gebhardt’s text. In one instance (17.32), Rahlfs adopted the suggestion first proposed in 1870 by A. Carrière (De Psalterio Salomonis disquistionem historico-criticam scripsit [Strasbourg]) that , which is preserved in all of PsSal’s manuscripts, should be emended to . All departures from Rahlfs’ text are indicated in the notes to the present translation.

Since the publication of Rahlfs’ edition of the LXX, three new Greek manuscripts of PsSal have been discovered (MSS 655, 659, and 3004). These manuscripts contain no major textual variants. Robert Hann has prepared a full listing of all readings from PsSal’s eleven Greek manuscripts (The Manuscript History of the Psalms of Solomon [SBLSCS 13; Chico: Scholars Press, 1982]). Robert Wright has recently completed the first critical edition of PsSal that includes these newly discovered manuscripts along with all the Syriac witnesses (The Psalms of Solomon: A Critical Edition of the Greek Text [New York: T & T Clark/Continuum, forthcoming]). Wright’s eclectic text, despite his incorporation of readings from all eleven Greek manuscripts, is for the most part similar to Rahlfs’ text. Rahlfs’ edition, despite the discovery of additional manuscripts, is still the best edition of the Greek text currently available to use as the basis for the NETS of PsSal.

Unfortunately, PsSal lacks a Hebrew text. This makes it difficult to determine precisely how the translator adhered to the Hebrew Vorlage. PsSal is also extant in five Syriac manuscripts, none of which preserves the entire composition. The Syriac version contains several Greek loanwords and differs from the Greek in only sixty-two, approximately 10%, of PsSal’s verses. Because it is largely a literal reproduction of the Greek, most scholars believe that the Syriac version was made from the Greek translation and not from the Hebrew Vorlage. The Syriac is, therefore, of minimal value for understanding the relationship between the Greek and PsSal’s lost Hebrew Vorlage. In several places where the Greek text is difficult to understand, the Syriac translation gravitates toward Greek MS 253, which preserves the earliest form of PsSal’s Greek text. The Syriac version and this particular Greek manuscript appear to stem from a common textual ancestor. In passages where the Greek is difficult, however, the Syriac translator frequently sought to smooth them. While it may contain some passages that likely reflect the Old Greek more accurately than our surviving Greek textual witnesses, the Syriac is nevertheless problematic for understanding the Greek text, since it frequently represents what its translator thought the Greek text meant. W. Baars (“Psalms of Solomon,” in The Old Testament in Syriac According to the Peshitta Version [Part 4, Fascicle 6; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972] 1–27) has prepared a critical edition of the Syriac translation. Because the Syriac version essentially supports Rahlfs’ Greek text, no readings from the Syriac have been included in the present translation.

TITLE OF THE BOOK

The title ascribes the collection to King Salomon, who was famous as a writer of poems and proverbs (3 Rgns 5.12 [MT 5.12; NRSV 4.32]). The attribution likely derives from the phrase “son of Dauid” in 17.21, apparently thought by some scribe to mean Salomon. Superscripts of individual psalms too are generally thought to be secondary. Whether they were already in the translator’s Hebrew source text is not at all clear.

Some manuscripts title the collection “Psalms of Salomon,” whereas others give the name as “Solomon.” In manuscript 253 (XI/XII CE), which contains the best and earliest text, has “Solomon” in the title, but “Salomon” in all but three of the superscripts. Other Greek manuscripts vary widely. The earliest attestation to a title is in Codex Alexandrinus (V CE), which reads (). Since this listing is nearly five centuries later than PsSal’s presumed first century BCE date of composition, it does not resolve the debate over the correct spelling of the name. The spelling of Codex Alexandrinus appears in many later Christian canon lists, such as those of Pseudo-Athanasius (early VI CE) and Nicephorus (IX CE), suggesting that “Solomon” was the preferred spelling during the Christian period. Although Rahlfs’ text consistently uses the spelling “Salomon” for the superscripts, he titled the collection “Psalms of Solomon.” Because the LXX of Reigns uses the spelling “Salomon,” this was likely the spelling used in the Old Greek—if indeed it had any title at all—and is used throughout NETS of PsSal.

TRANSLATION PROFILE OF THE GREEK

Because we do not possess PsSal’s Hebrew Vorlage, it is difficult to attempt to reconstruct its original text. It is, moreover, impossible to determine with any certainty whether the Greek translator remained faithful to the original text or sometimes expanded or paraphrased the Hebrew. In some instances the Greek translator may have improperly vocalized his Hebrew text or closely adhered to Hebrew syntax, which sometimes resulted in an awkward style.

In keeping with the philosophy of NETS, the present English translation of PsSal has attempted to focus on the Greek translator’s intent rather than on the perception of the original audience. In other words, the English has tried to adhere to the NRSV’s maxim to be “as literal as possible, as free as necessary.” Where the Greek translator likely did not understand the original Hebrew, or possibly mistranslated what was likely the Vorlage, the English translation seeks to convey the ambiguity of the Greek.

THE NETS TRANSLATION OF THE PSALMS OF SALOMON

Because there is no Hebrew text of PsSal to compare with the Greek, it is difficult to comment in detail on the Greek translator’s methods. PsSal’s relatively limited Greek vocabulary suggests that the translator rarely departed from a fixed list of Hebrew-Greek equivalents. It appears that the translator frequently used the same word, such as and , to represent a given Hebrew word even in instances when another Greek word would have been more appropriate. This lexical stereotyping often resulted in a rather stilted translation, which in many cases likely reflects the appearance of the Hebrew Vorlage. PsSal’s Greek text also contains renderings in which the translator apparently attempted to express the meaning of the Hebrew at the expense of achieving a clear Greek reading. In some instances, such as (18.5) and (4.18), the exact Hebrew to Greek equivalent is uncertain. There is some evidence that later Christian scribes introduced errors into the text. In 17.32, for example, the original genitive was likely erroneously rendered as a nominative by a later Christian scribe resulting in two anarthrous nominatives . This same reading is also found in the LXX of Lam 4.20. These examples likely reflect messianizing changes that were later made to the LXX in the Christian era. In the absence of PsSal’s Hebrew Vorlage, it is impossible to know for certain how extensively later scribes altered its original text.

In several places it appears that PsSal’s translator has either confused the Hebrew consonants or misunderstood Hebrew grammar. In 2.25, for example, the translator apparently misread an original (“to change, turn”) as (“to say”). Likewise, in 2.26 the text reads (“his insolence”). The Greek translator may have misread “his body,” (possibly written ), as . In other instances, the text apparently reflects the translator’s mistaken understanding of the Hebrew syntax. In 4.12, for example, the Greek is feminine and likely presupposes a specific antecedent. The Hebrew Vorlage was likely , which was intended as a marker of general reference and meant “in this manner.” The translator, however, did not render this by a corresponding Greek neuter pronoun but slavishly rendered it as a feminine, thereby creating a problematic Greek text with no clear antecedent, although it perhaps refers to . The Greek text of PsSal frequently changes tenses without any clear change implied in the action of the verbs (3.7–8a; 17.6b–9). These examples suggest that the translator did not fully understand the Hebrew Vorlage. In such cases where the translator likely misunderstood the Hebrew, the present translation seeks to reproduce the ambiguity of the Greek text.

The superscripts in PsSal are of unknown date and provenance. They are frequently difficult to translate because their words and expressions are often used without any context and frequently do not relate to the accompanying text. The punctuation, content, and orthography of these titles vary in the manuscript tradition. I have simply followed Rahlfs’ text, but have at times deviated from his punctuation.

The present translation has attempted to follow the gender-inclusive language of the NRSV. Inclusive third-person plurals have been introduced only when allowed by the Greek. In some passages gender specific language has been introduced when it is clear that the Greek translator understood the Hebrew to be gender specific. When, for example, the Greek word appears to be gender specific, it is so translated. If the translator’s pronouns seem to refer to a specific man (4.1–5, 13.5), the English is also rendered in gender specific language.

EDITORIAL POLICY

There is no standard versification of the Psalms of Salomon. The present translation follows Rahlfs’ numbering. Because Rahlfs’ punctuation reflects his personal decision, I have on occasion departed from it. I have consulted photographs of all eleven of PsSal’s surviving Greek manuscripts in preparing the NETS translation. These have at times assisted in determining the punctuation of the text.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

In translating PsSal for NETS, I have benefited from other English translations, especially those of H. E. Ryle and M. R. James (The Psalms of the Pharisees, Commonly Called the Psalms of Solomon [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1891]), G. B. Gray (“The Psalms of Solomon,” in Charles 2, 625–52), R. B. Wright, (“The Psalms of Solomon,” in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha [ed. J. H. Charlesworth; vol. 2; Garden City: Doubleday, 1985] 639–670), and S. P. Brock (“The Psalms of Solomon,” in The Apocryphal Old Testament [ed. H. F. D. Sparks; Oxford: Clarendon, 1984]) 649–682). Apart from the standard Greek grammars and lexica, the notes to Gebhardt’s Greek text, as well as the linguistic comments of M. Delcour (“Psaumes de Salomon,” in Dictionnaire de la Bible: Supplément [ed. L. Pirot and A. Robert; Paris: Letouzey & Ané, 1979] 214–245) and J. Viteau (Les Psaumes de Salomon: Introduction, texte grec et traduction, avec les principales variantes de la version syriaque par François Martin [Paris: Letouzey et Ané, 1911] were particularly helpful in preparing the NETS translation. The exegetical article of J. Begrich (“Der Text der Psalmen Salomos,” ZNW 38 [1939] 131–162) was especially helpful in understanding the complex relationship between PsSal’s Syriac and Greek texts and offered some valuable insights into the meaning of several difficult Greek passages.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Albert Pietersma generously devoted much time to reviewing earlier drafts of this translation. His probing questions and suggestions greatly improved my work. Any errors in this translation are entirely my own. I am also thankful to Robert B. Wright, who kindly provided me with an advance copy of his forthcoming critical Greek text and color photographs of all the Psalms of Salomon’s Greek and Syriac manuscripts.

KENNETH ATKINSON

Psalm 1

¹ I cried to the Lord when I was completely
         distressed,
to God when sinners attacked.

² Suddenly the cry of war was heard before
         me:

he^a will listen to me, for I was full of
righteousness.

³ I thought in my heart that I was full of
         righteousness,

when I prospered and had become rich
in children.

⁴ Their wealth was spread over the whole
         earth,
and their glory to the end of the earth.

⁵ They were exalted to the stars;
they said they would not fall.

⁶ But they became insolent in their prosperity,
and they did not bring.

⁷ Their sins were in secret,
and I had no knowledge of them.

⁸ Their acts lawlessness surpassed those of the
         nations before them;

they profaned with profanity the
sanctuary of the Lord.

Psalm 2

A Psalm. Pertaining to Salomon. Concerning

Ierousalem.

¹ When the sinner became proud, he struck
         down fortified walls
with a battering-ram,

and you did not prevent him.

² Foreign nations went up to your altar;
in pride they trampled it with their
         sandals,

³ because the sons of Ierousalem had defiled
         the sanctuary of the Lord,

had profaned the gifts of God with acts of
lawlessness.

⁴ Because of these things he said, ”Cast them^b
         far from me;
I take no pleasure in them.”

⁵ The beauty of her glory was despised before
         God;
it was completely dishonored.

⁶ The sons and daughters were in harsh
         captivity,

their neck in a seal, with a mark among
the nations.

⁷ According to their sins he dealt with them,
for he abandoned them into the hands of
         those who prevail.

⁸ He^c turned away his face from pitying them,
young and old and their children once
         again,

for they did evil once again in not
listening.

⁹ And heaven was weighed down, and the
         earth detested them,

because no person upon it had done
what they did.

¹⁰ And the earth shall know all your righteous
         judgments, O God.

¹¹ They set the sons of Ierousalem to be
         mocked because of the prostitutes
         in her;

everyone passing by would enter before
the sun.

¹² They used to mock with their acts of
         lawlessness, as they themselves used
         to do;

before the sun they paraded their
injustices.

¹³ And the daughters of Ierousalem were
         profane according to your judgment,

because they had defiled themselves with
a confusion of mingling^d.

¹⁴ I am troubled in my entrails and my inward
         parts over these things.

¹⁵ I will justify you, O God, in uprightness of
         heart,

for in your judgments is your
righteousness, O God.

¹⁶ For you have repaid the sinners according to
         their works,

and according to their sins, which were
very wicked.

¹⁷ You have exposed their sins, that your
         judgment might be evident;

you have wiped out their memorial from
the earth.

¹⁸ God is a righteous judge, and he will not
         marvel at a person.

¹⁹ For the nations reviled Ierousalem,
         trampling her down;

he dragged down her beauty from the
throne of glory.

²⁰ She put on sackcloth instead of beautiful
         clothing,

a rope around her head instead of
a crown.

²¹ She removed the headdress of glory, which
         God had set upon her;

in dishonor her beauty was cast upon the
ground.

²² And I saw and entreated the face of the Lord
         and said:

Long enough, Lord, has your hand been
heavy on Ierousalem

in bringing the nations upon her.

²³ For they mocked and spared not, in wrath
         and fierce anger,

and they will be brought to an end,
unless you, Lord, rebuke them in your wrath.

²⁴ For it was not out of zeal that they acted,
         but out of the desire of the soul,

so as to pour out their wrath upon us in
plunder.

²⁵ Do not delay, O God, to repay them on
         their heads,

to declare^a in dishonor the arrogance of
the dragon.

²⁶ And I did not wait long until God showed
         me his insolence,
pierced, on the mountains of Egypt,
more than the least despised on land and
         sea.

²⁷ His body, carried about on the waves in
         great insolence,
and there was no one to bury,
for he had rejected him in dishonor.

²⁸ He did not consider that he was a human,
nor did he consider the hereafter.

²⁹ He said, “I will be lord of earth and sea,”
and he did not recognize that God is
         great,
mighty in his great strength.

³⁰ He is king over the heavens,
also judging kings and authorities.

³¹ It is he who raises me up to glory
and puts the arrogant to sleep for
         everlasting destruction in dishonor,
because they did not know him.

³² And now see, the nobles of the earth, the
         judgment of the Lord;

for he is a great and righteous king;
judging what is under heaven.

³³ Bless God, you who fear the Lord with
         understanding,

for the pity of the Lord is upon those
who fear him with judgment,

³⁴ to separate between righteous and sinner,
to repay the sinners forever according to
         their works

³⁵ and to have pity on the righteous, ^bfrom the
         humiliation of the sinner^b,

and to repay the sinner for what he has
done to the righteous.

³⁶ For the Lord is kind to those who call on
         him with endurance,
treating his devout according to his pity,
setting them continuously before him in
         strength.

³⁷ Blessed is the Lord forever before his slaves.

Psalm 3

A Psalm. Pertaining to Salomon. Concerning the

righteous.

¹ Why do you sleep, soul, and do not bless
         the Lord?

Play a new hymn to God, who is worthy
to be praised.

² Play, and be fully awake in wakefulness^c for
         him,

for a good melody to God is from a good
heart.

³ The righteous remember the Lord at all
         times,

with confession and justification, the
Lord’s judgments.

⁴ The righteous does not despise being
         disciplined by the Lord;
his good will is always before the Lord.

⁵ The righteous stumbled and justified the
         Lord;

he fell and watches what God will do for
him;

he eagerly watches whence his salvation
will come.

⁶ The truth of the righteous is from their
         divine savior;

in the house of the righteous sin upon
sin does not lodge^d.

⁷ The righteous always searches his house,
to remove his injustice in transgression.

⁸ He made atonement for sins of ignorance by
         fasting and humiliation of his
         soul,

and the Lord cleanses every devout man
and his house.

⁹ The sinner stumbled, and he curses his life,
the day of his birth and his mother’s
         birth pangs.

¹⁰ He has added sin upon sin in his lifetime;
he fell, because his fall is evil, and he
         shall not rise up.

¹¹ The destruction of the sinner is forever,
and he will not be remembered, when he
         visits the righteous.

¹² This is the portion of sinners forever,
but those who fear the Lord shall rise to
         everlasting life,

and their life is in the light of the Lord
and shall never end.

Psalm 4

Discourse of Salomon. Pertaining to the men-pleasers.

¹ Why do you sit, profaner, in the council of
         the devout,

and your heart is far removed from the
Lord,

provoking with transgressions of the law
the God of Israel?

² Extravagant in speech, extravagant in
         appearance above everyone,

the person harsh in speech in
condemning sinners in judgment.

³ And his hand is the first upon him as if in
         zeal,

and he himself is guilty of various sins
and self-indulgence.

⁴ His eyes are upon every woman without
         distinction;

his tongue is false when he makes a
contract with an oath.

⁵ At night and in secret he sins as though
         unseen;

with his eyes he speaks to every woman
^ain evil assignation^a;

he is quick to enter every house
cheerfully as though innocent.

⁶ May God remove those who live in
         hypocrisy with the devout,

with corruption of his flesh and his life
with poverty.

⁷ May God reveal the works of men, of menpleasers,
his works with derision and contempt.

⁸ And may the devout justify the judgment of
         their God,

when sinners are removed from the
presence of the righteous,

the man-pleaser who speaks the law with
deceit.

⁹ And their eyes are upon a ^bstable house of a
         man^b,

as a serpent to destroy each other’s
wisdom

with words of those who transgress the
law.

¹⁰ His words are deceptions to accomplish his
         desire for injustice;

he did not cease until he had succeeded
in scattering them as orphans.

¹¹ He devastated a house on account of his
         desire for transgressing the law;

he deceived with words, because there is
no one who sees and judges.

¹² At this^c he was filled with transgressing the
         law,
and his eyes are upon another house,
to destroy it with clamorous words.

¹³ His soul, like Hades, is not satisfied with all
         these things.

¹⁴ May his portion, O Lord, be dishonored
         before you;

may his going out be with groaning, and
his coming in with a curse.

¹⁵ May his life be in anguish and poverty and
         anxiety, O Lord;

may his sleep be with grief, and his
waking with anxiety.

¹⁶ May sleep be taken from his temples at
         night;

may he fail dishonorably in all the work
of his hands.

¹⁷ May he enter his house empty-handed,
and may his house lack everything with
         which he might satisfy his soul.

¹⁸ May his old age be spent in loneliness
         without children
right up to his being taken up.

¹⁹ May the flesh of the men-pleasers be
         scattered by wild beasts,

and may the bones of the transgressors of
the law lie before the sun in
dishonor.

²⁰ May ravens peck out the eyes of hypocrites,
for they have devastated many houses of
         men in dishonor,
and they scattered them in desire.

²¹ And they have not remembered God,
and they did not fear God in all these
         things,
and they provoked and angered God.

²² May he remove them from the earth,
because with pretense they have deceived
         the souls of the innocent.

²³ Happy are those who fear the Lord in their
         innocence;

the Lord will save them from deceitful
men and sinners,

and he will save us from every stumbling
block

of the transgressor of the law.

²⁴ May God remove those who arrogantly do
         all injustice;

for the Lord our God is a great and
mighty judge in righteousness.

²⁵ May your pity, O Lord, be upon all those
         who love you.

Psalm 5

A Psalm. Pertaining to Salomon.

¹ O Lord God, I will praise your name with
         joy

in the midst of those who have
knowledge of your righteous
judgments.

² For you are kind and merciful, the refuge of
         the poor;

when I cry out to you, do not pass me by
in silence.

³ For no one will take booty from a strong
         man,

and who shall take of all that you have
made, unless you give it?

⁴ For man and his portion are before you in
         the balance;

he cannot increase it beyond ^dyour
judgment^d, O God.

⁵ When we are distressed we will call upon
         you for help, and you will not turn back our petition,

because you are our God.

⁶ Make not your hand heavy upon us,
lest, from distress, we sin.

⁷ And if you do not return us, we will not stay
         away,
but we will come to you.

⁸ For if I hunger, I will cry to you, O God,
and you will give to me.

⁹ You feed the birds and the fish,
when you give rain to wildernesses that
         green grass may spring up.

¹⁰ You have provided fodder in the wilderness
         for every living thing,

and if they hunger, they will lift their face
to you.

¹¹ You feed kings and rulers and peoples,
         O God,

and who is the hope of the poor and
needy, unless it be you, O Lord?

¹² And you will listen—for who is kind and
         forgiving but you?—

making glad the soul of the humble by
opening your hand in pity.

¹³ Man’s kindness is grudgingly, and
         tomorrow,

and if he repeat it without complaining,
you would even marvel at this.

¹⁴ But your gift is great in kindness, and rich,
and he whose hope is in you will ^anot be
         sparing with a gift^a.

¹⁵ Your pity, O Lord, is upon the whole earth
         in kindness.

¹⁶ Happy is the man whom God remembers
         ^bin due proportion to sufficiency^b;
if man has too much, he sins.

¹⁷ Sufficient is a moderate provision with
         righteousness,

and in this is the blessing of the Lord for
abundance with righteousness.

¹⁸ May those who fear the Lord rejoice in good
         things,

and your kindness be upon Israel in your
kingdom.

¹⁹ Blessed is the glory of the Lord, for he is our
         king.

Psalm 6

In hope. Pertaining to Salomon.

¹ Happy is the man whose heart is prepared
         to call on the name of the Lord;

when he remembers the name of the
Lord, he will be saved.

² His ways are directed by the Lord,
and the works of his hands are protected
         by the Lord, his God.

³ His soul will not be disturbed with the sight
         of evil dreams;

when he crosses rivers and when the seas
         swell, he will not be terrified.

⁴ He arose from his sleep and blessed the
         name of the Lord.

In firmness of heart he sang a hymn to
the name of his God.

⁵ And he entreated the face of the Lord for his
         entire household,

and the Lord listened to the prayer of
everyone in fear of God.

⁶ And the Lord fulfills every request of the
         soul that hopes in him.

Blessed is the Lord who works pity for
those who love him in truth.

Psalm 7

Pertaining to Salomon. Of returning.

¹ Remove not your dwelling from us, O God,
lest they attack us, those who hated us
         without cause.

² For you have rejected them, O God;
let their foot not trample upon the
         inheritance of your holy precinct.

³ Discipline us by your will,
and do not give us to the nations.

⁴ For if you send death,
you will command it concerning us.

⁵ For you are full of pity,
and you will not be angry enough to
         destroy us completely.

⁶ While your name dwells in our midst, we
         shall find pity,
and no nation will prevail against us.

⁷ For you are our protector,
and we shall call upon you, and you will
         hearken to us;

⁸ For you will have compassion upon the race
         of Israel forever,
and you will not reject it,

⁹ and we are under your yoke forever,
and the whip of your discipline.

¹⁰ And you will direct us in the time of your
         help,

showing pity to the house of Iakob on
the day you promised them.

Psalm 8

Pertaining to Salomon. Regarding victory.

¹ My ear heard distress and the sound of
         war,

the sound of a trumpet announcing
slaughter and destruction.

² The sound of many people is like that of an
         exceedingly great wind,

like a hurricane with mighty fire
sweeping through the wilderness.

³ And I said in my heart,
“Where, then, will God judge him?”

⁴ I heard a sound in Ierousalem, city of a holy
         precinct.

⁵ My lower back was crushed from the
         report;
my knees weakened; my heart was afraid;
my bones were shaken like flax.

⁶ I said, “They will direct their ways in
         righteousness.”

⁷ I considered the judgments of God since the
         creation of heaven and earth;

I justified God in his judgments from
eternity.

⁸ God exposed their sins before the sun;
all the earth knew the righteous
         judgments of God.

⁹ In secret places under the earth were their
         transgressions of the law
^ain provocation^a;
they committed incest, son with mother
         and father with daughter.

¹⁰ They committed adultery, every man with
         his neighbor’s wife.

They concluded compacts by oath with
one another

concerning these things.

¹¹ They would plunder the sanctuary of God,
as though there was no heir who
         redeems.

¹² They would trample the altar of the Lord
         because^b of all kinds of
         uncleanness,

and with menstrual blood they defiled
the sacrifices as if they were profane
meat.

¹³ They left no sin, which they did not do
         more than the nations.

¹⁴ Therefore God mixed for them a spirit of
         confusion;

he gave them a cup of undiluted wine to
drink,

that they might become drunk.

¹⁵ He brought him from the end of the earth,
         who strikes mightily;

he declared war against Ierousalem and
her land.

¹⁶ The rulers of the land met him with joy;
they said to him, “Welcome is your way;
         come, enter in peace.”

¹⁷ They leveled the rough roads before his
         entry;

they opened the gates to Ierousalem; they
crowned her walls.

¹⁸ He entered, as a father the house of his
         sons, with peace;

he set down his feet with great security.

¹⁹ He captured her towered strongholds and
         the wall of Ierousalem,

for God led him with security while they
went astray.

²⁰ He killed their rulers and everyone wise in
         counsel;

he poured out the blood of the
inhabitants of Ierousalem

like the water of uncleanness.

²¹ He led away their sons and daughters whom
         they had begotten in defilement.

²² They did according to their uncleanness, just
         as their fathers;

they defiled Ierousalem and the things
that had been sanctified to the
name of God.

²³ God was justified in his judgments among
         the nations of the earth,

and the devout of God are like lambs
innocent in their midst.

²⁴ Worthy to be praised is the Lord who
         judges all the earth in his
         righteousness.

²⁵ See, O God, you have shown us your
         judgment in your righteousness;

our eyes have seen your judgments,
O God.

²⁶ We have justified your name that is honored
         forever,

for you are the God of righteousness,
judging Israel with discipline.

²⁷ Turn, O God, your pity upon us,
and have compassion upon us.

²⁸ Gather together the dispersion of Israel with
         pity and kindness,
for your faithfulness is with us.

²⁹ And we stiffened our neck,
and you are the one who disciplines us.

³⁰ Overlook us not, our God,
lest the nations swallow us up, as though
         there were no redeemer.

³¹ And you are our God from the beginning,
and upon you is our hope, O Lord.

³² And we shall not depart from you,
for your judgments upon us are kind.

³³ Upon us and our children is your good will
         forever;

O Lord, our savior, we shall never more
be shaken.

³⁴ Worthy to be praised is the Lord for his
         judgments by the mouth of devout
         ones,
and blessed is Israel by the Lord forever.

Psalm 9

Pertaining to Salomon. Regarding rebuke.

¹ When Israel was led away in exile to a
         foreign land,

when they fell away from the Lord who
redeemed them,

they were expelled from the inheritance,
         which the Lord had given them.

² The dispersion of Israel was among every
         nation, according to the word of
         God,

that you may be justified, O God, in your
         righteousness

by reason of our acts of lawlessness;

for you are a righteous judge over all the
peoples of the earth.

³ For none that does injustice shall be hidden
         from your knowledge,

and the righteous acts of your devout are
before you, O Lord,

and where shall a human being hide
himself

from your knowledge, O God?

⁴ Our works are in the choosing and power of
         our soul,

to do righteousness or injustice in the
works of our hands,

and in your righteousness you visit
human beings.

⁵ The one who practices righteousness stores
         up life for himself with the Lord,

and the one who practices injustice is
responsible

for the destruction of his own soul,

for the judgments of the Lord are in
         righteousness
for each man and household.

⁶ To whom will you show kindness, O God, if
         not to them that call upon the
         Lord?

You will cleanse a soul from sins ^awhen
he will confess,

when he acknowledges^a;

for shame is upon us and our faces on
account of all these things.

⁷ And to whom will you forgive sins, except
         to those who have sinned?

You shall bless the righteous and not
^bstraighten them for the sins they
have committed^b,

and your kindness is upon sinners in
repentance.

⁸ And now, you are our God, and we are the
         people whom you have loved.

Look, and be compassionate, O God of
Israel, for we are yours,

and remove not your pity from us, lest
they attack us.

⁹ And you chose the offspring of Abraam
         above all the nations,

and you placed your name upon us,
O Lord,

and you will not reject us forever.

¹⁰ You made a covenant with our fathers
         concerning us,

and we shall hope in you when we return
our souls toward you.

¹¹ The mercy of the Lord is upon the house of
         Israel forever and ever.

Psalm 10

Among hymns. Pertaining to Salomon.

¹ Happy is the man whom the Lord
         remembers with reproving

and who is fenced^c from the evil road by
a whip,

that he may be cleansed from sin, that it
may not increase.

² He who prepares his back for lashes shall be
         cleansed,

for the Lord is kind to those who endure
discipline.

³ For he will straighten the ways of the
         righteous

and will not turn them aside by
discipline,

and the pity of the Lord is upon those
who love him in truth.

⁴ And the Lord will remember his slaves in pity,
for the testimony is in the law of the
         everlasting covenant,

the testimony of the Lord for the ways of
humankind at his visitation.

⁵ Our Lord is righteous and devout in his
         judgments forever,

and Israel shall praise the name of the
Lord with joy.

⁶ And the devout shall acknowledge in the
         assembly of the people,

and God will show pity upon the poor to
the joy of Israel.

⁷ For God is kind and full of pity forever,
and the congregations of Israel shall
         glorify the name of the Lord.

⁸ The salvation of the Lord is upon the house
         of Israel for everlasting joy.

Psalm 11

Pertaining to Salomon. Regarding expectation.

¹ Trumpet in Sion with a signal trumpet to
         summon the holy ones;

proclaim in Ierousalem the voice of one
who brings good news;

for the God of Israel has shown pity in
his visitation of them.

² Stand upon a high place, O Ierousalem, and
         behold your children,

from the east and the west, gathered
together once again by the Lord.

³ From the north they come in the joy of their
         God;

from the islands far away God has
gathered them.

⁴ He has leveled high mountains into level
         ground for them;
the hills fled at their approach.

⁵ The woods shaded them as they passed
         by;
God caused every tree of fragrance to
         spring up for them,

⁶ that Israel might pass by at the visitation of
         their God’s glory.

⁷ Put on, O Ierousalem, the garments of your
         glory;
prepare the robe of your sanctity^a,
for God has spoken good concerning
         Israel forever and ever.

⁸ May the Lord do what he has spoken
         concerning Israel and
         Ierousalem;

may the Lord raise up Israel by his
glorious name.

⁹ The pity of the Lord is upon Israel forever
         and ever.

Psalm 12

Pertaining to Salomon. Against the tongue of

the transgressors of the law.

¹ O Lord, deliver my soul from the man
who is a transgressor of the law and
         wicked,

from the tongue that transgresses the law
and is slanderous

and that speaks lies and deceits.

² The words of the tongue of the wicked man
         are twisted in many ways,

like fire among a people which burns up
its beauty.

³ His sojourn—to set on fire households with
         a lying tongue—

to cut down trees of joy that sets the
transgressors of the law on fire,

to confound households in warfare by
means of slanderous lips.

⁴ May God remove far from the innocent the
         lips

of the transgressors of the law with
anxiety,

and may the bones of slanderers be
scattered

far from those who fear the Lord;

may the slanderous tongue perish in
         flaming fire far from the devout.

⁵ May the Lord preserve the quiet soul that
         hates the unjust,

and may the Lord direct the man who
makes peace at home.

⁶ The salvation of the Lord is upon Israel his
         servant forever,

and may the sinners perish altogether
from the presence of the Lord,

and may the devout of the Lord inherit the
         promises of the Lord.

Psalm 13

A Psalm. Pertaining to Salomon. Comfort for

the righteous.

¹ The right hand of the Lord covered me;
the right hand of the Lord spared us.

² The arm of the Lord saved us from the
         sword that passes through,
from famine and the death of sinners.

³ Evil wild animals rushed upon them;
with their teeth they tore their flesh,
and with their molars they crushed their
         bones.

⁴ But from all these things the Lord delivered
         us.

⁵ The pious man was troubled on account of
         his transgressions,

lest he should be taken away along with
the sinners.

⁶ For the destruction of the sinner is terrible,
but not one of all these things shall touch
         the righteous.

⁷ For not the same is the discipline of the
         righteous in ignorance
and the destruction of the sinners.

⁸ The righteous is disciplined with
         distinctness

so that the sinner may not rejoice over
the righteous.

⁹ For he will admonish the righteous as a
         beloved son,
and his discipline is as that of a firstborn.

¹⁰ For the Lord will spare his devout
and will wipe away their transgressions
         with discipline.

¹¹ For the life of the righteous is forever,
but sinners shall be taken away into
         destruction,

and their memorial shall never be
found.

¹² But the pity of the Lord is upon the devout,
and his pity is upon those who fear him.

Psalm 14

A Hymn. Pertaining to Salomon.

¹ Faithful is the Lord to those who love him
         in truth,
to those who endure his discipline,

² to those who walk in the righteousness of
         his ordinances,

in the law which he commanded us that
we might live.

³ The devout of the Lord shall live by it
         forever;

the orchard of the Lord, the trees of life,
are his devout.

⁴ Their planting is rooted forever;
they shall not be pulled up all the days of
         heaven;

⁵ for the portion and the inheritance of God
         is Israel.

⁶ But not so are the sinners and transgressors
         of the law,

who loved a day in the companionship of
their sin.

⁷ Their desire was for the briefness of
         corruption,
and they have not remembered God.

⁸ For the ways of human beings are known
         before him at all times,

and he knows the storerooms^a of the
heart before they come to pass.

⁹ Therefore their inheritance is Hades and
         darkness and destruction,

and they shall not be found in the day
when the righteous obtain pity.

¹⁰ But the devout of the Lord shall inherit life
         with joy.

Psalm 15

A Psalm. Pertaining to Salomon. With an Ode.

¹ When I was in distress, I called upon the
         name of the Lord;

I hoped for the help of the God of Iakob
and was saved,

for you are the hope and the refuge of the
poor, O God.

² For who, O God, is strong except to confess
         to you in truth?

And wherein is a person mighty except in
confessing to your name?

³ A new melody with an ode in gladness of
         heart,

the fruit of the lips with the tuned
instrument of the tongue,

the first fruit of the lips from a devout
and righteous heart—

⁴ he who does these things shall never be
         shaken by evil;

the flame of fire and the wrath against the
unrighteous shall not touch him,

⁵ when it goes forth from the face of the Lord
         against sinners,
to destroy all the substance of sinners;

⁶ For the mark of God is upon the righteous
         for salvation.

⁷ Famine and sword and death shall be far
         from the righteous;

for they shall flee from the devout as
those pursued by war,

⁸ but they shall pursue sinners and overtake
         them,

and those who do lawlessness shall not
escape the judgment of the Lord;

⁹ they shall be overtaken by those experienced
         in war,

for the mark of destruction is upon their
forehead.

¹⁰ And the inheritance of sinners is destruction
         and darkness,

and their acts of lawlessness shall pursue
them to Hades below.

¹¹ Their inheritance shall not be found for
         their children,

for sins shall lay waste the houses of
sinners.

¹² And sinners shall perish forever in the day
         of the Lord’s judgment,

when God visits the earth with his
judgment.

¹³ But those who fear the Lord shall find
         mercy on it^b,

and they shall live by the mercy of their
God,

but sinners shall perish forever and anon.

Psalm 16

A Hymn. Pertaining to Salomon. Regarding help

for the devout.

¹ When my soul slumbered, away from the
         Lord, I slipped for a short time,

in the lethargy of those that sleep far
from God.

² For a short time my soul was poured out to
         death,

close to the gates of Hades with the
sinner,

³       when my soul separated from the Lord,
         God of Israel,

except that the Lord helped me with his
pity forever.

⁴ He pricked me, like a goad for a horse, that I
         might awaken unto him;

my savior and protector at all times saved
me.

⁵ I will acknowledge [to] you, O God, for you
         helped me to salvation,

and you did not count me with sinners
for destruction.

⁶ Remove not your pity from me, O God,
nor your remembrance from my heart
         until death.

⁷ Rule over me^c, O God, from wicked sin
and from every evil woman who causes
         the foolish to stumble.

⁸ And let not the beauty of a woman who
         transgresses the law deceive me,

nor of anything that is subject to useless
sin.

⁹ Direct the works of my hands in your place,
and guard my steps in your
         remembrance.

¹⁰ Protect my tongue and my lips with words
         of truth;

anger and unreasoning wrath put far
from me.

¹¹ Grumbling and faint-heartedness in
         affliction keep far from me, when, if I sin, you discipline me to return
me.

¹² Support my soul with goodwill and
         cheerfulness;

when you strengthen my soul, what is
given will be sufficient for me.

¹³ For if you do not give strength,
who will endure discipline in poverty?

¹⁴ When a soul is rebuked in the hand of his
         corruption,

your testing is in his flesh and in the
affliction of poverty.

¹⁵ If the righteous endures in all these, he shall
         receive pity from the Lord.

Psalm 17

A Psalm. Pertaining to Salomon. With an Ode.

Pertaining to the king.

¹ O Lord, you are our king forever and ever,
for in you, O God, shall our soul
         boast.

² And how long is the time of a person’s life
         upon the earth?

According to his time and his hope upon
him.

³ But we will hope in God our savior;
for the might of our God is forever with
pity,

and the kingdom of our God is forever
over the nations in judgment.

⁴ You, O Lord, you chose Dauid king over
         Israel,

and you swore to him concerning his
offspring forever,

that his palace would never fail before
you.

⁵ And, because of our sins, sinners rose up
         against us;

they attacked us and thrust us out, to
whom you did not promise;

they took possession by force, and they
did not glorify your honorable
name.

⁶ They set up in glory a palace corresponding
         to their loftiness;

they laid waste the throne of Dauid in
arrogance leading to change.

⁷ But you, O God, will overthrow them
and will remove their offspring from the
         earth,

when there rises up against them a person
         that is foreign to our race.

⁸ According to their sins you will repay them,
         O God,

that it may befall them according to their
works.

⁹ God showed them no pity;
he has sought out their offspring and let
         not one of them go free.

¹⁰ Faithful is the Lord in all his judgments,
         which he performs on the earth.

¹¹ The lawless one laid waste our land so that
         no one inhabited it;

they destroyed young and old and their
children together.

¹² In the wrath of his beauty he expelled them
         to the west,

and the rulers of the land to derision, and
did not spare them.

¹³ Being an alien the enemy acted arrogantly,
and his heart was estranged from our God.

¹⁴ And all things that he did in Ierousalem
were just as the nations do in their strong
         cities.

¹⁵ And the sons of the covenant surpassed
         them in the midst of motley
         nations;

there was no one among them who
         practiced pity and truth in
         Ierousalem.

¹⁶ Those who loved the congregations of the
         devout fled from them,

as sparrows were scattered from their
nest.

¹⁷ They wandered in wildernesses that their
         souls be saved from evil,

and their saved soul was precious in the
         eyes of those who sojourned
         abroad.

¹⁸ They were scattered over the whole earth by
         lawless men,

for heaven withheld the rain from falling on
         the earth.

¹⁹ Everlasting springs out of abysses were held
         back from high mountains,

for there was none among them who did
righteousness and justice.

²⁰ From their ruler and the lowest of the
         people they were in every sin;

the king was in transgression of the law,
and the judge in disobedience,

and the people in sin.

²¹ See, O Lord, and raise up for them their
         king, the son of Dauid,

at the time which you chose, O God, to
rule over Israel your servant.

²² And gird him with strength to shatter in
         pieces unrighteous rulers,

to purify Ierousalem from nations that
trample her down in destruction,

²³ in wisdom of righteousness, to drive out
         sinners from the inheritance,

to smash the arrogance of the sinner like
a potter’s vessel,

²⁴ to shatter all their substance with an iron
         rod,

to destroy the lawless nations by the
word of his mouth,

²⁵ that, by his threat, nations flee from his
         presence,

and to reprove sinners with the thought
of their hearts.

²⁶ And he shall gather a holy people whom he
         shall lead in righteousness, and he shall judge the tribes of the
people

that has been sanctified by the Lord, his
God.

²⁷ And he shall not allow injustice to lodge in
         their midst any longer,

nor shall there dwell with them any
person who knows evil;

for he shall know them, that all are their
God’s sons.

²⁸ And he shall distribute them according to
         their tribes upon the land,

and no resident alien and alien shall
sojourn among them any longer.

²⁹ He shall judge peoples and nations in the
         wisdom of his righteousness.
                                        Interlude on strings

³⁰ And he shall have the peoples of the nations
         to be subject to him under his
         yoke,

and he shall glorify the Lord in the mark^a
of all the earth,

and he shall purify Ierousalem in holiness
         as it was at the beginning

³¹ so that nations may come from the end of
         the earth to see his glory,

bringing as gifts her sons who are
exhausted,

and to see the glory of the Lord with
which God has glorified her.

³² And he shall be a righteous king, taught by
         God, over them,

and there shall be no injustice in his days in
         their midst,

for all shall be holy, and their king the
anointed of the Lord.

³³ For he shall not put his hope in horse and
         rider and bow,

nor shall he multiply for himself gold
and silver for war,

nor shall he gather hopes from a
multitude of people for the day of
war.

³⁴ The Lord himself is his king, the hope of
         him who is strong through hope in
         God,

and he shall have pity on all the nations
before him in fear.

³⁵ For he shall strike the earth with the word of
         his mouth forever;

he shall bless the people of the Lord in
wisdom with joy.

³⁶ And he himself shall be pure from sin so
         that he may rule a great people,

that he may rebuke rulers and remove
sinners by the strength of his word.

³⁷ And he shall not weaken in his days,
         relying^b on his God;

for God has made him strong in the holy
spirit

and wise in the counsel of understanding
with strength and righteousness.

³⁸ And the blessing of the Lord shall be with
         him in strength,
and he shall not weaken.

³⁹ His hope shall be in the Lord,
and who can prevail against him?

⁴⁰ He shall be strong in his works and mighty
         in fear of God,

shepherding the flock of the Lord
faithfully and righteously,

and he shall not let any among them
become weak in their pasture.

⁴¹ And he shall lead all of them in equity,
and there shall be no arrogance among
         them,

that any one of them should be
oppressed.

⁴² This is the majesty of the king of Israel,
         which God knew,

to raise him up over the house of Israel to
discipline it.

⁴³ His words will be more refined than costly
         gold, the finest.

In the congregations he will discerningly
judge the tribes of a sanctified people;

his words are as words of the holy in the
midst of sanctified peoples.

⁴⁴ Happy are those who shall live in those days,
to see the good things of Israel
that God shall accomplish in the
         congregation of the tribes.

⁴⁵ May God hasten his pity upon Israel;
may he deliver us from the uncleanness
         of profane enemies.

⁴⁶ The Lord himself is our king forever and
         ever.

Psalm 18

A Psalm. Pertaining to Salomon. Again of the

anointed of the Lord.

¹ O Lord, your pity is over the works of your
         hands forever;

your goodness is over Israel with a rich
gift.

² When your eyes gaze upon them, then none
         of them shall be in want;

your ears listen to the hopeful petition of
the poor.

³ Your judgments are over the whole earth
         with pity,

and your love is upon the offspring of
Abraam, the sons of Israel.

⁴ Your discipline is upon us as on a firstborn,
         an only son,

to turn back the obedient soul from
ignorant stupidity.

⁵ May God cleanse Israel for the day of pity
         with blessing, for the day of election when he brings up
his anointed one.

⁶ Happy are those who shall live in those
         days,

to see the good things of the Lord, which
he will perform for the coming
generation.

⁷ Under the rod of discipline of the Lord’s
         anointed in fear of his God,

in wisdom of spirit and of righteousness
and strength,

⁸ to direct a man in works of righteousness in
         fear of God,

to establish them all before the Lord—

⁹ a good generation in fear of God in the days
         of pity.
                                        Interlude on strings

¹⁰ Great is our God, and glorious, dwelling in
         the highest,

who appointed the lights in their course
for the determining of seasons

from day to day,

and they did not turn aside from the path
you commanded them.

¹¹ Their path each day is in the fear of God,
from the day God created them and
         forever.

¹² And they have not wandered since the day
         he created them;

since the generations of old they have not
turned aside from their paths,

except when God commanded them
         through the injunction of his
         slaves.