Ps. Sol 17

 Trans. Ben Witherington III

4 You, O Lord, chose David (to be) king over Israel, and swore to him concerning his descendants forever that never should his kingdom fail before you.

5 But, for our sins, sinners rose up against us; they assailed us and thrust us out. What you had not promised to them, they took away (from us) with violence. They in no way glorified your honorable name.

6 They set a monarchy in place of (that which was) their excellency; they laid waste the throne of David in tumultuous arrogance.

7 But you, O God, cast them down and removed their descendants from the earth, in that there rose up against them a man that was alien to our race.

8 According to their sins did you recompense them, O God; so that it befell them according to their deeds.

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

10 Faithful is the Lord in all his judgments, which he makes upon 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 his blameless anger he sent them away to the west, and (he exposed) the rulers of the land unsparingly to derision.

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

14 And all things whatsoever he did in Jerusalem, as also the gentiles (do) in the cities to their gods.

15 And the children of the covenant in the midst of the mingled peoples surpassed them in evil. There was not among them one that performed mercy and truth in the midst of Jerusalem.

16 They who loved the assemblies of the pious fled from them, as sparrows that fly from their nest.

17 They wandered in deserts in order that their lives might be saved from harm, and precious in the eyes of them who lived abroad was any that escaped alive from them.

18 Over the whole earth were they scattered by lawless men.

19 For the heavens withheld the rain from dropping upon the earth; springs were stopped (that sprang) perennially out of the deeps, (that ran down) from lofty mountains. For there was none among them who did righteousness and justice.

20 From the leader of them to the least (of them) all were sinful. The king was a transgressor, and the judge disobedient, and the people sinful.

21 Behold, O Lord, and raise up unto them their king, the son of David, at the time known to you, O God, in order that he may reign over Israel your servant.

22 And gird him with strength, that he may shatter unrighteous rulers, and that he may purge Jerusalem from gentiles who trample (her) down to destruction.

23 Wisely, righteously he shall thrust out sinners from (the) inheritance; he shall destroy the arrogance of the sinner as a potter’s jar.

24 With a rod of iron he shall shatter all their substance; he shall destroy the godless nations with the word of his mouth.

25 At his rebuke nations shall flee before him, and he shall reprove sinners for the thoughts of their heart.

26 And he shall gather together a holy people, whom he shall lead in righteousness, and he shall judge the tribes of the people who has been made holy by the Lord his God.

27 And he shall not suffer unrighteousness to lodge any more in their midst, nor shall there dwell with them any man who knows wickedness, for he shall know them, that they are all sons of their God.

28 And he shall divide them according to their tribes upon the land, and neither sojourner nor alien shall dwell with them anymore.

29 He shall judge peoples and nations in the wisdom of his righteousness. Selah.

30 And he shall have the gentile nations to serve him under his yoke; and he shall glorify the Lord in a place prominent (above) all the earth. And he shall purge Jerusalem, making it holy as of old.

31 So that nations shall come from the ends of the earth to see his glory, bringing as gifts her sons who had been driven out, and to see the glory of the Lord, wherewith God has glorified her.

32 And he will be a righteous king over them, taught of God. And there shall be no unrighteousness in his days in their midst, for all shall be holy and their king the Lord Messiah.

33 For he shall not put his trust in horse and rider and bow, nor shall he multiply for himself gold and silver for war, nor shall he gather confidence from a multitude for the day of battle.

34 The Lord Himself is his king, the hope of him who is mighty through (his) hope in God. He shall be compassionate to all nations who (shall be) in fear before him.

35 He will smite the earth with the word of his mouth forever. He will bless the people of the Lord with wisdom and gladness, 36 and he himself (will be) pure from sin, so that he may rule a great people. He will rebuke rulers, and remove sinners by the might of his word; 37 and (relying) upon his God, throughout his days he will not stumble. For God will make him mighty by means of (His) holy spirit, and wise by means of the spirit of understanding, with strength and righteousness. 38 And the blessing of the Lord (will be) with him: he will be strong and stumble not; 39 his hope (will be) in the Lord: who then can prevail against him? 40 (He will be) mighty in his works, and strong in the fear of God, 45 (He will be) shepherding the flock of the Lord faithfully and righteously, and will suffer none among them to stumble in their pasture.