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    Psalm 6  
     
1
  O Lord, rebuke me not in your wrath; 
    neither chasten me in your fierce anger.
     
2
  Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am weak; 
    Lord, heal me, for my bones are racked.
     
3
  My soul also shakes with terror; 
    how long, O Lord, how long?
     
4
  Turn again, O Lord, and deliver my soul; 
    save me for your loving mercy's sake.
     
5
  For in death no one remembers you; 
    and who can give you thanks in the grave?
     
6
  I am weary with my groaning; 
    every night I drench my pillow
and flood my bed with my tears.
     
7
  My eyes are wasted with grief 
    and worn away because of all my enemies.
     
     
8
  Depart from me, all you that do evil, 
    for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.
     
9
  The Lord has heard my supplication; 
    the Lord will receive my prayer.
     
10
  All my enemies shall be put to shame and confusion; 
    they shall suddenly turn back in their shame.
     
    Psalm 7  
     
1
  O Lord my God, in you I take refuge; 
    save me from all who pursue me, and deliver me,
     
2
  Lest they rend me like a lion and tear me in pieces 
    while there is no one to help me.
     
3
  O Lord my God, if I have done these things: 
    if there is any wickedness in my hands,
     
4
  If I have repaid my friend with evil, 
    or plundered my enemy without a cause,
     
5
  Then let my enemy pursue me and overtake me, 
    trample my life to the ground,
and lay my honour in the dust.
     
     
6
  Rise up, O Lord, in your wrath;
lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies. 
    Awaken, my God, the judgement that you have commanded.
     
7
  Let the assembly of the peoples gather round you; 
    be seated high above them: O Lord, judge the nations.
     
8
  Give judgement for me
according to my righteousness, O Lord, 
    and according to the innocence that is in me.
     
9
  Let the malice of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous; 
    for you test the mind and heart, O righteous God.
     
10
  God is my shield that is over me; 
    he saves the true of heart.
     
11
  God is a righteous judge; 
    he is provoked all day long.
     
12
  If they will not repent, God will whet his sword; 
    he has bent his bow and made it ready.
     
13
  He has prepared the weapons of death; 
    he makes his arrows shafts of fire.
     
14
  Behold those who are in labour with wickedness, 
    who conceive evil and give birth to lies.
     
15
  They dig a pit and make it deep 
    and fall into the hole that they have made for others.
     
16
  Their mischief rebounds on their own head; 
    their violence falls on their own scalp.
     
17
  I will give thanks to the Lord for his righteousness, 
    and I will make music to the name of the Lord Most High.
     
    Psalm 8  
     
    First version
     
1
  O Lord our governor,  
    how glorious is your name in all the world!
     
2
  Your majesty above the heavens is praised 
    out of the mouths of babes at the breast.
     
3
  You have founded a stronghold against your foes, 
    that you might still the enemy and the avenger.
     
     
4
  When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, 
    the moon and the stars that you have ordained,
     
5
  What is man, that you should be mindful of him; 
    the son of man, that you should seek him out?
     
6
  You have made him little lower than the angels 
    and crown him with glory and honour.
     
7
  You have given him dominion over the works of your hands 
    and put all things under his feet,
     
8
  All sheep and oxen, 
    even the wild beasts of the field,
     
9
  The birds of the air, the fish of the sea 
    and whatsoever moves in the paths of the sea.
     
10
  O Lord our governor,  
    how glorious is your name in all the world!
     
    Psalm 8  
    Second version
     
1
  O Lord our governor, 
    how glorious is your name in all the world!
     
2
  Your majesty above the heavens is praised 
    out of the mouths of babes at the breast.
     
3
  You have founded a stronghold against your foes, 
    that you might still the enemy and the avenger.
     
     
4
  When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, 
    the moon and the stars that you have ordained,
     
5
  What are mortals, that you should be mindful of them; 
    mere human beings, that you should seek them out?
     
6
  You have made them little lower than the angels 
    and crown them with glory and honour.
     
7
  You have given them dominion over the works of your hands 
    and put all things under their feet,
     
8
  All sheep and oxen, 
    even the wild beasts of the field,
     
9
  The birds of the air, the fish of the sea 
    and whatsoever moves in the paths of the sea.
     
10
  O Lord our governor, 
    how glorious is your name in all the world!
     
    Psalm 9  
     
1
  I will give thanks to you, Lord, with my whole heart; 
    I will tell of all your marvellous works.
     
2
  I will be glad and rejoice in you; 
    I will make music to your name, O Most High.
     
     
3
  When my enemies are driven back, 
    they stumble and perish at your presence.
     
4
  For you have maintained my right and my cause; 
    you sat on your throne giving righteous judgement.
     
5
  You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; 
    you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
     
6
  The enemy was utterly laid waste. 
    You uprooted their cities;
their very memory has perished.
     
7
  But the Lord shall endure for ever; 
    he has made fast his throne for judgement.
     
8
  For he shall rule the world with righteousness 
    and govern the peoples with equity.
     
9
  Then will the Lord be a refuge for the oppressed, 
    a refuge in the time of trouble.
     
10
  And those who know your name will put their trust in you, 
    for you, Lord, have never failed those who seek you.
     
     
11
  Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion; 
    declare among the peoples the things he has done.
     
12
  The avenger of blood has remembered them; 
    he did not forget the cry of the oppressed.
     
13
  Have mercy upon me, O Lord; 
    consider the trouble I suffer from those who hate me,
you that lift me up from the gates of death;
     
14
  That I may tell all your praises in the gates of the city of Zion 
    and rejoice in your salvation.
     
     
15
  The nations shall sink into the pit of their making 
    and in the snare which they set will their own foot be taken.
     
16
  The Lord makes himself known by his acts of justice; 
    the wicked are snared in the works of their own hands.
     
17
  They shall return to the land of darkness, 
    all the nations that forget God.
     
18
  For the needy shall not always be forgotten 
    and the hope of the poor shall not perish for ever.
     
19
  Arise, O Lord, and let not mortals have the upper hand; 
    let the nations be judged before your face.
     
20
  Put them in fear, O Lord, 
    that the nations may know themselves to be but mortal.
     
    Psalm 10  
     
1
  Why stand so far off, O Lord? 
    Why hide yourself in time of trouble?
     
2
  The wicked in their pride persecute the poor; 
    let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.
     
3
  The wicked boast of their heart's desire; 
    the covetous curse and revile the Lord.
     
4
  The wicked in their arrogance say, 'God will not avenge it'; 
    in all their scheming God counts for nothing.
     
5
  They are stubborn in all their ways,
for your judgements are far above out of their sight; 
    they scoff at all their adversaries.
     
6
  They say in their heart, 'I shall not be shaken; 
    no harm shall ever happen to me.'
     
7
  Their mouth is full of cursing, deceit and fraud; 
    under their tongue lie mischief and wrong.
     
8
  They lurk in the outskirts
and in dark alleys they murder the innocent; 
    their eyes are ever watching for the helpless.
     
9
  They lie in wait, like a lion in his den;
they lie in wait to seize the poor; 
    they seize the poor when they get them into their net.
     
10
  The innocent are broken and humbled before them; 
    the helpless fall before their power.
     
11
  They say in their heart, 'God has forgotten; 
    he hides his face away; he will never see it.'
     
     
12
  Arise, O Lord God, and lift up your hand; 
    forget not the poor.
     
13
  Why should the wicked be scornful of God? 
    Why should they say in their hearts, 'You will not avenge it'?
     
14
  Surely, you behold trouble and misery; 
    you see it and take it into your own hand.
     
15
  The helpless commit themselves to you, 
    for you are the helper of the orphan.
     
16
  Break the power of the wicked and malicious; 
    search out their wickedness until you find none.
     
     
17
  The Lord shall reign for ever and ever; 
    the nations shall perish from his land.
     
18
  Lord, you will hear the desire of the poor; 
    you will incline your ear to the fullness of their heart,
     
19
  To give justice to the orphan and oppressed, 
    so that people are no longer driven in terror from the land.
     
© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2000-2004
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