A psalm of a canticle on the sabbath day.

Psalmus cantici, in die sabbati.

(A psalm. A song. On the sabbath day.)

It is good to give praise to the Lord: and to sing to thy name, O most High.

Bonum est confiteri Domino, et psallere nomini tuo, Altissime:

Sweet it is to praise the Lord, to sing, most high God, in honour of thy name;

To shew forth thy mercy in the morning, and thy truth in the night:

ad annuntiandum mane misericordiam tuam, et veritatem tuam per noctem,

to proclaim thy mercy and faithfulness at daybreak and at the fall of night.

Upon an instrument of ten strings, upon the psaltery: with a canticle upon the harp.

in decachordo, psalterio; cum cantico, in cithara.

Here is a theme for ten-stringed harp and viol, for music of voice and zither;

For thou hast given me, O Lord, a delight in thy doings: and in the works of thy hands I shall rejoice.

Quia delectasti me, Domine, in factura tua; et in operibus manuum tuarum exsultabo.

so delightsome, Lord, is all thou doest, so thrills my heart at the sight of all thou hast made.

O Lord, how great are thy works! thy thoughts are exceeding deep.

Quam magnificata sunt opera tua, Domine! nimis profundæ factæ sunt cogitationes tuæ.

How magnificent is thy creation, Lord, how unfathomable are thy purposes!

The senseless man shall not know: nor will the fool understand these things.

Vir insipiens non cognoscet, et stultus non intelliget hæc.

And still, too dull to learn, too slow to grasp his lesson, the wrong-doer goes on in his busy wickedness.

When the wicked shall spring up as grass: and all the workers of iniquity shall appear: That they may perish for ever and ever:

Cum exorti fuerint peccatores sicut fœnum, et apparuerint omnes qui operantur iniquitatem, ut intereant in sæculum sæculi:

Still he thrives, makes a brave show like the grass in spring, yet is he doomed to perish eternally,

but thou, O Lord, art most high for evermore.

tu autem Altissimus in æternum, Domine.

whilst thou, Lord, art for ever exalted on high.

For behold thy enemies, O Lord, for behold thy enemies shall perish: and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.

Quoniam ecce inimici tui, Domine, quoniam ecce inimici tui peribunt; et dispergentur omnes qui operantur iniquitatem.

Vanished away thy enemies, Lord, vanished away, and all their busy wickedness scattered to the winds!

But my horn shall be exalted like that of the unicorn: and my old age in plentiful mercy.

Et exaltabitur sicut unicornis cornu meum, et senectus mea in misericordia uberi.

Strength thy power gives me, that gives strength to the wild oxen; refreshes me as with the touch of pure oil.

My eye also hath looked down upon my enemies: and my ear shall hear of the downfall of the malignant that rise up against me.

Et despexit oculus meus inimicos meos, et in insurgentibus in me malignantibus audiet auris mea.

Blessed are these eyes with the sight of my enemies’ downfall, these ears with the tidings of insolent malice defeated.

The just shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus.

Justus ut palma florebit; sicut cedrus Libani multiplicabitur.

The innocent man will flourish as the palm-tree flourishes; he will grow to greatness as the cedars grow on Lebanon.

They that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of the house of our God.

Plantati in domo Domini, in atriis domus Dei nostri florebunt.

Planted in the temple of the Lord, growing up in the very courts of our God’s house,

They shall still increase in a fruitful old age: and shall be well treated,

Adhuc multiplicabuntur in senecta uberi, et bene patientes erunt:

the innocent will flourish in a green old age, all freshness and vigour still;

that they may shew, That the Lord our God is righteous, and there is no iniquity in him.

ut annuntient quoniam rectus Dominus Deus noster, et non est iniquitas in eo.

theirs to proclaim how just is the Lord my refuge, his dealings how clear of wrong.