| The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? | The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? |
| In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. | My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. |
|
| Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. | Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. |
| Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. | You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. |
| Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. | Get wisdom; develop good judgment. Don’t forget my words or turn away from them. |
| Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. | As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me. |
| I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. | I love you, Lord; you are my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. |
| A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. | And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. |
| Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. | Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. |
| Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. | Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you. |
| Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. | So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. |
| My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. | My future is in your hands. Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly. |
| Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. | Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. |
| Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. | But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life. |
| I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. | Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. |
| Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. | From the depths of despair, O Lord, I call for your help. Hear my cry, O Lord. Pay attention to my prayer. |
| For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. | A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked. |
| Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. | Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! |
| The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. | The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. |
| One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. | The one thing I ask of the Lord— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. |
| Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God. | Therefore, tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: No more delay! I will now do everything I have threatened. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!’ |
| So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. | It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. |
| Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. | Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God! |
| I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter. | I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, for you have given me wisdom and strength. You have told me what we asked of you and revealed to us what the king demanded. |
| Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. | I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. |
