1Of Solomon.
2O God, give your judgment to the king;
your justice to the king’s son;
That he may govern your people with justice,
your oppressed with right judgment,
3That the mountains may yield their bounty for the people,
and the hills great abundance,
4That he may defend the oppressed among the people,
save the children of the poor and crush the oppressor.
5May they fear you with the sun,
and before the moon, through all generations.
6May he be like rain coming down upon the fields,
like showers watering the earth,
7That abundance may flourish in his days,
great bounty, till the moon be no more.
8May he rule from sea to sea,[#: the boundaries of the civilized world known at the time: from the Mediterranean Sea (the western sea) to the Persian Gulf (the eastern sea), and from the Euphrates (the river) to the islands and lands of southwestern Europe, “the ends of the earth.” The words may also have a mythic nuance—the earth surrounded by cosmic waters, hence everywhere.]
from the river to the ends of the earth.
9May his foes kneel before him,
his enemies lick the dust.
10May the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute,[#: the far west (Ps 48:6); Arabia and Seba: the far south (1 Kgs 10:1).]
the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
11May all kings bow before him,
all nations serve him.
12For he rescues the poor when they cry out,
the oppressed who have no one to help.
13He shows pity to the needy and the poor[#Prv 31:9.]
and saves the lives of the poor.
14From extortion and violence he redeems them,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
15Long may he live, receiving gold from Sheba,
prayed for without cease, blessed day by day.
16May wheat abound in the land,[#The translation of the difficult Hebrew is tentative.]
flourish even on the mountain heights.
May his fruit be like that of Lebanon,
and flourish in the city like the grasses of the land.
17May his name be forever;
as long as the sun, may his name endure.
May the tribes of the earth give blessings with his name;
may all the nations regard him as favored.
18Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,[#A doxology marking the end of Book II of the Psalter.]
who alone does wonderful deeds.
19Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may he fill all the earth with his glory.
Amen and amen.
20The end of the psalms of David, son of Jesse.