1 A prayer of Moses, the man of God. Lord, thou hast bene our habitation from generation to generation. 2 Before the mountaines were made, and before thou hadst formed the earth, and the world, euen from euerlasting to euerlasting thou art our God. 3 Thou turnest man to destruction: againe thou sayest, Returne, ye sonnes of Adam. 4 For a thousande yeeres in thy sight are as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. 5 Thou hast ouerflowed them: they are as a sleepe: in the morning he groweth like the grasse: 6 In the morning it florisheth and groweth, but in the euening it is cut downe and withereth. 7 For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled. 8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, and our secret sinnes in the light of thy countenance. 9 For all our dayes are past in thine anger: we haue spent our yeeres as a thought. 10 The time of our life is threescore yeeres and ten, and if they be of strength, fourescore yeeres: yet their strength is but labour and sorowe: for it is cut off quickly, and we flee away. 11 Who knoweth the power of thy wrath? for according to thy feare is thine anger. 12 Teach vs so to nomber our dayes, that we may apply our heartes vnto wisdome. 13 Returne (O Lord, howe long?) and be pacified toward thy seruants. 14 Fill vs with thy mercie in the morning: so shall we reioyce and be glad all our dayes. 15 Comfort vs according to the dayes that thou hast afflicted vs, and according to the yeeres that we haue seene euill. 16 Let thy worke bee seene towarde thy seruants, and thy glory vpon their children. 17 And let the beautie of the Lord our God be vpon vs, and direct thou the worke of our hands vpon vs, euen direct the worke of our handes.
BOOK FOUR
(Psalms 90–106)
Of God and Human Beings
1 O Lord, you have always been our home.
2 Before you created the hills
or brought the world into being,
you were eternally God,
and will be God forever.
3 You tell us to return to what we were;
you change us back to dust.
4 A thousand years to you are like one day;
they are like yesterday, already gone,
like a short hour in the night.
5 You carry us away like a flood;
we last no longer than a dream.
We are like weeds that sprout in the morning,
6 that grow and burst into bloom,
then dry up and die in the evening.
7 We are destroyed by your anger;
we are terrified by your fury.
8 You place our sins before you,
our secret sins where you can see them.
9 Our life is cut short by your anger;
it fades away like a whisper.
10 Seventy years is all we have—
eighty years, if we are strong;
yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow;
life is soon over, and we are gone.
11 Who has felt the full power of your anger?
Who knows what fear your fury can bring?
12 Teach us how short our life is,
so that we may become wise.
13 How much longer will your anger last?
Have pity, O Lord, on your servants!
14 Fill us each morning with your constant love,
so that we may sing and be glad all our life.
15 Give us now as much happiness as the sadness you gave us
during all our years of misery.
16 Let us, your servants, see your mighty deeds;
let our descendants see your glorious might.
17 Lord our God, may your blessings be with us.
Give us success in all we do!