A Psalm of Solomon, with song, to the King (#17)

17: 1 - 46 (translation by R.B. Wright, 1985)
Lord, You are our king forevermore,
for in You, O God, does our soul take pride.
How long is the time of a person's life on the earth?
As is his time, so also is his hope in Him.
But we hope in God our savior,
for the strength of our God is forever with mercy.
And the kingdom of our God is forever over the nations in judgment.
Lord, You chose David to be king over Israel,
and swore to him about his descnedants forever,
that his kingdom should not fall before You.
But (because of) our sins, sinners rose up against us,
they set upon us and drove us out.
Those to whom You did not (make the) promise,
they took away (from us) by force;
and they did not glorify Your honorable name.
With pomp they set up a monarchy because of their arrogance;
they despoiled the throne of David with arrogant shouting.
But You, O God, overthrew them, and uprooted their descendants from the earth,
for there rose up against them a man alien to our race.
You rewarded them, O God, according to their sins;
it happened to them according to their actions.
According to their actions, God showed no mercy to them;
he hunted down their descendants, and did not let even one of them go.
The Lord is faithful in all His judgments which He makes in the world.
The lawless one laid waste our land, so that no one inhabited it;
they massacred young and old and children at the same time.
In his blameless wrath he expelled them to the west,
and he did not spare even the officials of the country from ridicule.
As the enemy (was) a stranger
and his heart alien to our God, he acted arrogantly.
So he did in Jerusalem all the things that gentiles do for their gods in their cities.
And the children of the covenant (living) among the gentile rabble adopted these (practices).
No one among them in Jerusalem acted (with) mercy or truth.
Those who loved the assemblies of the devout fled from them as sparrows fled from their nest.
(They became) refugees in the wilderness to save their lives from evil.
The life of even one who was saved from them was precious in the eyes of the exiles.
They were scattered over the whole earth by (these) lawless ones.
For the heavens withheld rain from falling on the earth.
Springs were stopped,
(from) the perennial (springs) far underground (to) those in the high mountains.
For there was no one among them who practiced righteousness or justice;
From their leader to the commonest of the people,
(they were) in every kind of sin:
The king was a criminal and the judge disobedient; (and) the people sinners.
See, Lord, and raise up for them their king, the son of David, to rule over Your servant Israel
in the time known to You, O God.
Undergird him with the strength to destroy the unrighteous rulers,
to purge Jerusalem from gentiles who trample her to destruction;
in wisdom and in righteousness to drive out the sinners from the inheritance;
to smash the arrogance of sinners like a potter's jar;
To shatter all their substance with an iron rod;
to destroy the unlawful nations with the word of his mouth;
at his warning the nations will flee from his presence;
and he will condemn sinners by the thoughts of their hearts.
He will gather a holy people
whom he will lead in righteousness;
and he will judge the tribes of the people
that have been made holy by the Lord their God.
He will not tolerate unrighteousness (even) to pause among them,
and any person who knows wickedness shall not live with them.
For he shall know them that they are all children of their God.
He will distribute them upon the land
according to their tribes;
the alien and the foreigner will not longer live near them.
He will judge peoples and nations in the wisdom of his righteousness // Pause //
And he will have gentile nations serving him under his yoke,
and he will glorify the Lord in (a place) prominent (above) the whole earth.
And he will purge Jerusalem
(and make it) holy as it was even from the beginning,
(for) nations to come from the ends of the earth to see his glory,
to bring as gifts her children who had been driven out,
and to see the glory of the Lord with which God has glorified her.
And he will be a righteous king over them, taught by God.
There will be no unrighteousness among them in his days,
for all shall be holy,
and their king shall be the Lord Messiah.
(For) he will not rely on horse and rider and bow, nor will he collect gold and silver for war.
Nor will he build up hope in a multitude for a day of war.
The Lord himself is his king,
the hope of the one who has a strong hope in God.
He shall be compassionate to all the nations (who) reverenly (stand) before him.
He will strike the earth with the word of his mouth forever;
he will bless the Lord's people with wisdom and happiness.
And he himself (will be) free from sin, (in order) to rule a great people.
He will expose officials and drive out sinners by the strength of his word.
And he will not weaken in his days, (relying) upon his God,
for God made him
powerful in the holy spirit and wise in the counsel of undertsanding with strength and righteousness.
And the blessing of the Lord will be with him in strength, and he will not weaken;
His hope (will be) in the Lord.
Then who will succeed against him, mighty in his actions and strong in the fear of God?
Faithfully and righteously shepherding the Lord's flock,
he will not let any of them stumble in their pasture.
He will lead them all in holiness and there will be no arrogance among them, that any should be oppressed.
This is the beauty of the king of Israel which God knew, to raise him over the house of Israel to discipline it.
His words will be purer than the finest gold, the best.
He will judge the peoples in the assemblies, the tribes of the sanctified.
His words will be as the words of the holy ones, among sanctified peoples.
Blessed are those born in those days
to see the good fortune of Israel which God will bring to pass in the assembly of the tribes.
May God dispatch His mercy to Israel;
may He deliver us from the pollution of profane enemies;
The Lord Himself is our king forevermore.