Psalms of Solomon - XII

O Lord, deliver my soul from the lawless and wicked man,
  From the tongue that is lawless and slanderous, and speaketh lies and deceit.
Manifoldly twisted are the words of the tongue of the wicked man,
  Even as among a people a fire that burneth up their beauty.
So he delights to fill houses with a lying tongue,
  To cut down the trees of gladness which setteth on fire transgressors,
  To involve households in warfare by means of slanderous lips.

May God remove far from the innocent the lips of transgressors by bringing them to want
  And may the bones of slanderers be scattered far away from them that fear the Lord!
  In flaming fire perish the slanderous tongue far away from the pious!
May the Lord preserve the quiet soul that hateth the unrighteous;
  And may the Lord establish the man that followeth peace at home.
The salvation of the Lord be upon Israel His servant for ever;
  And let the sinners perish together at the presence of the Lord;
  But let the Lord's pious ones inherit the promises of the Lord.

Psalms of Solomon - XI

Blow ye in Zion on the trumpet to summon the saints,
  Cause ye to be heard in Jerusalem the voice of him that bringeth good tidings;
  For God hath had pity on Israel in visiting them.
Stand on the height, O Jerusalem, and behold thy children,
  From the East and the West, gathered together by the Lord;
From the North they come in the gladness of their God,
  From the isles afar off God hath gathered them.
High mountains hath He abased into a plain for them;
  The hills fled at their entrance.
The woods gave them shelter as they passed by;
  Every sweet-smelling tree God caused to spring up for them,
  That Israel might pass by in the visitation of the glory of their God.
Put on, O Jerusalem, thy glorious garments;
  Make ready thy holy robe;
  For God hath spoken good concerning Israel, for ever and ever.
Let the Lord do what He hath spoken concerning Israel and Jerusalem;
  Let the Lord raise up Israel by His glorious name.

The mercy of the Lord be upon Israel for ever and ever.

Psalms of Solomon - X

Happy is the man whom the Lord remembereth with reproving,
  And whom He restraineth from the way of evil with strokes
  That he may be cleansed from sin, that it may not be multiplied.
He that maketh ready his back for strokes shall be cleansed,
  For the Lord is good to them that endure chastening.
For He maketh straight the ways of the righteous,
  And doth not pervert them by His chastening.
And the mercy of the Lord is upon them that love Him in truth,
  And the Lord remembereth His servants in mercy.
For the testimony is in the law of the eternal covenant,
  The testimony of the Lord is on the ways of men in His visitation.
Just and kind is our Lord in His judgements for ever,
  And Israel shall praise the name of the Lord in gladness.
And the pious shall give thanks in the assembly of the people;
  And on the poor shall God have mercy in the gladness of Israel;
For good and merciful is God for ever,
  And the assemblies of Israel shall glorify the name of the Lord.

The salvation of the Lord be upon the house of Israel unto everlasting gladness!

Psalms of Solomon - IX

When Israel was led away captive into a strange land,
  When they fell away from the Lord who redeemed them,
  They were cast away from the inheritance, which the Lord had given them.
Among every nation were the dispersed of Israel according to the word of God,
  That Thou mightest be justified, O God, in Thy righteousness by reason of our transgressions:
  For Thou art a just judge over all the peoples of the earth.
For from Thy knowledge none that doeth unjustly is hidden,
  And the righteous deeds of Thy pious ones are before Thee, O Lord;
  Where, then, can a man hide himself from Thy knowledge, O God?
Our works are subject to our own choice and power
  To do right or wrong in the works of our hands;
  And in Thy righteousness Thou visitest the sons of men.
He that doeth righteousness layeth up life for himself with the Lord;
  And he that doeth wrongly forfeits his life to destruction;
For the judgements of the Lord are given in righteousness to every man and his house.
Unto whom art Thou good, O God, except to them that call upon the Lord?
  He cleanseth from sins a soul when it maketh confession, when it maketh acknowledgement;
  For shame is upon us and u on our faces on account of all these things.
And to whom doth He forgive sins, except to them that have sinned?
  Thou blessest the righteous, and dost not reprove them for the sins that they have committed;
  And Thy goodness is upon them that sin, when they repent.
And, now, Thou art our God, and we the people whom Thou hast loved:
  Behold and show pity, O God of Israel, for we are Thine;
  And remove not Thy mercy from us, lest they assail us.
For Thou didst choose the seed of Abraham before all the nations,
  And didst set Thy name upon us, O Lord,
  And Thou wilt not reject us for ever.
Thou madest a covenant with our fathers concerning us;
  And we hope in Thee, when our soul turneth unto Thee.
  The mercy of the Lord be upon the house of Israel for ever and ever.

Psalms of Solomon - VIII

Distress and the sound of war hath my ear heard,
  The sound of a trumpet announcing slaughter and calamity,
The sound of much people as of an exceeding high wind,
  As a tempest with mighty fire sweeping through the Negeb.
And I said in my heart, Surely God judgeth us;
  A sound I hear moving towards Jerusalem, the holy city
My loins were broken at what I heard, my knees tottered;
  My heart was afraid, my bones were dismayed like flax.
I said: They establish their ways in righteousness.

I thought upon the judgments of God since the creation of heaven and earth;
  I held God righteous in His judgements which have been from of old.
God bare their sins in the full light of day;
  All the earth came to know the righteous judgements of God.
In secret places underground their iniquities were committed to provoke Him to anger;
They wrought confusion, son with mother and father with daughter;
  They committed adultery, every man with his neighhour's wife.
They concluded covenants with one another with an oath touching these things;
  They plundered the sanctuary of God, as though there was no avenger.
They trode the altar of the Lord, coming straight from all manner of uncleanness;
  And with menstrual blood they defiled the sacrifices, as though these were common flesh.
They left no sin undone, wherein they surpassed not the heathen.

Therefore God mingled for them a spirit of wandering;
  And gave them to drink a cup of undiluted wine, that they might become drunken.
He brought him that is from the end of the earth, that smiteth mightily;
  He decreed war against Jerusalem, and against her land.
The princes of the land went to meet him with joy: they said unto him:
  Blessed be thy way! Come ye, enter ye in with peace.
They made the rough ways even, before his entering in;
  They opened the gates to Jerusalem, they crowned its walls.

As a father entereth the house of his sons, so he entered Jerusalem in peace;
  He established his feet there in great safety.
He captured her fortresses and the wall of Jerusalem;
  For God Himself led him in safety, while they wandered.
He destroyed their princes and every one wise in counsel;
  He poured out the blood of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, like the water of uncleanness.
He led away their sons and daughters, whom they had begotten in defilement.

They did according to their uncleanness, even as their fathers had done:
  They defiled Jerusalem and the things that had been hallowed to the name of God.
But God hath shown Himself righteous in His judgements upon the nations of the earth;
  And the pious servants of God are like innocent lambs in their midst.
Worthy to be praised is the Lord that judgeth the whole earth in His righteousness.

Behold, now, O God, Thou hast shown us Thy judgement in Thy righteousness;
  Our eyes have seen Thy judgements, O God.
We have justified Thy name that is honoured for ever;
  For Thou are the God of righteousness, judging Israel with chastening.

Turn, O God, Thy mercy upon us, and have pity upon us;
  Gather together the dispersed of Israel, with mercy and goodness;
For Thy faithfulness is with us,
And though we have stiffened our neck, yet Thou art our chastener;
  Overlook us not, O our God, lest the nations swallow us up, as though there were none to deliver.

But Thou art our God from the beginning,
  And upon Thee is our hope set, O Lord;
And we will not depart from Thee,
  For good are Thy judgements upon us.
Ours and our children's be Thy good pleasure for ever;
  O Lord, our Saviour, we shall never more be moved.
The Lord is worthy to be praised for His judgements with the mouth of His pious ones;
  And blessed be Israel of the Lord for ever.

V

Psalms of Solomon - VII

The fine old doctrine--"Thou art our Shield!"

Make not Thy dwelling afar from us, O God;
  Lest they assail us that hate us without cause.
For Thou hast rejected them, O God;
  Let not their foot trample upon Thy holy inheritance.
Chasten us Thyself in Thy good pleasure;
  But give us not up to the nations;
For, if Thou sendest pestilence,
  Thou Thyself givest it charge concerning us;
For Thou art merciful,
  And wilt not be angry to the point of consuming us.

While Thy name dwelleth in our midst, we shall find mercy;
  And the nations shall not prevail against us.
For Thou art our shield,
  And when we call upon Thee, Thou hearkenest to us;
For Thou wilt pity the seed of Israel for ever
  And Thou wilt not reject them:
But we shall, be under Thy yoke for ever,
  And under the rod of Thy chastening.
Thou wilt establish us in the time that Thou helpest us,
  Showing mercy to the house of Jacob on the day wherein Thou didst promise to help them.

Psalms of Solomon - VI

A song of hope and fearlessness and peace.

Happy is the man whose heart is fixed to call upon the name of the Lord;
  When he remembereth the name of the Lord, he will be saved.
His ways are made even by the Lord,
  And the works of his hands are preserved by the Lord his God.
At what he sees in his bad dreams, his soul shall not be troubled;
  When he passes through rivers and the tossing of the seas, he shall not be dismayed.
He ariseth from his sleep, and blesseth the name of the Lord:
  When his heart is at peace, he singeth to the name of his God,
  And he entreateth the Lord for all his house.
And the Lord heareth the prayer of every one that feareth God,
  And every request of the soul that hopes for Him doth the Lord accomplish.

Blessed is the Lord, who showeth mercy to those who love Him in sincerity.