Psalms of Solomon 2 — ASVBT

A Psalm. Of Solomon. Concerning Jerusalem.

2Verse 1When the sinner waxed proud, with a battering ram he cast down fortified walls,
And thou didst not restrain him.
^{Verse 2}Alien nations ascended thine altar,
They trampled it proudly with their sandals;
^{Verse 3}Because the sons of Jerusalem had defiled the holy things of the Lord,
Had profaned with iniquities the offerings of God.
^{Verse 4}Therefore he said: Cast them far from me;
I take no pleasure in them.
^{Verse 5}The beauty of her glory was set at nought before God,
It was utterly dishonored.^{Verse 6}The sons and the daughters were in grievous captivity,
Sealed was their neck, branded was it among the nations.
^{Verse 7}According to their sins hath he done unto them,
For he hath left them in the hands of them that prevailed.
^{Verse 8}He hath turned away his face from pitying them,
Young and old and their children together;
For they had done evil one and all, in not hearkening.
^{Verse 9}And the heavens were angry, and the earth abhorred them;
For no man upon it had done what they did,
^{Verse 10}And the earth recognized all thy righteous judgments, O God.^{Verse 11}They set the sons of Jerusalem to be mocked at in return for the harlots in her;
Every wayfarer entered in in the full light of day.
^{Verse 12}They made mock with their transgressions, as they themselves were wont to do;
In the full light of day they revealed their iniquities.
^{Verse 13}And the daughters of Jerusalem were defiled in accordance with thy judgment,
Because they had defiled themselves with unnatural intercourse.
^{Verse 14}I am pained in my bowels and my inward parts for these things.^{Verse 15}And yet I will justify thee, O God, in uprightness of heart,
For in thy judgments is thy righteousness displayed, O God.
^{Verse 16}For thou hast rendered to the sinners according to their deeds,
Yea according to their sins, which were very wicked.
^{Verse 17}Thou hast uncovered their sins, that thy judgment might be manifest;
Thou hast wiped out their memorial from the earth.
^{Verse 18}God is a righteous judge, and he is no respecter of persons.
^{Verse 19}For the nations reproached Jerusalem, trampling it down;
Her beauty was dragged down from the throne of glory.
^{Verse 20}She girded on sackcloth instead of comely raiment,
A rope was about her head instead of a crown.
^{Verse 21}She put off the glorious diadem which God had set upon her,
In dishonor was her beauty cast upon the ground.^{Verse 22}And I saw and entreated the Lord and said,
Long enough, O Lord, hath thy hand been heavy on Jerusalem, in bringing the nations upon them.
^{Verse 23}For they have made sport unsparingly in wrath and fierce anger;
And they will make an utter end, unless thou, O Lord, rebuke them in thy wrath.
^{Verse 24}For they have done it not in zeal, but in lust of soul,
Pouring out their wrath upon us with a view to rapine.
^{Verse 25}Delay not, O God, to recompense them on their heads,
To turn the pride of the dragon into dishonor.
^{Verse 26}And I had not long to wait before God showed me the insolent one,
Slain on the mountains of Egypt,
Esteemed of less account than the least on land and sea;
^{Verse 27}His body, too, borne hither and thither on the billows with much insolence,
With none to bury him, because he had rejected him with dishonor.
^{Verse 28}He reflected not that he was man,
And reflected not on the latter end;
^{Verse 29}He said, I will be lord of land and sea;
And he recognized not that it is God who is great,
Mighty in his great strength.
^{Verse 30}He is king over the heavens,
And judgeth kings and kingdoms.
^{Verse 31}It is he who setteth me up in glory,
And bringeth down the proud to eternal destruction in dishonor,
Because they knew him not.
^{Verse 32}And now behold, ye princes of the earth, the judgment of the Lord,
For a great king and righteous is he, judging all that is under heaven.
^{Verse 33}Bless God, ye that fear the Lord with wisdom,
For the mercy of the Lord will be upon them that fear him, in the judgment;
^{Verse 34}So that he will distinguish between the righteous and the sinner,
And recompense the sinners forever according to their deeds;
^{Verse 35}And have mercy on the righteous, delivering him from the affliction of the sinner,
And recompensing the sinner for what he hath done to the righteous.^{Verse 36}For the Lord is good to them that call upon him in patience,
Doing according to his mercy to his pious ones,
Establishing them at all times before him in strength.
^{Verse 37}Blessed be the Lord forever before his servants.