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Psalm 143

The prophet praises God, and prays to be delivered from his enemies. No worldly happiness is to be compared with that of serving God.

Does this psalm differ from what you were expecting? Don't be confused. There are two systems for arranging the psalms: the Septuagint and the Masoretic. We use the Septuagint system here. In the Masoretic system, which is used in most modern Bible translations, this psalm is called Psalm 144, and the previous psalm is known as Psalm 143.

English (Douay-Rheims)

A psalm of David against Goliath.

1 Blessed be the Lord my God, who teacheth my hands to fight, and my fingers to war.
2 My mercy, and my refuge: my support, and my deliverer: My protector, and I have hoped in him: who subdueth my people under me.
3 Lord, what is man, that thou art made known to him? or the son of man, that thou makest account of him?
4 Man is like to vanity: his days pass away like a shadow.
5 Lord, bow down thy heavens and descend: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 Send forth lightning, and thou shalt scatter them: shoot out thy arrows, and thou shalt trouble them.
7 Put forth thy hand from on high, take me out, and deliver me from many waters: from the hand of strange children:
8 Whose mouth hath spoken vanity: and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity.
9 To thee, O God, I will sing a new canticle: on the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings I will sing praises to thee.
10 Who givest salvation to kings: who hast redeemed thy servant David from the malicious sword:
11 Deliver me, And rescue me out of the hand of strange children; whose mouth hath spoken vanity: and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity:
12 Whose sons are as new plants in their youth: Their daughters decked out, adorned round about after the similitude of a temple:
13 Their storehouses full, flowing out of this into that. Their sheep fruitful in young, abounding in their goings forth:
14 Their oxen fat. There is no breach of wall, nor passage, nor crying out in their streets.
15 They have called the people happy, that hath these things: but happy is that people whose God is the Lord.

Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899

Latin (Clementine Vulgate)

1 Psalmus David. Adversus Goliath.

Benedictus Dominus Deus meus,
qui docet manus meas ad prælium,
et digitos meos ad bellum.
2 Misericordia mea et refugium meum;
susceptor meus et liberator meus;
protector meus, et in ipso speravi,
qui subdit populum meum sub me.
3 Domine, quid est homo, quia innotuisti ei?
aut filius hominis, quia reputas eum?
4 Homo vanitati similis factus est;
dies ejus sicut umbra prætereunt.
5 Domine, inclina cælos tuos, et descende;
tange montes, et fumigabunt.
6 Fulgura coruscationem, et dissipabis eos;
emitte sagittas tuas, et conturbabis eos.
7 Emitte manum tuam de alto: eripe me,
et libera me de aquis multis,
de manu filiorum alienorum:
8 quorum os locutum est vanitatem,
et dextera eorum dextera iniquitatis.
9 Deus, canticum novum cantabo tibi;
in psalterio decachordo psallam tibi.
10 Qui das salutem regibus,
qui redemisti David servum tuum de gladio maligno,
11 eripe me, et erue me de manu filiorum alienorum,
quorum os locutum est vanitatem,
et dextera eorum dextera iniquitatis.
12 Quorum filii sicut novellæ plantationes in juventute sua;
filiæ eorum compositæ,
circumornatæ ut similitudo templi.
13 Promptuaria eorum plena, eructantia ex hoc in illud;
oves eorum fœtosæ, abundantes in egressibus suis;
14 boves eorum crassæ.
Non est ruina maceriæ, neque transitus,
neque clamor in plateis eorum.
15 Beatum dixerunt populum cui hæc sunt;
beatus populus cujus Dominus Deus ejus.

Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
Please notify the original transcriber (little.mouth@soon.com) of any errors in this Latin edition