The Last Words of David

¹Now these are the last words of David:

The oracle of David, the son of Jesse,

the oracle of the man who was raised on high,

the anointed of the God of Jacob,

the sweet psalmist of Israel:1

²“The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me;

his word is on my tongue.

³The God of Israel has spoken;

the Rock of Israel has said to me:

When one rules justly over men,

ruling in the fear of God,

⁴he dawns on them like the morning light,

like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,

like rain2 that makes grass to sprout from the earth.

⁵“For does not my house stand so with God?

For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,

ordered in all things and secure.

For will he not cause to prosper

all my help and my desire?

⁶But worthless men3 are all like thorns that are thrown away,

for they cannot be taken with the hand;

⁷but the man who touches them

arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear,

and they are utterly consumed with fire.”4

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