48
Broken Bondage
A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 Great is the LORD,
and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God,
His holy mountain.
2 Beautiful in loftiness,
the joy of all the earth,
like the peaks of Zaphon * is Mount Zion,
the city of the great King.
3 God is in her citadels;
He has shown Himself to be a fortress.
4 For behold, the kings assembled;
they all advanced together.
5 They saw and were astounded;
they fled in terror.
6 Trembling seized them there,
anguish like a woman in labor.
7 With a wind from the east
You wrecked the ships of Tarshish.†
8 As we have heard, so we have seen
in the city of the LORD of Hosts,
in the city of our God:
God will establish her forever.
Selah
9 Within Your temple, O God,
we contemplate Your loving devotion.
10 Your name, O God, like Your praise,
reaches to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Mount Zion is glad,
the daughters ‡ of Judah rejoice,
on account of Your judgments.
12 March around Zion, encircle her,
count her towers,
13 consider her ramparts, tour her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation.
14 For this God is our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide even till death.§
* 48:2 Or in the far north; the most sacred mountain of the Canaanites was Zaphon † 48:7 Or a fleet of trading ships ‡ 48:11 Or the villages § 48:14 Or He will guide us beyond death