Zion, the City of Our God

Psalm 48

¹ Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain, +M2 beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.
³ Within its citadels God
has shown himself a sure defense.

⁴ Then the kings assembled,
they came on together.
⁵ As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic, they took to flight;
⁶ trembling took hold of them there,
pains as of a woman in labor,
⁷ as when an east wind shatters
the ships of Tarshish.
⁸ As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
which God establishes forever.+pSelah

⁹ We ponder your steadfast love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.
¹⁰ Your name, O God, like your praise,
reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with victory.
¹¹ Let Mount Zion be glad,
let the towns ₁ of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments.

¹² Walk about Zion, go all around it,
count its towers,
¹³ consider well its ramparts;
go through its citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
¹⁴ that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
He will be our guide forever.