Psalm 21
The full text of Psalm 21 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
For the choirmaster. A psalm of David.
1 O LORD, in your strength the king rejoices,
and in your salvation how greatly he exults!
2 You have given him his heart's desire
and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah
3 For you meet him with rich blessings;
you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.
4 He asked life of you; you gave it to him,
length of days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great through your salvation;
splendor and majesty you bestow on him.
6 For you make him most blessed forever;
you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the LORD,
and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.
8 Your hand will find out all your enemies;
your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9 You will make them as a blazing oven
when you appear.
The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath,
and fire will consume them.
10 You will destroy their descendants from the earth,
and their offspring from among the children of man.
11 Though they plan evil against you,
though they devise schemes, they will not succeed.
12 For you will put them to flight;
you will aim at their faces with your bows.
13 Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength!
We will sing and praise your power.
Translation notes (4)
- Psalm 21:4a The phrase orek yamim (אֹרֶךְ יָמִים), 'length of days', belongs to ancient Near Eastern court language, where petitions for the king's unending life were conventional hyperbole (compare 1 Kings 1:31). In its historical setting the blessing points to a long reign and enduring dynasty; later Jewish and Christian interpretation heard in it a promise fulfilled in the messianic king.
- Psalm 21:8a The verb matsa (מָצָא), 'to find', when used with the hand as subject, is a Hebrew idiom for reaching and seizing an enemy, as in 1 Samuel 23:17 and Isaiah 10:10. The sense is not discovery after a search but inescapable capture: no foe of the king will elude his grasp.
- Psalm 21:9a Hebrew ketannur esh (כְּתַנּוּר אֵשׁ), literally 'like an oven of fire', names the tannur, a domestic clay oven whose enclosed heat consumed everything within it. Such furnace imagery belongs to the stock language of ancient Near Eastern royal texts, in which kings are said to burn their enemies like fire. The phrase 'when you appear' is literally 'at the time of your face'.
- Psalm 21:12a The Hebrew word shekhem literally means "shoulder." The phrase "you will make them turn shoulder" means they will retreat.
About this translation
You are reading the Trinity Bible Version (TBV) — an original 2026 translation made straight from the Hebrew, in clear modern English, exclusive to Trinity Bible. Every chapter of every book is free to read online. For the study edition — with Hebrew and Greek on every verse and the full translation notes — open Psalms in the Trinity Bible app.
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