The Beauty and Glory of Zion.
1 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, In the city of our God, His holy mountain.
2 Fair and beautiful in elevation, the joy of all the earth, Is Mount Zion [the City of David] in the far north, The city of the great King. [Matt 5:35]
3 God, in her palaces, Has made Himself known as a stronghold.
4 For, lo, the kings assembled themselves, They [came and] passed by together.
5 They saw it, then they were amazed; They were stricken with terror, they fled in alarm.
6 Panic seized them there, And pain, as that of a woman in childbirth.
7 With the east wind You shattered 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: God will establish her forever. Selah.
9 We have thought of Your lovingkindness, O God, In the midst of Your temple.
10 As is Your name, O God, So is Your praise to the ends of the earth; Your right hand is full of righteousness (rightness, justice).
11 Let Mount Zion be glad, Let the daughters of Judah rejoice Because of Your [righteous] judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, go all around her; Count her towers,
13 Consider her ramparts, Go through her palaces, That you may tell the next generation [about her glory].
14 For this is God, Our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even until death.