in vanum laboraverunt qui aedificant eam. in vain do those labour who build it. Giovanni Gabrieli (c.1554-1612) Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem, Unless the Lord guards the city, frustra vigilat qui custodit eam. it is futile for the watcher to guard it. Jubilate Deo (pub. 1597) Vanum est vobis ante lucem surgere: It is pointless for you to get up early: Psalms 100 & 128; Tobit 7; Psalms 20 & 134 surgite postquam sederitis, you get up before you have gone to bed, qui manducatis panem doloris. you who eat the bread of misery. Jubilate Deo omnis terra, Let every land praise God, Cum dederit dilectis suis somnum: For he has granted rest to those he loves: quia sic benedicetur homo qui timet as the man who fears the Lord is ecce haereditas Domini, behold an inheritance from the Lord – Dominum. blessed. filii: sons: Deus Israel coniugat vos May the God of Israel bind you together merces, fructus ventris. a reward, the fruit of the womb. et ipse sit vobiscum, and himself be with you, Sicut sagittae in manu potentis: Like arrows in the hand of a powerful man: mittat vobis auxilium de sancto may he send you help from his holiness ita filii excussorum. such are sons born in your youth. et de Sion tueatur vos. and watch over you from Sion. Beatus vir qui implevit Blessed is the man who has filled Benedicat vobis Dominus ex Sion, The Lord blessed you out of Sion, desiderium suum ex ipsis: his desire with these; qui fecit caelum et terram. he who made heaven and earth. non confundetur cum loquetur he will not be confounded when he speaks Servite Domino in laetitia! Serve the Lord with joy! inimicis suis in porta. with his enemies at the gate. Gloria Patri, et Filio, Glory be to Father, to the Son, et Spiritui Sancto. and to the Holy Spirit. Orlande de Lassus (c.1530-1594) Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et As it was in the beginning, is now, and semper: shall be for ever; Ad Dominum cum tribularer et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. world without end. Amen. (pub. 1594)
Psalm 120 Dixit Dominus (pub. 1581) Ad Dominum cum tribularer clamavi To the Lord, in tribulation, I cried out, Psalm 109 et exaudivit me. and he heard me. Domine, libera meam a labiis iniquis et Lord, free my soul from evil lips and Dixit Dominus Domino meo: The Lord said unto my Lord: a lingua dolosa. from a deceitful tongue. sede a dextris meis. sit at my right hand. Quid detur tibi aut quid What will be given to you, and what Donec ponam inimicos tuos, Until I make thine enemies apponatur tibi shall be placed upon you, on the scabellum pedum tuorum. thy footstool. Ad linguam dolosam? deceitful tongue? Virgam virtutis tuae The Lord shall send sagittae potentis acutae Powerful, sharp arrows, emittet Dominus ex Sion: the rod of thy strength out of Zion: cum carbonibus desolatoriis. with burning coals. dominare in medio inimicorum tuorum. rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Heu mihi quia incolatus meus Woe is me, that my sojourning is Tecum principium in die virtutis tuae Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy prolongatus est! prolonged! in splendoribus sanctorum: power in the beauties of holiness: from the Habitavi cum habitantibus Cedar. I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Kedar. ex utero ante luciferum womb of the morning thou hast the dew of Multum incola fuit anima mea. My soul has long been a sojourner. genui te. thy youth. Cum his qui oderunt pacem eram With them that hate peace I was Iuravit Dominus, et non paenitebit eum: The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent: pacificus; peaceable: Tu es sacerdos in aeternum Thou art a priest for ever Cum loquebar illis when I spoke to them secundum ordinem Melchisedech. after the order of Melchizedek. impugnabant me gratis. they fought against me without cause. Dominus a dextris tuis, The Lord at thy right hand, shall strike confregit in die irae suae reges. through kings in the day of his wrath. Iudicabit in nationibus, He shall judge among the heathen,
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525- implebit ruinas: he shall fill the places with ruins: conquassabit capita in terra he shall wound the heads over many 1594) multorum. countries. Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes (pub. 1587) De torrente in via bibet: He shall drink of the brook in the way: Psalm 42.1-3 propterea exaltabit caput. therefore shall he lift up the head. Gloria Patri, et Filio, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes Like as the deer longs for streams of et Spiritui Sancto. and to the Holy Spirit. aquarum: water: Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et As it was in the beginning, is now, and ita desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus. so my soul longs for you, O God. semper: ever shall be for ever: Sitivit anima mea ad Deum fortem vivum My soul is thirsty for the living God God: et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. world without end. Amen. Quando veniam et apparebo when shall I come to appear ante faciem Dei? before the presence of God?
Fuerunt mihi lachrymae meae panes My tears have been my meat day and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c.1525- die ac nocte: night: 1594) dum dicitur mihi quotidie: while they daily say to me: ubi est Deus tuus? Where is your God? Super flumina Babylonis (pub. 1587) Psalm 136.1-2
Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) Super flumina Babylonis illic sedimus By the rivers of Babylon we sat down, Nisi Dominus (pub. 1581) et flevimus: dum recordaremur tui, and wept when we remembered you, Psalm 127 Sion: O Sion. in salicibus in medio eius In the midst of the willows: Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum, Unless the Lord builds the house, suspendimus organa nostra. we hung up our harps.
Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) Sing ye to our Lord (pub. 1611) Laudate Dominum (pub. 1581) Psalm 149.1-2 from The Primer, or Office Psalm 116 of the blessed Virgin Marie (1599)
Laudate Dominum omnes gentes: Praise the Lord, all nations: Sing ye to our Lord a new song, his praise in the Church of Saints. laudate eum omnes populi. praise him, all peoples. Because his mercy Let Israel be joyfull in him, that made him, and let the daughters of Sion rejoyce Quoniam confirmata est super nos upon us is confirmed: in their King. misericordia eius: and the trustworthiness of the Lord et veritas Domini manet in aeternum. will endure for ever.
Gloria Patri, et Filio, Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, Thomas Weelkes (1576-1623) et Spiritui Sancto. and to the Holy Spirit. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et As it was in the beginning, is now and Laboravi in gemitu meo (pub. semper: shall be for ever: 1602) et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. world without end. Amen. Psalm 6.7
Laboravi in gemitu meo; I am weary of my groaning; Robert Parsons (c.1535-1571) lavabo per singulas noctes lectum meum: every night wash I my bed: lacrimis meis stratum meum rigabo. and water my couch with my tears. Domine quis habitabit
Psalm 15
Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625) Domine, quis habitabit in tabernaculo Lord, who may dwell in your tuo sanctuary? O clap your hands (pub. 1768) aut quis requiescet in monte sancto tuo? Who may live on your holy hill? Psalm 47 Qui ingreditur sine macula: He whose walk is blameless et operatur justiciam. and who does what is righteous, O clap your hands together, all ye people: Qui loquitur veritatem in corde suo: who speaks the truth from his heart O sing unto God with the voice of melody. qui non egit dolum in lingua sua. and has no slander on his tongue, For the Lord is high, and to be feared; Nec fecit proximo suo malum: who does his neighbour no wrong he is the great king of all the earth. et opprobrium non accepit adversus and casts no slur on He shall subdue the people under us, proximos suos. his fellow man. and the nations under our feet. He shall choose out an heritage for us, even the worship of Jacob, whom he loved. William Byrd (c.1540-1623) God is gone up with a merry noise, and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet. Lord in thy rage (pub. 1589) O sing praises unto our God: Anonymous, after Psalm 6:1-2 O sing praises unto the Lord our king. For God is the king of all the earth: Lord in thy rage rebuke me not, Have mercy Lord on me, because sing ye praises with the understanding. for my most grievous sin, my state is weak to see, God reigneth over the heathen: nor in thine anger chasten me, heal me, O Lord, for that my bones God sitteth upon his holy seat. but let me favour win, are troubled sore in me. For God, which is highly exalted, doth defend the earth, as it were with a shield. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656) and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: O God, the proud are risen against me (pub. 1668) world without end. Amen. Psalm 86: 14-15
O God the proud are risen against me: and the assemblies of violent men which have not Thee before their eyes seek after my soul. But thou, O Lord art a pitiful God and a merciful God: slow to anger and great in goodness and truth.
William Byrd (c.1540-1623) Miserere mei, Deus (pub. 1589) Psalm 50.1-2
Miserere mei, Deus, Have mercy upon me, O God, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam according to your great mercy et secundum multitudinem and according to the abundance miserationum tuarum dele iniquitatem of your compassion blot out my meam. transgressions.