HY do the heathen fiercely rage,The people strive in vain,While kings and princes counsel takeAgainst the Lord again?Yea, 'gainst His own Anointed OneThey lift their proud array;But we will burst their firmest bonds,And cast their cords away.
For He who dwells enshrined in light,Shall laugh their rage to scorn,Shall stretch His hand in judgment forth,And cause their tribes to mourn.He shall speak to them in His wrath,And vex the nations still;—Yet have I firmly set My KingOn Zion's holy hill.
That high decree I will declare,For God hath said to Me,Thou art mine only Son! this dayHave I begotten Thee.Now ask, and every heathen land,Earth's utmost wave-heat shore,Is Thine. Thou shalt possess them all,And reign for evermore.
Then Thou shalt place their guilty tribesBeneath an iron sway,Dissolve their impious rebel league,And dash them all away.Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings,And hear a warning voice;Yea, turn and serve the Lord with fearAnd tremblingly rejoice.
Oh, kiss the Son, ere He shall comeTo steep the earth in blood:It He be wrath, how blest are theyWhose trust is in their God!