Psalms 146:1–10, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Psalms 146:1–10
Do not trust princes; praise the defender of the vulnerable
Hallelujah begins as a lifelong vow, then as a warning not to trust princes
Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
The last five psalms all ring hallelujah. The first of them will not let praise be a mood about power. Princes and the human son have no salvation; breath leaves; thoughts perish the same day. Help is the issue, not manners toward officials.
The God of Jacob is praised as the one who actually does justice for the vulnerable
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God: which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever: which executeth judgment for the oppressed; which giveth food to the hungry.
The LORD looseth the prisoners: the LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous: the LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion. Maker of all, keeper of truth, and then a list: oppressed, hungry, prisoners, blind, bowed down, strangers, fatherless, widow. Hallelujah that does not include this list has not sung this psalm. Reign forever is the reign of that defender, not a soundtrack for princes.
How this should shape us
Praise while you have breath, and take your hope off princes. Join the God who keeps truth by doing judgment for the oppressed, food for the hungry, freedom, sight, lifting, welcome to the stranger, and relief for orphan and widow. If your hallelujah cannot name those people, it is not Psalm 146.
Teach it back
Explain Psalms 146:1–10 in your own words. Name the poetic voice and movement, trace its place in Psalm 146 and Book V, identify one exact source control or uncertainty, and reject one use the passage does not authorize.
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Go deeper
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Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Psalms 146:1–10, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 146:1–10
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 146:1–10.
Official NET Bible Psalm 146 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 146:1–10
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Enter the Bible Psalms course, Summary, Outline, Introductory Issues, and Theological Themes; applied to Psalms 146:1–10
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 146 for Psalms 146:1–10
Sources for This Section
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Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 146:1–10, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 146:1–10
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 146:1–10.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 146 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 146:1–10
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗modern scholarly book course
Psalms course: summary, outline, background, introductory issues, theological themes, and Bible in the world
Fred Gaiser; revised by Nicholas Schaser
Enter the Bible, Luther Seminary, revised May 2024
Supports: Five-book, genre, poetic, historical, theological, liturgical, communal, and reception synthesis with visible limits.
Exact location: Enter the Bible Psalms course, Summary, Outline, Introductory Issues, and Theological Themes; applied to Psalms 146:1–10
Open the Enter the Bible Psalms course ↗ancient greek text translation and introduction
A New English Translation of the Septuagint: Psalms
Albert Pietersma
International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies; Oxford University Press, 2009
Supports: Ancient Greek wording, numbering, division, and superscription evidence where it materially clarifies translation or reception.
Exact location: NETS Psalms, Pietersma introduction pp. 542–543 and exact Greek translation headed Ps 146 for Psalms 146:1–10
Open NETS Psalms ↗