The LORD’S Glory and Man’s Dignity.

To the Chief Musician; set to [a]a Philistine lute [or perhaps to a particular Hittite tune]. A Psalm of David.

1O LORD, our Lord,

How majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth!

You have displayed Your splendor above the heavens.

2Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babes You have established strength

Because of Your adversaries,

That You might silence the enemy and make the revengeful cease.

3When I see and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which You have established,

4What is man that You are mindful of him,

And the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?

5Yet You have made him a little lower than [b][c]God,

And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

6You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;

You have put all things under his feet,

7All sheep and oxen,

And also the beasts of the field,

8The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,

Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

9O LORD, our Lord,

How majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth!

[a] PSALM 8Title Or perhaps to a particular key; meaning uncertain.
[b] 5 Or the angels; Heb Elohim.
[c] 5 LXX reads angels; Heb Elohim is usually translated “God” or “god.” But it can also mean “gods” (with a lowercase “g”) when it is used with reference to the pagan gods of other nations. See, for instance, Ex 20:3: “You shall have no other gods (Elohim) before Me.” Since there are no capital letters in Hebrew as there are in English, the meaning of Ps 8:5 is ambiguous. It may be saying that humans were created a little lower than God Himself, or it may say that humans were created a little lower than the heavenly beings.