Psalms, 69

0.

0. To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Psalm of David.

1. [For the choirmaster Tune: 'Lilies . . .' Of David] Save me, God, for the waters have closed in on my very being.

1. Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck.

2. I am sinking in the deepest swamp and there is no firm ground. I have stepped into deep water and the waves are washing over me.

2. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.

3. I am exhausted with calling out, my throat is hoarse, my eyes are worn out with searching for my God.

3. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.

4. More numerous than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without reason. Those who seek to get rid of me are powerful, my treacherous enemies. (Must I give back what I have never stolen?)

4. More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore?

5. God, you know how foolish I am, my offences are not hidden from you.

5. O God, thou knowest my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from thee.

6. Those who hope in you must not be made fools of, Yahweh Sabaoth, because of me! Those who seek you must not be disgraced, God of Israel, because of me!

6. Let not those who hope in thee be put to shame through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; let not those who seek thee be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel.

7. It is for you I bear insults, my face is covered with shame,

7. For it is for thy sake that I have borne reproach, that shame has covered my face.

8. I am estranged from my brothers, alienated from my own mother's sons;

8. I have become a stranger to my brethren, an alien to my mother's sons.

9. for I am eaten up with zeal for your house, and insults directed against you fall on me.

9. For zeal for thy house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult thee have fallen on me.

10. I mortify myself with fasting, and find myself insulted for it,

10. When I humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach.

11. I dress myself in sackcloth and become their laughing-stock,

11. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them.

12. the gossip of people sitting at the gate, and the theme of drunkards' songs.

12. I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me.

13. And so, I pray to you, Yahweh, at the time of your favour; in your faithful love answer me, in the constancy of your saving power.

13. But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of thy steadfast love answer me. With thy faithful help

14. Rescue me from the mire before I sink in; so I shall be saved from those who hate me, from the watery depths.

14. rescue me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.

15. Let not the waves wash over me, nor the deep swallow me up, nor the pit close its mouth on me.

15. Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me.

16. Answer me, Yahweh, for your faithful love is generous; in your tenderness turn towards me;

16. Answer me, O LORD, for thy steadfast love is good; according to thy abundant mercy, turn to me.

17. do not turn away from your servant, be quick to answer me, for I am in trouble.

17. Hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in distress, make haste to answer me.

18. Come to my side, redeem me, ransom me because of my enemies.

18. Draw near to me, redeem me, set me free because of my enemies!

19. You know well the insults, the shame and disgrace I endure. Every one of my oppressors is known to you.

19. Thou knowest my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor; my foes are all known to thee.

20. Insult has broken my heart past cure. I hoped for sympathy, but in vain, for consolers -- not one to be found.

20. Insults have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

21. To eat they gave me poison, to drink, vinegar when I was thirsty.

21. They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

22. May their own table prove a trap for them, and their abundance a snare;

22. Let their own table before them become a snare; let their sacrificial feasts be a trap.

23. may their eyes grow so dim that they cannot see, all their muscles lose their strength.

23. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see; and make their loins tremble continually.

24. Vent your fury on them, let your burning anger overtake them.

24. Pour out thy indignation upon them, and let thy burning anger overtake them.

25. Reduce their encampment to ruin, and leave their tents untenanted,

25. May their camp be a desolation, let no one dwell in their tents.

26. for hounding someone you had already stricken, for redoubling the pain of one you had wounded.

26. For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten, and him whom thou hast wounded, they afflict still more.

27. Charge them with crime after crime, exclude them from your saving justice,

27. Add to them punishment upon punishment; may they have no acquittal from thee.

28. erase them from the book of life, do not enrol them among the upright.

28. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous.

29. For myself, wounded wretch that I am, by your saving power raise me up!

29. But I am afflicted and in pain; let thy salvation, O God, set me on high!

30. I will praise God's name in song, I will extol him by thanksgiving,

30. I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.

31. for this will please Yahweh more than an ox, than a bullock horned and hoofed.

31. This will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.

32. The humble have seen and are glad. Let your courage revive, you who seek God.

32. Let the oppressed see it and be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive.

33. For God listens to the poor, he has never scorned his captive people.

33. For the LORD hears the needy, and does not despise his own that are in bonds.

34. Let heaven and earth and seas, and all that stirs in them, acclaim him!

34. Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves therein.

35. For God will save Zion, and rebuild the cities of Judah, and people will live there on their own land;

35. For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; and his servants shall dwell there and possess it;

36. the descendants of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell there.

36. the children of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it.