< Psalms 41 >
1 Unto the end. A Psalm of David himself. Blessed is he who shows understanding toward the needy and the poor. The Lord will deliver him in the evil day.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Blessed is he who considers the poor. The LORD will deliver him in the day of evil.
2 May the Lord preserve him and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth. And may he not hand him over to the will of his adversaries.
The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive. He shall be blessed on the earth, and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
3 May the Lord bring him help on his bed of sorrow. In his infirmity, you have changed his entire covering.
The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed, and restore him from his bed of illness.
4 I said, “O Lord, be merciful to me. Heal my soul, because I have sinned against you.”
I said, “LORD, have mercy on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
5 My enemies have spoken evils against me. When will he die and his name perish?
My enemies speak evil against me: “When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when he came in to see me, he was speaking emptiness. His heart gathered iniquity to itself. He went outside, and he was speaking in the same way.
If he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood. His heart gathers iniquity to itself. When he goes abroad, he tells it.
7 All my enemies were whispering against me. They were thinking up evils against me.
All who hate me whisper together against me. They imagine the worst for me.
8 They established an unjust word against me. Will he that sleeps no longer rise again?
“An evil disease”, they say, “has afflicted him. Now that he lies he shall rise up no more.”
9 For even the man of my peace, in whom I hoped, who ate my bread, has greatly supplanted me.
Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.
10 But you, O Lord, have mercy on me, and raise me up again. And I will requite them.
But you, LORD, have mercy on me, and raise me up, that I may repay them.
11 By this, I knew that you preferred me: because my adversary will not rejoice over me.
By this I know that you delight in me, because my enemy doesn’t triumph over me.
12 But you have sustained me, because of my innocence, and you have confirmed me in your sight in eternity.
As for me, you uphold me in my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.
13 Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for all generations and even forever. Amen. Amen.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting! Amen and amen.