Psalms 69

1 Unto the end. For those who will be changed: of David. Save me, O God, for the waters have entered, even to my soul.

For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Lilies.” By David. Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck!

2 I have become stuck in a deep quagmire, and there is no firm footing. I have arrived at the height of the sea, and a tempest has overwhelmed me.

I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

3 I have endured hardships, while crying out. My jaws have become hoarse; my eyes have failed. Meanwhile, I hope in my God.

I am weary with my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail looking for my God.

4 Those who hate me without cause have been multiplied beyond the hairs of my head. My enemies, who persecuted me unjustly, have been strengthened. Then I was required to pay for what I did not take.

Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. I have to restore what I didn’t take away.

5 O God, you know my foolishness, and my offenses have not been hidden from you.

God, you know my foolishness. My sins aren’t hidden from you.

6 Let those who wait for you, O Lord, the Lord of hosts, not be shamed in me. Let those who seek you, O God of Israel, not be confounded over me.

Don’t let those who wait for you be shamed through me, Lord GOD of Hosts. Don’t let those who seek you be brought to dishonour through me, God of Israel.

7 For because of you, I have endured reproach; confusion has covered my face.

Because for your sake, I have borne reproach. Shame has covered my face.

8 I have become a stranger to my brothers and a sojourner to the sons of my mother.

I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s children.

9 For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproached you have fallen upon me.

For the zeal of your house consumes me. The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

10 And I covered my soul with fasting, and it has become a reproach to me.

When I wept and I fasted, that was to my reproach.

11 And I put on a haircloth as my garment, and I became a parable to them.

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

12 Those who sat at the gate spoke against me, and those who drank wine made me their song.

Those who sit in the gate talk about me. I am the song of the drunkards.

13 But as for me, truly, my prayer is to you, O Lord. This time has pleased you well, O God. In the multitude of your mercy, in the truth of your salvation, hear me.

But as for me, my prayer is to you, LORD, in an acceptable time. God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer me in the truth of your salvation.

14 Rescue me from the quagmire, so that I may not become trapped. Free me from those who hate me and from deep waters.

Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.

15 Do not allow the tempest of water to submerge me, nor the deep to absorb me. And do not allow the well to close in on me.

Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me.

16 Hear me, O Lord, for your mercy is kind. Look upon me, according to the fullness of your compassion.

Answer me, LORD, for your loving kindness is good. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me.

17 And do not turn your face away from your servant, for I am in trouble: heed me quickly.

Don’t hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me speedily!

18 Attend to my soul, and free it. Rescue me, because of my enemies.

Draw near to my soul and redeem it. Ransom me because of my enemies.

19 You know my reproach, and my confusion, and my reverence.

You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonour. My adversaries are all before you.

20 All those who trouble me are in your sight; my heart has anticipated reproach and misery. And I sought for one who might grieve together with me, but there was no one, and for one who might console me, and I found no one.

Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness. I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; for comforters, but I found none.

21 And they gave me gall for my food. And in my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.

They also gave me poison for my food. In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.

22 Let their table be a snare before them, and a retribution, and a scandal.

Let their table before them become a snare. May it become a retribution and a trap.

23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they may not see, and may their back always be crooked.

Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can’t see. Let their backs be continually bent.

24 Pour out your indignation upon them, and may the fury of your anger take hold of them.

Pour out your indignation on them. Let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.

25 May their dwelling place be deserted, and may there be no one who dwells in their tabernacles.

Let their habitation be desolate. Let no one dwell in their tents.

26 For they persecuted whomever you struck. And they have added to the grief of my wounds.

For they persecute him whom you have wounded. They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.

27 Assign an iniquity upon their iniquity, and may they not enter into your justice.

Charge them with crime upon crime. Don’t let them come into your righteousness.

28 Delete them from the Book of the Living, and let them not be written down with the just.

Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous.

29 I am poor and sorrowful, but your salvation, O God, has taken me up.

But I am in pain and distress. Let your salvation, God, protect me.

30 I will praise the name of God with a canticle, and I will magnify him with praise.

I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

31 And it will please God more than a new calf producing horns and hoofs.

It will please the LORD better than an ox, or a bull that has horns and hoofs.

32 Let the poor see and rejoice. Seek God, and your soul will live.

The humble have seen it, and are glad. You who seek after God, let your heart live.

33 For the Lord has heard the poor, and he has not despised his prisoners.

For the LORD hears the needy, and doesn’t despise his captive people.

34 Let the heavens and the earth praise him: the sea, and everything that crawls in it.

Let heaven and earth praise him; the seas, and everything that moves therein!

35 For God will save Zion, and the cities of Judah will be built up. And they will dwell there, and they will acquire it by inheritance.

For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah. They shall settle there, and own it.

36 And the offspring of his servants will possess it; and those who love his name will dwell in it.

The children also of his servants shall inherit it. Those who love his name shall dwell therein.