Psalms 88
1 A Song, a Psalm for the sons of Korah. To the chief Musician. Upon Mahalath Leannoth. An instruction. Of Heman the Ezrahite. Jehovah, God of my salvation, I have cried by day [and] in the night before thee.
A Canticle Psalm to the sons of Korah. Unto the end. For Mahalath, to answer the understanding of Heman the Ezrahite. O Lord, God of my salvation: I have cried out, day and night, in your presence.
2 Let my prayer come before thee; incline thine ear unto my cry.
Let my prayer enter in your sight. Incline your ear to my petition.
For my soul has been filled with evils, and my life has drawn near to Hell. (Sheol h7585)
4 I am reckoned with them that go down into the pit; I am as a man that hath no strength:
I am considered to be among those who will descend into the pit. I have become like a man without assistance,
5 Prostrate among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave; whom thou rememberest no more, and who are cut off from thy hand.
idle among the dead. I am like the wounded sleeping in sepulchers, whom you no longer remember, and who have been repelled by your hand.
6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in dark places, in the deeps.
They have lain me in the lower pit: in dark places and in the shadow of death.
7 Thy fury lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted [me] with all thy waves. (Selah)
Your fury has been confirmed over me. And you have brought all your waves upon me.
8 Thou hast put my familiar friends far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
You have sent my acquaintances far from me. They have set me as an abomination to themselves. I was handed over, yet I did not depart.
9 Mine eye consumeth by reason of affliction. Upon thee, Jehovah, have I called every day; I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
My eyes languished before destitution. All day long, I cried out to you, O Lord. I stretched out my hands to you.
10 Wilt thou do wonders to the dead? shall the shades arise and praise thee? (Selah)
Will you perform wonders for the dead? Or will physicians raise to life, and so confess to you?
11 Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave? thy faithfulness in Destruction?
Could anyone declare your mercy in the sepulcher, or your truth from within perdition?
12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
Will your wonders be known in the darkness, or your justice in the land of oblivion?
13 But as for me, Jehovah, I cry unto thee, and in the morning my prayer cometh before thee.
And I have cried out to you, O Lord, and in early morning, my prayer will come before you.
14 Why, O Jehovah, castest thou off my soul? [why] hidest thou thy face from me?
Lord, why do you reject my prayer? Why do you turn your face away from me?
15 I am afflicted and expiring from my youth up; I suffer thy terrors, [and] I am distracted.
I am poor, and I have been amid hardships from my youth. And, though I have been exalted, I am humbled and disturbed.
16 Thy fierce anger hath gone over me; thy terrors have brought me to nought:
Your wrath has crossed into me, and your terrors have disturbed me.
17 They have surrounded me all the day like water; they have compassed me about together.
They have surrounded me like water, all day long. They have surrounded me, all at once.
18 Lover and associate hast thou put far from me: my familiar friends are darkness.
Friend and neighbor, and my acquaintances, you have sent far away from me, away from misery.
