Psalms 69

1 Unto the end, for them that shall be changed; for David. SAVE me, O God: for the waters are come in even unto my soul.

For the music director. To the tune “Lilies.” A psalm of David. God, please save me, because the water is up to my neck!

2 I stick fast in the mire of the deep: and there is no sure standing. I am come into the depth of the sea: and a tempest hath overwhelmed me.

I'm sinking deeper into the mud—there's no solid ground for me to stand. I find myself in deep water; floods wash over me.

3 I have laboured with crying; my jaws are become hoarse: my eyes have failed, whilst I hope in my God.

I'm so tired of screaming out for help my throat is totally raw. My eyes are worn out looking for my God to help me.

4 They are multiplied above the hairs of my head, who hate me without cause. My enemies are grown strong who have wrongfully persecuted me: then did I pay that which I took not away.

Those who hate me for no reason are more than the number of hairs on my head. Many enemies try to destroy me by telling lies. How can I give back what I didn't steal?

5 O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my offences are not hidden from thee:

God, you know how foolish I am! My sins are not hidden from you.

6 Let not them be ashamed for me, who look for thee, O Lord, the Lord of hosts. Let them not be confounded on my account, who seek thee, O God of Israel.

Don't let those who trust you be ashamed because of me, Lord God Almighty. Don't let those who follow you be disgraced because of me, God of Israel.

7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.

For your sake I put up with the insults; my face shows my embarrassment.

8 I am become a stranger to my brethren, and an alien to the sons of my mother.

I have become a foreigner to my brother Israelites; a stranger to my very own brothers.

9 For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up: and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

My devotion for your house is burning me up inside; the insults of those who insulted you have fallen on me.

10 And I covered my soul in fasting: and it was made a reproach to me.

I wept and I fasted, but they mocked me;

11 And I made haircloth my garment: and I became a byword to them.

I mourned in sackcloth, but they laughed at me.

12 They that sat in the gate spoke against me: and they that drank wine made me their song.

People sitting by the town gate gossip about me. I'm the subject of rude songs sung by drunks.

13 But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord; for the time of thy good pleasure, O God. In the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

But my prayer is to you, Lord, believing this is a good time to respond to me. God, in your wonderful trustworthy love, answer me with your sure salvation.

14 Draw me out of the mire, that I may not stick fast: deliver me from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

Please rescue me from the mud—don't let me sink! Save me from those who hate me and from drowning in the deep waters!

15 Let not the tempest of water drown me, nor the deep swallow me up: and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

Don't let the flood waters wash over me. Don't let the deep waters pull me down. Don't let the grave close over me.

16 Hear me, O Lord, for thy mercy is kind; look upon me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.

Please answer my prayers, Lord, for you are good and love me with your trustworthy love; because of your kindness, please help me.

17 And turn not away thy face from thy servant: for I am in trouble, hear me speedily.

Don't turn away from me, your servant. Please answer me quickly because I'm in trouble.

18 Attend to my soul, and deliver it: save me because of my enemies.

Come here and rescue me; set me free from my enemies.

19 Thou knowest my reproach, and my confusion, and my shame.

You—you know my shame, my disgrace, my humiliation. You see everything my enemies are doing.

20 In thy sight are all they that afflict me; my heart hath expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none: and for one that would comfort me, and I found none.

Insults have broken my heart—I am so sick there is no cure. I looked for some sympathy, but there was no one! Nobody showed me any compassion.

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

Instead they gave me bitter herbs to eat and vinegar to drink.

22 Let their table become as a snare before them, and a recompense, and a stumblingblock.

May the table set before them become a trap for them, a net that catches them, bringing punishment.

23 Let their eyes be darkened that they see not; and their back bend thou down always.

May their eyes become blind so they cannot see, and may their backs always be bent low in dejection.

24 Pour out thy indignation upon them: and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.

Pour out your judgment on them; chase them down in your fierce anger.

25 Let their habitation be made desolate: and let there be none to dwell in their tabernacles.

Let the places where they live be deserted. Let their homes be abandoned.

26 Because they have persecuted him whom thou hast smitten; and they have added to the grief of my wounds.

For they persecute those you have punished, and make it even more painful for those you have disciplined.

27 Add thou iniquity upon their iniquity: and let them not come into thy justice.

Punish them for the evil they have done. Don't acquit them.

28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; and with the just let them not be written.

Blot out their names from the Book of Life. Don't let them be listed with those who do right.

29 But I am poor and sorrowful: thy salvation, O God, hath set me up.

But I am suffering and in physical pain. God, please save me and keep me safe.

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

I will praise God's character in song; I will say how incredible he is and how thankful I am.

31 And it shall please God better than a young calf, that bringeth forth horns and hoofs.

The Lord is happier with this than with offering animals as sacrifices: cattle, or bulls with horns and hooves.

32 Let the poor see and rejoice: seek ye God, and your soul shall live.

The humble will see this and be happy. May God encourage everyone who comes to him.

33 For the Lord hath heard the poor: and hath not despised his prisoners.

God hears the poor, and he does not ignore his people who are in prison.

34 Let the heavens and the earth praise him; the sea, and every thing that creepeth therein.

Praise him heaven and earth, the seas and everything that lives in them!

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

For God will save Zion, and rebuild the cities of Judah. They will live there and own the land.

36 And the seed of his servants shall possess it; and they that love his name shall dwell therein.

The descendants of those who follow him will inherit the land, and those who love him will live there.