Psalms 38
1 O YHWH, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
Yahweh, when you are angry [with me], do not rebuke/scold me and punish me!
2 For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.
[Now it is as though] you have shot your arrows at me and wounded me; you have struck me and knocked me down.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
Because you have been angry with me, I am suffering great pain. Because of my sin, my whole body is diseased.
4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
All my sins are [like a flood] that covers my head; they are like a load that is very heavy, with the result that I cannot carry it.
5 My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.
Because I have done foolish things, I have sores that have become worse, and they stink.
6 I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
[Sometimes] I am bent over, and [sometimes] I lie prostrate; I am sad/cry all day.
7 For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.
My body is burning with fever, and I am very ill.
8 I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
I am completely exhausted, and I have no strength. I am very distressed, and I groan with pain.
9 YHWH, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.
Yahweh, you know that I desire [to be healed]; you hear me while I am groaning.
10 My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.
My heat is pounding heavily, and all my strength is gone. I am no longer able to see well.
11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.
My friends and neighbors stay away from me because of my sores; even my own family stays away from me.
12 They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.
And those who want to kill me set traps to catch me; those who want to harm me discuss ways to get rid of me; they plot against me all day.
13 But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.
Now I act like I’m deaf, and do not listen [to what they say]. I act like I cannot talk, so I say nothing [to reply to them].
14 Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.
I act like a man who does not answer [when people talk to him], because he cannot hear anything.
15 For in thee, O YHWH, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O YHWH my Elohim.
But Yahweh, I trust in you. My Lord God, you will answer me.
16 For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.
I said to you, “Do not cause [me to die, with the result that] my enemies will rejoice! Do not cause me to stumble, with the result that they will be very happy!”
17 For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me.
I say that because I am about to fall down, and I constantly have pain.
18 For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.
I confess the wrong things that I have done; I am [very] sorry for the sins that I have committed.
19 But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
My enemies are healthy and strong; there are many people who hate me for no reason.
20 They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
Those who do evil things to me in return for my doing good things to them oppose me because I try to do what is right.
21 Forsake me not, O YHWH: O my Elohim, be not far from me.
Yahweh, do not abandon me! My God, do not stay far from me!
22 Make haste to help me, O YHWH my salvation.
Lord, you are the one who saves/rescues me; Quickly [come and] help me!
