Psalms 69
1 For the end, [a Psalm] of David, for alternate [strains]. Save me, O God; for the waters have come in to my soul.
O God, save me, because [I am in great danger]. [It is as though] flood water is up to my neck, [and I am about to drown] [MET].
2 I am stuck fast in deep mire, and there is no standing: I am come in to the depths of the sea, and a storm has overwhelmed me.
I continue to sink in the deep mud, and there is no solid ground for me to stand on. I am in deep water, and flood waters are swirling around me.
3 I am weary [of] crying, my throat has become hoarse; mine eyes have failed by my waiting on my God.
I am exhausted from calling out [for help]; my throat is very dry. Because I have cried so much as I have waited for God [to help me], my eyes are swollen.
4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head: my enemies that persecute me unrighteously are strengthened: then I restored that which I took not away.
Those who hate me when there is no reason to hate me are more than the number of hairs on my head [HYP]! Those who want to get rid of me are strong, and they tell lies about me. They demand that I return to them things that I did not steal!
5 O God, you know my foolishness; and my transgressions are not hidden from you.
O God, (you see the sins that I have committed/my sins are not hidden from you). You know that I have foolishly [disobeyed your laws].
6 Let not them that wait on you, O Lord of hosts, be ashamed on my account: let not them that seek you, be ashamed on my account, O God of Israel.
O Yahweh God, [you who are the commander] of the armies [of heaven], do not allow the [wrong things that] I [have done] to cause those who trust in you to be disappointed/disillusioned. O God, you whom [we] Israeli people [worship], do not allow me to cause your people to be humiliated.
7 For I have suffered reproach for your sake; shame has covered my face.
People have insulted/ridiculed me because [I am devoted to] you. They have thoroughly humiliated [IDM] me.
8 I became strange to my brethren, and a stranger to my mother's children.
Even my own [older] brothers act as if they do not know me; they treat me like a foreigner.
9 For the zeal of your house has eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached you are fallen upon me.
[Some people have despised your temple]; but my zeal for [keeping] your temple [holy] is like a fire burning inside me. So [it is as though] those who are insulting you are also insulting me.
10 And I bowed down my soul with fasting, and that was made my reproach.
When I have humbled myself and (fasted/abstained from eating food) [to show my sadness about the disgraceful things that they have done to your temple], they just insult me.
11 And I put on sackcloth for my covering; and I became a proverb to them.
When I put on [rough] sackcloth [to show that I am sad], they laugh at [IDM] me.
12 They that sit in the gate talked against me, and they that drank wine sang against me.
Even the elders [of the city] say bad things about me. The drunkards of the city sing [disgusting] songs about me.
13 But I [will cry] to you, O Lord, in my prayer; O God, it is a propitious time: in the multitude of your mercy hear me, in the truth of your salvation.
But Yahweh, I will [continue] praying to you. At the time that you choose, answer me and rescue me because you faithfully love me.
14 Save me from the mire, that I stick not [in it]: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and from the deep waters.
Do not allow me to sink any more in the mud. Rescue me from those who hate me! Lift me up out of these deep waters!
15 Let not the waterflood drown me, nor let the deep swallow me up; neither let the well shut its mouth upon me.
Do not allow flood waters to swirl around me, do not allow the deep [mud] to swallow me; keep me from sinking into the pit [of death] [MET].
16 Hear me, O Lord; for your mercy is good: according to the multitude of your compassions look upon me.
O Yahweh, answer my prayer and help me because you are good and love me faithfully.
17 And turn not away your face from your servant; for I am afflicted: hear me speedily.
Do not (hide yourself from/refuse to hear) me; answer me quickly because I am in great trouble.
18 Draw near to my soul and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.
Come near to me and save me; rescue me from my enemies.
19 For you know my reproach, and my shame, and my confusion; all that afflict me are before you.
You know that I am insulted and that [people cause] me [to feel] ashamed and dishonored; you know [who] all my enemies [are].
20 My soul has waited for reproach and misery; and I waited for one to grieve with me, but there was none; and for one to comfort me, but I found none.
[Their] insults have deeply offended me, and I (feel helpless/am in despair). I searched for [someone who would] pity [me], but there was no one. I wanted someone to encourage/comfort me, but there were none.
21 They gave [me] also gall for my food, and made me drink vinegar for my thirst.
[Instead], they gave me food [that tasted like] poison, and when I was thirsty, they gave me sour wine to drink.
22 Let their table before them be for a snare, and for a recompense, and for a stumbling block.
I hope/desire that the feasts [MTY] [that they enjoy] will (become a snare for/bring trouble to) them, and that [those whom they invite to] the sacrificial feasts will also be trapped.
23 Let their eyes be darkened that they should not see; and bow down their back continually.
I hope/desire that their eyesight will become dim so that they cannot see anything, and that their backs/bodies will become weaker and weaker.
24 Pour out your wrath upon them, and let the fury of your anger take hold on them.
Show them that you are very angry with them! Because of your great/furious anger, chase after them and catch them.
25 Let their habitation be made desolate; and let there be no inhabitant in their tents:
Cause their towns to become abandoned/deserted and that there will be no one left to live in their tents/houses.
26 Because they persecuted him whom you have struck; and they have added to the grief of my wounds.
[Do this] because they persecute those whom you have punished, (they talk about the sins of/they want to hurt even more) those whom you have wounded.
27 Add iniquity to their iniquity; and let them not come into your righteousness.
Keep making a record of all their sins, do not acquit/pardon them [for the evil things that they have done].
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and let them not be written with the righteous.
Erase their names [SYN] from the book [containing the names of those who have eternal] life; do not include them in the list of righteous people.
29 I am poor and sorrowful; but the salvation of your countenance has helped me.
As for me, I have pain and am suffering. O God, protect me and rescue me.
30 I will praise the name of my God with a song, I will magnify him with praise;
When God does that, I will sing as I praise God, and I will honor him by thanking him.
31 and [this] shall please God more than a young calf having horns and hoofs.
My doing that will please Yahweh more than [sacrificing] oxen, more than offering him full-grown bulls.
32 Let the poor see and rejoice; seek the Lord diligently, and you shall live.
Oppressed/Afflicted people will see [that God has rescued me], and they will be glad. I want all of you who ask God [to help you] to be encouraged.
33 For the Lord hears the poor, and does not set at nothing his fettered ones.
Yahweh listens to those who are needy; He does not ignore/forget those who are oppressed/imprisoned.
34 Let the heavens and the earth raise him, the sea, and all things moving in them.
I desire that everything will praise God— everything that is in heaven and on earth, and all the creatures that are in the seas.
35 For God will save Sion, and the cities of Judea shall be built; and [men] shall dwell there, and inherit it.
God will rescue the people of Jerusalem [from their enemies], and he will rebuild the towns that are in Judah. His people will live there and [again] possess the land.
36 And the seed of his servants shall possess it, and they that love his name shall dwell therein.
The descendants of his people will inherit it, and those who love him will live there [safely].
