< Psalms 69 >
1 “For the leader of the music. Upon the Shoshannim. A psalm of David.” Save me, O God! For the waters press in to my very life!
2 I sink in deep mire, where is no standing; I have come into deep waters, and the waves flow over me.
3 I am weary with crying; my throat is parched; Mine eyes are wasted, while I wait for my God.
4 More numerous than the hairs of my head are they who hate me without reason; Mighty are they who seek to destroy me, being my enemies without cause: I must restore what I took not away.
5 O God! thou knowest my offences, And my sins are not hidden from thee!
6 Let not them that trust in thee through me be put to shame, O Lord Jehovah, God of hosts! Let not them that seek thee through me be confounded, O God of Israel!
7 For on account of thee do I suffer reproach, And shame covereth my face!
8 I am become a stranger to my brothers; Yea, an alien to my mother's sons.
9 For zeal for thy house consumeth me, And the reproaches of them that reproach thee fall upon me.
10 When I weep and fast, That is made my reproach;
11 When I clothe myself in sackcloth, Then I become their by-word.
12 They who sit in the gate speak against me, And I am become the song of drunkards.
13 Yet will I address my prayer to thee, O LORD! May it be in an acceptable time according to thy great goodness! Hear, O God! and afford me thy sure help!
14 Save me from the mire, and let me not sink; May I be delivered from my enemies, —from the deep waters!
15 Let not the water-flood overflow me; Let not the deep swallow me up, And let not the pit close her mouth upon me!
16 Hear me, O LORD! since great is thy loving-kindness; According to the abundance of thy tender mercies look upon me!
17 Hide not thy face from thy servant; I am greatly distressed, O make haste to mine aid!
18 Draw near to me, and redeem my life; Deliver me because of my enemies!
19 Thou knowest my reproach, and dishonor, and shame; All my adversaries are in thy view!
20 Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; I look for pity, but there is none; For comforters, but find none.
21 For my food they give me gall, And in my thirst they give me vinegar to drink.
22 May their table be to them a snare; May it be a trap to them, while they are at ease!
23 May their eyes be darkened, that they may not see; And cause their loins continually to shake!
24 Pour out upon them thine indignation, And may the heat of thine anger overtake them!
25 Let their habitation be desolate, And let none dwell in their tents!
26 For they persecute those whom thou hast smitten, And talk of the pain of those whom thou hast wounded.
27 Add iniquity to their iniquity, And let them never come into thy favor!
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; Let not their names be written with the righteous!
29 But I am poor, and sorrowful: May thine aid, O God! set me on high!
30 Then I will praise the name of God in a song; I will give glory to him with thanksgiving.
31 More pleasing shall this be to the LORD Than a full-horned and full-hoofed bullock.
32 The afflicted shall see, and rejoice; The hearts of them that fear God shall be revived.
33 For the LORD heareth the poor, And despiseth not his people in their bonds.
34 Let the heaven and the earth praise him; The sea, and all that move therein!
35 For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah, That they may dwell therein, and possess it.
36 Yea, the posterity of his servants shall possess it, And they that love him shall dwell therein.
