Psalms 69

1 For the chief musician; set to Shoshannim. A psalm of David. Save me, God; for the waters have put my life in danger.

Unto the end. For those who will be changed: of David. Save me, O God, for the waters have entered, even to my soul.

2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no place to stand; I have come into deep waters, where the floods flow over me.

I have become stuck in a deep quagmire, and there is no firm footing. I have arrived at the height of the sea, and a tempest has overwhelmed me.

3 I am weary with my crying; my throat is dry; my eyes fail while I wait for my God.

I have endured hardships, while crying out. My jaws have become hoarse; my eyes have failed. Meanwhile, I hope in my God.

4 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs on my head; those who would cut me off, being my enemies for wrong reasons, are mighty; what I did not steal, I have to give back.

Those who hate me without cause have been multiplied beyond the hairs of my head. My enemies, who persecuted me unjustly, have been strengthened. Then I was required to pay for what I did not take.

5 God, you know my foolishness, and my sins are not hidden from you.

O God, you know my foolishness, and my offenses have not been hidden from you.

6 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame because of me, Lord Yahweh of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor because of me, God of Israel.

Let those who wait for you, O Lord, the Lord of hosts, not be shamed in me. Let those who seek you, O God of Israel, not be confounded over me.

7 For your sake I have borne rebuke; shame has covered my face.

For because of you, I have endured reproach; confusion has covered my face.

8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's children.

I have become a stranger to my brothers and a sojourner to the sons of my mother.

9 For the zeal of your house has eaten me up, and the rebukes of those who rebuke you have fallen on me.

For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproached you have fallen upon me.

10 When I wept and did not eat food, they insulted me.

And I covered my soul with fasting, and it has become a reproach to me.

11 When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became the object of a proverb to them.

And I put on a haircloth as my garment, and I became a parable to them.

12 Those who sit in the city gate talk about me; I am a song of drunkards.

Those who sat at the gate spoke against me, and those who drank wine made me their song.

13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, Yahweh, at a time that you will accept; answer me in the trustworthiness of your salvation.

But as for me, truly, my prayer is to you, O Lord. This time has pleased you well, O God. In the multitude of your mercy, in the truth of your salvation, hear me.

14 Pull me out of the mire, and do not let me sink; let me be taken away from those who hate me and rescued out of the deep waters.

Rescue me from the quagmire, so that I may not become trapped. Free me from those who hate me and from deep waters.

15 Do not let the floods of water overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Do not let the pit shut its mouth on me.

Do not allow the tempest of water to submerge me, nor the deep to absorb me. And do not allow the well to close in on me.

16 Answer me, Yahweh, for your covenant faithfulness is good; because your mercies for me are many, turn to me.

Hear me, O Lord, for your mercy is kind. Look upon me, according to the fullness of your compassion.

17 Do not hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress; answer me quickly.

And do not turn your face away from your servant, for I am in trouble: heed me quickly.

18 Come to me and redeem me. Because of my enemies, ransom me.

Attend to my soul, and free it. Rescue me, because of my enemies.

19 You know my rebuke, my shame, and my dishonor; my adversaries are all before you.

You know my reproach, and my confusion, and my reverence.

20 Rebuke has broken my heart; I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; I looked for comforters, but I found none.

All those who trouble me are in your sight; my heart has anticipated reproach and misery. And I sought for one who might grieve together with me, but there was no one, and for one who might console me, and I found no one.

21 They gave me poison for my food; in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

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

22 Let their table before them become a snare; when they think they are in safety, let it become a trap.

Let their table be a snare before them, and a retribution, and a scandal.

23 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see; and always make their loins shake.

Let their eyes be darkened, so that they may not see, and may their back always be crooked.

24 Pour out your indignation on them, and let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.

Pour out your indignation upon them, and may the fury of your anger take hold of them.

25 Let their place be a desolation; let no one live in their tents.

May their dwelling place be deserted, and may there be no one who dwells in their tabernacles.

26 For they persecuted the one you struck down. They repeated the account of the pain of those you have wounded.

For they persecuted whomever you struck. And they have added to the grief of my wounds.

27 Accuse them of having committed iniquity after iniquity; do not let them come into your righteous victory.

Assign an iniquity upon their iniquity, and may they not enter into your justice.

28 Let them be blotted out of the Book of Life and not be written down along with the righteous.

Delete them from the Book of the Living, and let them not be written down with the just.

29 But I am poor and sorrowful; let your salvation, God, set me up on high.

I am poor and sorrowful, but your salvation, O God, has taken me up.

30 I will praise the name of God with a song and will exalt him with thanksgiving.

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

31 That will please Yahweh better than an ox or a bull that has horns and hooves.

And it will please God more than a new calf producing horns and hoofs.

32 The meek have seen it and are glad; you who seek after God, let your hearts live.

Let the poor see and rejoice. Seek God, and your soul will live.

33 For Yahweh hears the needy and does not despise his prisoners.

For the Lord has heard the poor, and he has not despised his prisoners.

34 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them.

Let the heavens and the earth praise him: the sea, and everything that crawls in it.

35 For God will save Zion and will rebuild the cities of Judah; the people will live there and have it as a possession.

For God will save Zion, and the cities of Judah will be built up. And they will dwell there, and they will acquire it by inheritance.

36 His servants' descendants will inherit it; and those who love his name will live there.

And the offspring of his servants will possess it; and those who love his name will dwell in it.