Psalms 69

1 For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Lilies.” By David. Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck!

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 foothold. I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow 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 looking 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 of my head. Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. I have to restore what I didn’t take away.

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. My sins aren’t hidden from you.

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

6 Don’t let those who wait for you be shamed through me, Lord GOD of Armies. Don’t let those who seek you be brought to dishonor through 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 Because for your sake, I have borne reproach. 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 consumes me. The reproaches of those who reproach 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 I fasted, that was to my reproach.

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

11 When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them.

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

12 Those who sit in the gate talk about me. I am the song of the 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, LORD, in an acceptable time. God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer me in the truth 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 Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and 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 Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Don’t 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, LORD, for your loving kindness is good. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me.

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

17 Don’t hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me speedily!

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

18 Draw near to my soul and redeem it. Ransom me because of my enemies.

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

19 You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor. My adversaries are all before you.

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

20 Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness. I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; 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 also 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. May it become a retribution and 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 can’t see. Let their backs be continually bent.

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. 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 habitation be desolate. Let no one dwell in their tents.

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

26 For they persecute him whom you have wounded. They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.

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

27 Charge them with crime upon crime. Don’t let them come into your righteousness.

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 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 in pain and distress. Let your salvation, God, protect me.

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 magnify him with thanksgiving.

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

31 It will please the LORD better than an ox, or a bull that has horns and hoofs.

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

32 The humble have seen it, and are glad. You who seek after God, let your heart live.

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

33 For the LORD hears the needy, and doesn’t despise his captive people.

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 therein!

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

35 For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah. They shall settle there, and own it.

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 The children also of his servants shall inherit it. Those who love his name shall dwell therein.

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