Psalms 69

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

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

2 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.

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

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

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

4 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.

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.

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

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

6 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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

13 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.

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.

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

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.

15 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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

20 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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

35 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.

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

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

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