Psalms 69

For the choirmaster: according to Lilies. Of David.

1Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.

2I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the current has swept over me.

3I am weary from crying out; my throat is parched; my eyes fail while I wait for my God.

4Those who hate me without cause are more numerous than the hairs of my head; those who seek to destroy me—my enemies wrongfully—are mighty. What I did not steal, I must restore.

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

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

7For your sake I have borne reproach; disgrace has covered my face.

8I have become a stranger to my brothers, and a foreigner to my mother's sons.

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

10When I wept and fasted, it became a reproach to me.

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

12Those who sit at the gate talk about me, and I am the song of those who drink strong drink.

13But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Yahweh, at a time of favor. O God, in your abundant steadfast love, answer me in the faithfulness of your salvation.

14Rescue me from the mire; do not let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me and from deep waters.

15Do not let the torrent of water sweep me away, and do not let the deep swallow me up, and do not let the well close its mouth over me.

16Answer me, O Yahweh, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant compassion, turn to me.

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

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

19You know my reproach, my shame, and my humiliation; all my adversaries are before you.

20Reproach has broken my heart, and I am desperately ill; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.

21They gave me poison for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

22May their table before them become a trap, and when they are at peace, let it become a snare.

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

24Pour out your indignation on them, and let your burning anger overtake them.

25May their camp become desolate; let no one live in their tents.

26For they pursue the one you struck, and they talk about the pain of those you wounded.

27Add guilt to their guilt, and do not let them enter into your righteousness.

28Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and let them not be written among the righteous.

29But I am afflicted and in pain; O God, let your salvation set me on high.

30I will praise the name of God with song, and I will magnify him with thanksgiving.

31And it will please Yahweh more than an ox, a bull with horns and split hooves.

32The humble have seen and rejoice; you who seek God, let your hearts live.

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

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

35For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, and they will dwell there and possess it.

36The offspring of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell in it.