1  ^jHave mercy on me,¹ O God,

^kaccording to your steadfast love;

according to your abundant mercy

^lblot out my transgressions.

2  ^mWash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

and ⁿcleanse me from my sin!

3  For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is ever before me.

4  ^oAgainst you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

^pso that you may be justified in your words

and blameless in your judgment.

5  Behold, I was ^qbrought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6  Behold, you delight in truth ^rin the inward being,

and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

7  Purge me with ^shyssop, and I shall be clean;

wash me, and I shall be ^twhiter than snow.

8  Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones that you have broken ^urejoice.

9  Hide your face from my sins,

and blot out all my iniquities.

10  Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right² spirit within me.

11  ^vCast me not away from your presence,

and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

12  Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13  Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

and sinners will return to you.

14  Deliver me from ^wbloodguiltiness, O God,

O God of my salvation,

and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.

15  O Lord, open my lips,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

16  For ^xyou will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a ^ybroken and ^zcontrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

18  ^aDo good to Zion in your good pleasure;

^bbuild up the walls of Jerusalem;

19  then will you delight in right sacrifices,

in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

1  Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?²

Do you judge the children of man uprightly?

2  No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

your hands deal out violence on earth.

3  The wicked are ^hestranged from the womb;

they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

4  They have venom like the ⁱvenom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

5  so that it does not hear the voice of ^jcharmers

or of the cunning enchanter.

6  O God, ^kbreak the teeth in their mouths;

tear out the fangs of the young ^llions, O Lord!

7  Let them vanish like water that runs away;

when he ^maims his arrows, let them be blunted.

8  Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,

like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.

9  Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,

whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!³

10  ⁿThe righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

he will bathe his ^ofeet in the blood of the wicked.

11  Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;

surely there is a ^pGod who judges on earth.”

1  ^dIn you, O Lord, do I take refuge;

^elet me never be put to shame!

2  ^fIn your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;

incline your ear to me, and save me!

3  Be to me a ^grock of refuge,

to which I may continually come;

you have given the command to save me,

for you are my rock and my fortress.

4  Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,

from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.

5  For you, O Lord, are my hope,

my trust, O Lord, from my youth.

6  Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;

^hyou are he who took me from my mother’s womb.

My praise is ⁱcontinually of you.

7  I have been as a portent to many,

but you are my strong refuge.

8  My mouth is filled with your praise,

and with your glory all the day.

9  ^jDo not cast me off in the time of old age;

^kforsake me not when my strength is spent.

10  For my enemies speak concerning me;

those who ^lwatch for my life ^mconsult together

11  and ⁿsay, “God has forsaken him;

pursue and seize him,

for there is none to deliver him.”

12  O God, ^obe not far from me;

O my God, ^pmake haste to help me!

13  May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;

with scorn and disgrace may they be ^qcovered

who seek my hurt.

14  But I will hope continually

and will praise you yet more and more.

15  My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,

of your deeds of salvation all the day,

for ^rtheir number is past my knowledge.

16  With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;

I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.

17  O God, from my youth you have taught me,

and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

18  So ^seven to old age and gray hairs,

O God, do not forsake me,

until I proclaim your might to another generation,

your power to all those to come.

19  ^tYour righteousness, O God,

^ureaches the high heavens.

You who have done great things,

O God, ^vwho is like you?

20  ^wYou who have made me see many troubles and calamities

will ^xrevive me again;

from the depths of the earth

you will bring me up again.

21  You will increase my greatness

and comfort me again.

22  ^yI will also praise you with the harp

for your faithfulness, O my God;

I will sing praises to you with the lyre,

O Holy One of Israel.

23  My lips will shout for joy,

when I sing praises to you;

my soul also, which you have redeemed.

24  And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,

for they have been put to shame and disappointed

who sought to do me hurt.