1  Praise the Lord!

Oh ^mgive thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for his steadfast love endures forever!

2  Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,

or declare all his praise?

3  ⁿBlessed are they who observe justice,

who do righteousness at all times!

4  Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;

help me when you save them,¹

5  that I may look upon the prosperity of ^oyour chosen ones,

that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,

that I may glory with your inheritance.

6  Both ^pwe and our fathers have sinned;

we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.

7  Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,

did not consider your wondrous works;

they did not remember the ^qabundance of your steadfast love,

but ^rrebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

8  Yet ^she saved them ^tfor his name’s sake,

that he might ^umake known his mighty power.

9  ^vHe rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry,

and he ^wled them through the deep as through a desert.

10  So he saved them from the hand of the foe

and redeemed them from the power of the enemy.

11  And the waters covered their adversaries;

not one of them was left.

12  Then they believed his words;

^xthey sang his praise.

13  But they soon forgot his works;

they did not wait for his ^ycounsel.

14  ^zBut they had a wanton craving in the wilderness,

and put God to the test in the desert;

15  he gave them what they asked,

but sent a wasting disease among them.

16  ^aWhen men in the camp were jealous of Moses

and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,

17  the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,

and covered the company of Abiram.

18  Fire also broke out in their company;

the flame burned up the wicked.

161  ^sPrinces persecute me without cause,

but my heart stands in awe of your words.

162  I ^trejoice at your word

like one who finds great spoil.

163  I hate and abhor falsehood,

but I love your law.

164  Seven times a day I praise you

for your righteous rules.

165  Great ^upeace have those who love your law;

nothing can make them stumble.

166  ^vI hope for your salvation, O Lord,

and I do your commandments.

167  My soul keeps your testimonies;

I love them exceedingly.

168  I keep your precepts and testimonies,

for ^wall my ways are before you.

169  Let my cry come before you, O Lord;

give me understanding ^xaccording to your word!

170  Let my plea come before you;

deliver me according to your word.

171  My ^ylips will ^zpour forth praise,

for you teach me your statutes.

172  My tongue will sing of your word,

for all your commandments are right.

173  Let your hand be ready to help me,

for I have chosen your precepts.

174  I ^along for your salvation, O Lord,

and your law is my delight.

175  Let my soul live and praise you,

and let your rules help me.

176  I have gone astray like a ^blost sheep; ^cseek your servant,

for ^dI do not forget your commandments.

2  “How long will you torment me

and break me in pieces with words?

3  These ^mten times you have cast reproach upon me;

are you not ashamed to wrong me?

4  And even if it be true that I have erred,

my error remains with myself.

5  If indeed you magnify yourselves against me

and make my disgrace an argument against me,

6  know then that God has ⁿput me in the wrong

and closed his net about me.

7  Behold, I cry out, ^o‘Violence!’ but I am not answered;

I call for help, but there is no justice.

8  He has ^pwalled up my way, so that I cannot pass,

and he has set darkness upon my paths.

9  He has stripped from me my glory

and taken the crown from my head.

10  He breaks me down on every side, and I am ^qgone,

and my hope has he pulled up like a tree.

11  He has kindled his wrath against me

and ^rcounts me as his adversary.

12  ^sHis troops come on together;

they have cast up their siege ramp¹ against me

and encamp around my tent.

13  ^t“He has put my brothers far from me,

and ^uthose who knew me are wholly estranged from me.

14  My relatives have failed me,

my close friends have forgotten me.

15  The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger;

I have become a foreigner in their eyes.

16  I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;

I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy.

17  My breath is strange to my wife,

and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.

18  Even young children despise me;

when I rise they talk against me.

19  All my intimate friends abhor me,

and those whom I loved have turned against me.

20  ^vMy bones stick to my skin and to my flesh,

and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

21  Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends,

for the hand of God has ^wtouched me!

22  Why do you, like God, pursue me?

Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

23  ^x“Oh that my words were written!

Oh that they were inscribed in a book!

24  Oh that with an ^yiron pen and lead

they were engraved in the rock forever!

25  For I know that my Redeemer lives,

and at the last he will stand upon the earth.²

26  And after my skin has been thus destroyed,

yet in³ my flesh I shall ^zsee God,

27  whom I shall see for myself,

and my eyes shall behold, and not another.

My heart faints within me!