1  ^vHow long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you ^whide your face from me?

2  How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

3  Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;

^xlight up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

4  lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

5  But I have ^ytrusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

6  I will sing to the Lord,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.

1  O Lord, God of my salvation,

I ^tcry out ^uday and night before you.

2  Let my prayer come before you;

incline your ear to my cry!

3  For my soul is full of troubles,

and my life draws near to Sheol.

4  I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

I am a man who has no strength,

5  like one set loose among the dead,

^vlike the slain that lie in the grave,

like those whom you remember no more,

for they are cut off from your hand.

6  You have put me in the depths of the pit,

in the regions dark and deep.

7  Your wrath lies heavy upon me,

and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah

8  You have caused my ^wcompanions to shun me;

you have made me a horror² to them.

I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

9  ^xmy eye grows dim through sorrow.

^yEvery day I call upon you, O Lord;

I spread out my hands to you.

10  Do you work wonders for the dead?

^zDo the departed rise up to praise you? Selah

11  Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,

or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

12  Are your wonders known in the darkness,

or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

13  But I, O Lord, cry to you;

^ain the morning my prayer comes before you.

14  O Lord, why do you cast my soul away?

Why do you hide your face from me?

15  Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.³

16  Your wrath has swept over me;

your dreadful assaults destroy me.

17  They surround me like a flood all day long;

they close in on me together.

18  You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;

my companions have become darkness.⁴