1  Preserve me, O God, for in you I ⁱtake refuge.

2  I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

^jI have no good apart from you.”

3  As for ^kthe saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,

in whom is all my delight.²

4  The sorrows of those who run after³ another god shall multiply;

their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

or ^ltake their names on my lips.

5  The Lord is ^mmy chosen portion and my ⁿcup;

you hold my ^olot.

6  ^pThe lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

7  I bless the Lord who ^qgives me counsel;

in ^rthe night also my ^sheart instructs me.⁴

8  ^tI have ^uset the Lord always before me;

because he is at my ^vright hand, I shall not be ^wshaken.

9  Therefore my heart is glad, and my ^xwhole being⁵ rejoices;

my flesh also dwells secure.

10  For you will not abandon my soul to ^ySheol,

^zor let your ^aholy one see ^bcorruption.⁶

11  You make known to me ^cthe path of life;

in your presence there is ^dfullness of joy;

at your right hand are ^epleasures forevermore.

1  “My spirit is broken; my days are ^jextinct;

^kthe graveyard is ready for me.

2  Surely there are mockers about me,

and my eye dwells on their ^lprovocation.

3  “Lay down a pledge for me with you;

who is there who will put up ^msecurity for me?

4  Since you have closed their hearts to understanding,

therefore you will not let them triumph.

5  He who informs against his friends to get a share of their property—

the ⁿeyes of his children will fail.

6  “He has made me ^oa byword of the peoples,

and I am one before whom men spit.

7  My ^peye has grown dim from vexation,

and all my members are like ^qa shadow.

8  The upright are ^rappalled at this,

and the innocent stirs himself up against the godless.

9  Yet the righteous holds to his way,

and he who has ^sclean hands grows stronger and stronger.

10  But you, ^tcome on again, all of you,

and I shall not find a wise man among you.

11  My ^udays are past; my plans are broken off,

the desires of my heart.

12  They ^vmake night into day:

‘The light,’ they say, ‘is near to the darkness.’¹

13  If I hope for ^wSheol as ^xmy house,

if I make my bed in darkness,

14  if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’

and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’

15  where then is my hope?

Who will see my hope?

16  Will it go down to the bars of ^wSheol?

Shall we ^ydescend together ^zinto the dust?”²