1  O God, we have heard with our ears,

^dour fathers have told us,

what deeds you performed in their days,

^ein the days of old:

2  you with your own hand ^fdrove out the nations,

but ^gthem you planted;

you afflicted the peoples,

but ^hthem you set free;

3  for not ⁱby their own sword did they win the land,

nor did their own arm save them,

but your right hand and your arm,

and ^jthe light of your face,

^kfor you delighted in them.

4  ^lYou are my King, O God;

^mordain salvation for Jacob!

5  Through you we ⁿpush down our foes;

through your name we ^otread down those who rise up against us.

6  For not in ^pmy bow do I trust,

nor can my sword save me.

7  But you have saved us from our foes

and have ^qput to shame those who hate us.

8  ^rIn God we have boasted continually,

and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

9  But you have ^srejected us and disgraced us

and ^thave not gone out with our armies.

10  You have made us ^uturn back from the foe,

and those who hate us have gotten spoil.

11  You have made us like ^vsheep for slaughter

and have ^wscattered us among the nations.

12  ^xYou have sold your people for a trifle,

demanding no high price for them.

13  You have made us ^ythe taunt of our neighbors,

the derision and ^zscorn of those around us.

14  You have made us ^aa byword among the nations,

^ba laughingstock² among the peoples.

15  All day long my disgrace is before me,

and ^cshame has covered my face

16  at the sound of the taunter and reviler,

at the sight of ^dthe enemy and the avenger.

17  ^eAll this has come upon us,

though we have not forgotten you,

and we have not been false to your covenant.

18  Our heart has not turned back,

nor have our ^fsteps ^gdeparted from your way;

19  yet you have ^hbroken us in the place of ⁱjackals

and covered us with ^jthe shadow of death.

20  If we had forgotten the name of our God

or ^kspread out our hands to ^la foreign god,

21  ^mwould not God discover this?

ⁿFor he knows the secrets of the heart.

22  Yet ^ofor your sake we are killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

23  ^pAwake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?

Rouse yourself! ^qDo not reject us forever!

24  Why ^rdo you hide your face?

Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?

25  For our ^ssoul is bowed down to the dust;

our belly clings to the ground.

26  Rise up; ^tcome to our help!

^uRedeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!

1  “I have made a covenant with my ^beyes;

how then could I gaze at a virgin?

2  What would be ^cmy portion from God above

and ^cmy heritage from the Almighty on high?

3  Is not calamity for the unrighteous,

and disaster for the workers of iniquity?

4  ^dDoes not he see my ways

and ^enumber all my steps?

5  “If I have walked with falsehood

and my foot has hastened to deceit;

6  (Let me be ^fweighed in a just balance,

and let God know my integrity!)

7  if my step has turned aside from the way

and ^gmy heart has gone after my eyes,

and if any ^hspot has stuck to my hands,

8  then let me ⁱsow, and another eat,

and let what grows for me¹ be rooted out.

9  “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,

and I have ^jlain in wait at my neighbor’s door,

10  then let my wife ^kgrind for another,

and let others ^lbow down on her.

11  For that would be a heinous crime;

that would be an iniquity ^mto be punished by the judges;

12  for that would be a fire ⁿthat consumes as far as Abaddon,

and it would burn to the root all my increase.

13  “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,

when they brought a complaint against me,

14  what then shall I do when God rises up?

When he ^omakes inquiry, what shall I answer him?

15  Did ^pnot he who made me in the womb make him?

And did not one fashion us in the womb?

16  “If I have ^qwithheld anything that the poor desired,

or have ^rcaused the eyes of the widow to fail,

17  or have eaten my morsel alone,

and the fatherless has not eaten of it

18  (for from my youth the fatherless² grew up with me as with a father,

and from my mother’s womb I guided the widow³),

19  if I have seen anyone ^sperish for ^tlack of clothing,

or the needy without ^tcovering,

20  if his body has not ^ublessed me,⁴

and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,

21  if I have raised my hand against ^vthe fatherless,

because I saw my help in ^wthe gate,

22  then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,

and let my arm be broken from its socket.

23  For I was ^xin terror of calamity from God,

and I could not have faced his ^xmajesty.

24  ^y“If I have made gold my ^ztrust

or called ^afine gold my confidence,

25  if I have ^brejoiced because my wealth was abundant

or because ^cmy hand had found much,

26  ^dif I have looked at the sun⁵ when it shone,

or ^ethe moon moving in splendor,

27  and my heart has been secretly enticed,

and my mouth has kissed my hand,

28  this also would be ^fan iniquity to be punished by the judges,

for I would have been false to God above.

29  “If I have ^grejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me,

or exulted when evil overtook him

30  (^hI have not let my mouth sin

by asking for his life with a curse),

31  if the men of my tent have not said,

‘Who is there that has not been filled with his ⁱmeat?’

32  (^jthe sojourner has not lodged in the street;

I have opened my doors to the traveler),

33  if I ^khave concealed my transgressions ^las others do⁶

by hiding my iniquity in my heart,

34  because I stood in great fear of ^mthe multitude,

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I kept silence, and did not go out of doors—

35  Oh, that I had one to hear me!

(Here is my signature! Let the Almighty ⁿanswer me!)

Oh, that I had ^othe indictment written by my adversary!

36  Surely I would carry it on my ^pshoulder;

I would ^qbind it on me as ^ra crown;

37  I would give him an account of all my steps;

like a prince I would approach him.

38  “If my land has cried out against me

and its furrows have wept together,

39  ^sif I have eaten its yield without payment

and made its owners ^tbreathe their last,

40  let ^uthorns grow instead of wheat,

and foul weeds instead of barley.”