1  Save me, O God!

For the ^owaters have come up to my neck.¹

2  I sink in deep ^pmire,

where there is no foothold;

I have come into deep waters,

and the ^qflood sweeps over me.

3  ^rI am weary with my crying out;

my throat is parched.

^sMy eyes grow dim

with waiting for my God.

4  More in number than the hairs of my head

are ^tthose who hate me ^uwithout cause;

mighty are those who would destroy me,

those who attack me with lies.

What I did not steal

must I now restore?

5  O God, you know my folly;

the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

6  ^vLet not those who hope in you be put to shame through me,

O Lord God of hosts;

let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,

O God of Israel.

7  For it is ^wfor your sake that I have borne reproach,

that dishonor has covered my face.

8  ^xI have become a stranger to my brothers,

an alien to my mother’s sons.

9  For ^yzeal for your house has consumed me,

and ^zthe reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

10  When I wept and humbled² my soul with ^afasting,

it became my reproach.

11  When I made sackcloth my clothing,

I became a byword to them.

12  I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,

and the drunkards make ^bsongs about me.

13  ^cBut as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.

At an acceptable time, O God,

in the ^dabundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

14  Deliver me

from sinking in the mire;

let me be delivered from my enemies

and from the ^edeep waters.

15  Let not the flood sweep over me,

or the deep swallow me up,

or the pit close its mouth over me.

16  Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;

according to your abundant mercy, ^fturn to me.

17  ^gHide not your face from your servant,

for ^hI am in distress; make haste to answer me.

18  Draw near to my soul, redeem me;

ransom me because of my enemies!

19  You know my reproach,

and my shame and my dishonor;

my foes are all known to you.

20  Reproaches have broken my heart,

so that I am in despair.

I looked for pity, but there was none,

and for comforters, but I found none.

21  They gave me poison for food,

and for my ⁱthirst they gave me ^jsour wine to drink.

22  ^kLet their own table before them become a snare;

and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.³

23  Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,

and make their loins tremble continually.

24  ^lPour out your indignation upon them,

and let your burning anger overtake them.

25  ^mMay their camp be a desolation;

let no one dwell in their tents.

26  For they persecute him whom you have struck down,

and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.

27  Add to them punishment upon punishment;

may they have no acquittal from you.⁴

28  Let them be ⁿblotted out of the ^obook of the living;

let them not be enrolled among the righteous.

29  But ^pI am afflicted and in pain;

let your salvation, O God, set me on high!

30  I will praise the name of God with a song;

I will magnify him with thanksgiving.

31  ^qThis will please the Lord more than an ox

or a bull with horns and hoofs.

32  ^rWhen the humble see it they will be glad;

you who seek God, let your hearts revive.

33  For the Lord hears the needy

and ^sdoes not despise his own people who are prisoners.

34  ^tLet heaven and earth praise him,

^uthe seas and everything that moves in them.

35  For God will save Zion

and build up the cities of Judah,

and people shall dwell there and possess it;

36  the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,

and those who ^vlove his name shall dwell in it.

1  Be not ^tsilent, O God ^uof my praise!

2  For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,

speaking against me with lying tongues.

3  They encircle me with words of hate,

and attack me without cause.

4  In return for my love they accuse me,

^vbut I give myself to prayer.¹

5  So they ^wreward me evil for good,

and hatred for my love.

6  Appoint a wicked man against him;

let an accuser stand ^xat his right hand.

7  When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;

let his ^yprayer be counted as sin!

8  May his days be few;

^zmay another take his office!

9  ^aMay his children be fatherless

and his wife a widow!

10  May his children ^bwander about and beg,

seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!

11  May the creditor seize all that he has;

may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!

12  Let there be none to extend kindness to him,

nor any to pity his fatherless children!

13  May his posterity be cut off;

may his name be blotted out in the second generation!

14  ^cMay the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,

and let not the sin of his mother be ^dblotted out!

15  Let them be before the Lord continually,

that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!

16  For he did not remember to show kindness,

but pursued the poor and needy

and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.

17  He loved to curse; let curses come² upon him!

He did not delight in blessing; may it be far³ from him!

18  He clothed himself with cursing ^eas his coat;

may it soak⁴ into his body like water,

like oil into his bones!

19  May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,

like a belt that he puts on every day!

20  May this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,

of those who speak evil against my life!

21  But you, O God my Lord,

deal on my behalf ^ffor your name’s sake;

^gbecause your steadfast love is good, deliver me!

22  ^hFor I am poor and needy,

and my heart is stricken within me.

23  I am gone like a ⁱshadow at evening;

I am shaken off like a locust.

24  My knees are weak through ^jfasting;

my body has become ^kgaunt, with no fat.

25  I am an object of scorn to my accusers;

when they see me, they ^lwag their heads.

26  ^mHelp me, O Lord my God!

Save me according to your steadfast love!

27  Let them know that this is your hand;

you, O Lord, have done it!

28  Let them curse, but you will bless!

They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!

29  May my accusers be ⁿclothed with dishonor;

may they be ^owrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!

30  With my mouth ^pI will give great thanks to the Lord;

I will praise him in the midst of the throng.

31  For he stands ^qat the right hand of the needy one,

^rto save him from those who condemn his soul to death.