³ For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
   so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
⁶ Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    so that sinners will turn back to you.
¹⁴ Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
    you who are God my Savior,
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
¹⁵ Open my lips, Lord,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
¹⁶ You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
¹⁷ My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.

¹⁸ May it please you to prosper Zion,
    to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
    in burnt offerings offered whole;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

⁵ Why should I fear when evil days come,
    when wicked deceivers surround me—
⁶ those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of their great riches?
⁷ No one can redeem the life of another
    or give to God a ransom for them—
⁸ the ransom for a life is costly,
    no payment is ever enough—
⁹ so that they should live on forever
    and not see decay.
¹⁰ For all can see that the wise die,
    that the foolish and the senseless also perish,
    leaving their wealth to others.
¹¹ Their tombs will remain their houses forever,
    their dwellings for endless generations,
    though they had named lands after themselves.

¹² People, despite their wealth, do not endure;
    they are like the beasts that perish.

¹³ This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,
    and of their followers, who approve their sayings.
¹⁴ They are like sheep and are destined to die;
    death will be their shepherd
    (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning).
   Their forms will decay in the grave,
    far from their princely mansions.
¹⁵ But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;
    he will surely take me to himself.
¹⁶ Do not be overawed when others grow rich,
    when the splendor of their houses increases;
¹⁷ for they will take nothing with them when they die,
    their splendor will not descend with them.
¹⁸ Though while they live they count themselves blessed—
    and people praise you when you prosper—
¹⁹ they will join those who have gone before them,
    who will never again see the light of life.

²⁰ People who have wealth but lack understanding
    are like the beasts that perish.