³ I am overwhelmed with troubles
    and my life draws near to death.
⁴ I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
    I am like one without strength.
⁵ I am set apart with the dead,
    like the slain who lie in the grave,
   whom you remember no more,
    who are cut off from your care.

⁶ You have put me in the lowest pit,
    in the darkest depths.
⁷ Your wrath lies heavily on me;
    you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.
⁸ You have taken from me my closest friends
    and have made me repulsive to them.
   I am confined and cannot escape;
⁹  my eyes are dim with grief.

   I call to you, Lord, every day;
    I spread out my hands to you.
¹⁰ Do you show your wonders to the dead?
    Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
¹¹ Is your love declared in the grave,
    your faithfulness in Destruction^[e]?
¹² Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
    or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

¹³ But I cry to you for help, Lord;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.
¹⁴ Why, Lord, do you reject me
    and hide your face from me?

¹⁵ From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;
    I have borne your terrors and am in despair.
¹⁶ Your wrath has swept over me;
    your terrors have destroyed me.
¹⁷ All day long they surround me like a flood;
    they have completely engulfed me.
¹⁸ You have taken from me friend and neighbor—
    darkness is my closest friend.

³ Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,
    and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
⁴ this is a decree for Israel,
    an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
⁵ When God went out against Egypt,
    he established it as a statute for Joseph.

   I heard an unknown voice say:

⁶ “I removed the burden from their shoulders;
    their hands were set free from the basket.
⁷ In your distress you called and I rescued you,
    I answered you out of a thundercloud;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
⁸ Hear me, my people, and I will warn you—
    if you would only listen to me, Israel!
⁹ You shall have no foreign god among you;
    you shall not worship any god other than me.
¹⁰ I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of Egypt.
   Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

¹¹ “But my people would not listen to me;
    Israel would not submit to me.
¹² So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
    to follow their own devices.

¹³ “If my people would only listen to me,
    if Israel would only follow my ways,
¹⁴ how quickly I would subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes!
¹⁵ Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
    and their punishment would last forever.
¹⁶ But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
    with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

⁴ You are radiant with light,
    more majestic than mountains rich with game.
⁵ The valiant lie plundered,
    they sleep their last sleep;
   not one of the warriors
    can lift his hands.
⁶ At your rebuke, God of Jacob,
    both horse and chariot lie still.

⁷ It is you alone who are to be feared.
    Who can stand before you when you are angry?
⁸ From heaven you pronounced judgment,
    and the land feared and was quiet—
⁹ when you, God, rose up to judge,
    to save all the afflicted of the land.
¹⁰ Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,
    and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

¹¹ Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfill them;
    let all the neighboring lands
    bring gifts to the One to be feared.
¹² He breaks the spirit of rulers;
    he is feared by the kings of the earth.

⁵ You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,
    God our Savior,
   the hope of all the ends of the earth
    and of the farthest seas,
⁶ who formed the mountains by your power,
    having armed yourself with strength,
⁷ who stilled the roaring of the seas,
    the roaring of their waves,
    and the turmoil of the nations.
⁸ The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
    where morning dawns, where evening fades,
    you call forth songs of joy.

⁹ You care for the land and water it;
    you enrich it abundantly.
   The streams of God are filled with water
    to provide the people with grain,
    for so you have ordained it.
¹⁰ You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
    you soften it with showers and bless its crops.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty,
    and your carts overflow with abundance.
¹² The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
    the hills are clothed with gladness.
¹³ The meadows are covered with flocks
    and the valleys are mantled with grain;
    they shout for joy and sing.

³ Even from birth the wicked go astray;
    from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.
⁴ Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
    like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
⁵ that will not heed the tune of the charmer,
    however skillful the enchanter may be.

⁶ Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;
    Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!
⁷ Let them vanish like water that flows away;
    when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.
⁸ May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,
    like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.

⁹ Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
    whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.
¹⁰ The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,
    when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.
¹¹ Then people will say,
    “Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
    surely there is a God who judges the earth.”

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.

² You are the most excellent of men
    and your lips have been anointed with grace,
    since God has blessed you forever.

³ Gird your sword on your side, you mighty one;
    clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.
⁴ In your majesty ride forth victoriously
    in the cause of truth, humility and justice;
    let your right hand achieve awesome deeds.
⁵ Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king’s enemies;
    let the nations fall beneath your feet.
⁶ Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
    a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
    therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
    by anointing you with the oil of joy.
⁸ All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
    from palaces adorned with ivory
    the music of the strings makes you glad.
⁹ Daughters of kings are among your honored women;
    at your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir.

¹⁰ Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention:
    Forget your people and your father’s house.
¹¹ Let the king be enthralled by your beauty;
    honor him, for he is your lord.
¹² The city of Tyre will come with a gift,
    people of wealth will seek your favor.
¹³ All glorious is the princess within her chamber;
    her gown is interwoven with gold.
¹⁴ In embroidered garments she is led to the king;
    her virgin companions follow her—
    those brought to be with her.
¹⁵ Led in with joy and gladness,
    they enter the palace of the king.

¹⁶ Your sons will take the place of your fathers;
    you will make them princes throughout the land.

¹⁷ I will perpetuate your memory through all generations;
    therefore the nations will praise you for ever and ever.