Readings

¹Save me, O God, *for the waters have risen up to my neck.

²I am sinking in deep mire, *and there is no firm ground for my feet.

³I have come into deep waters, *and the torrent washes over me.

⁴I have grown weary with my crying; my throat is inflamed; *my eyes have failed from looking for my God.

⁵Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; my lying foes who would destroy me are mighty. *Must I then give back what I never stole?

⁶O God, you know my foolishness, *and my faults are not hidden from you.

⁷Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, Lord God of hosts; *let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me, O God of Israel.

⁸Surely, for your sake have I suffered reproach, *and shame has covered my face.

⁹I have become a stranger to my own kindred, *an alien to my mother’s children.

¹⁰Zeal for your house has eaten me up; *the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.

¹¹I humbled myself with fasting, *but that was turned to my reproach.

¹²I put on sack-cloth also, *and became a byword among them.

¹³Those who sit at the gate murmur against me, *and the drunkards make songs about me.

¹⁴But as for me, this is my prayer to you, *at the time you have set, O Lord:

¹⁵“In your great mercy, O God, *answer me with your unfailing help.

¹⁶Save me from the mire; do not let me sink; *let me be rescued from those who hate me and out of the deep waters.

¹⁷Let not the torrent of waters wash over me, neither let the deep swallow me up; *do not let the Pit shut its mouth upon me.

¹⁸Answer me, O Lord, for your love is kind; *in your great compassion, turn to me.”

¹⁹“Hide not your face from your servant; *be swift and answer me, for I am in distress.

²⁰Draw near to me and redeem me; *because of my enemies deliver me.

²¹You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor; *my adversaries are all in your sight.”

²²Reproach has broken my heart, and it cannot be healed; *I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I could find no one.

²³They gave me gall to eat, *and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.

²⁴Let the table before them be a trap *and their sacred feasts a snare.

²⁵Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, *and give them continual trembling in their loins.

²⁶Pour out your indignation upon them, *and let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.

²⁷Let their camp be desolate, *and let there be none to dwell in their tents.

²⁸For they persecute him whom you have stricken *and add to the pain of those whom you have pierced.

²⁹Lay to their charge guilt upon guilt, *and let them not receive your vindication.

³⁰Let them be wiped out of the book of the living *and not be written among the righteous.

³¹As for me, I am afflicted and in pain; *your help, O God, will lift me up on high.

³²I will praise the Name of God in song; *I will proclaim his greatness with thanksgiving.

³³This will please the Lord more than an offering of oxen, *more than bullocks with horns and hoofs.

³⁴The afflicted shall see and be glad; *you who seek God, your heart shall live.

³⁵For the Lord listens to the needy, *and his prisoners he does not despise.

³⁶Let the heavens and the earth praise him, *the seas and all that moves in them;

³⁷For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; *they shall live there and have it in possession.

³⁸The children of his servants will inherit it, *and those who love his Name will dwell therein.