Save me, O God,
for the waters have risen up to my neck.
I am sinking in deep mire,
and there is no firm ground for my feet.
I have come into deep waters,
and the torrent washes over me.

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

Those 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?

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

Surely, for your sake have I suffered reproach,
and shame has covered my face.
I have become a stranger to my own kindred,
an alien to my mother’s children.
Zeal for your house has eaten me up;
the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.

I humbled myself by fasting,
but that was turned to my reproach.
I put on sack-cloth also,
and became a byword among them.
Those who sit at the gate murmur against me,
and the drunkards make songs about me.

But as for me, this is my prayer to you,
at the time you have set, O Lord:
“In your great mercy, O God,
answer me with your unfailing help.

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

“Let 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.

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

“Hide not your face from your servant;
be swift and answer me, for I am in distress.
Draw near to me and redeem me;
because of my enemies deliver me.
You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;
my adversaries are all in your sight.”

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

Let the table before them be a trap
and their sacred feasts a snare.
Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see,
and give them continual trembling in their loins.

Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.
Let their camp be desolate,
and let there be none to dwell in their tents.
For they persecute him whom you have stricken
and add to the pain of those whom you have pierced.

Lay to their charge guilt upon guilt,
and let them not receive your vindication.
Let them be wiped out of the book of the living
and not be written among the righteous.

As for me, I am afflicted and in pain;
your help, O God, will lift me up on high.
I will praise the Name of God in song;
I will proclaim his greatness with thanksgiving.

This will please the Lord more than an offering of oxen,
more than bullocks with horns and hoofs.
The afflicted shall see and be glad;
you who seek God, your heart shall live.

For the Lord listens to the needy,
and his prisoners he does not despise.
Let the heavens and the earth praise him,
the seas and all that moves in them.

For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah;
they shall live there and have it in possession.
The children of his servants will inherit it,
and those who love his Name will dwell therein.

Be pleased, O God, to deliver me;
O Lord, make haste to help me.

Let those who seek my life be ashamed
and altogether dismayed;
let those who take pleasure in my misfortune
draw back and be disgraced.

Let those who say to me “Aha!” and gloat over me turn back,
because they are ashamed.
Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;
let those who love your salvation say for ever,
“Great is the Lord!”

But as for me, I am poor and needy;
come to me speedily, O God.
You are my helper and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not tarry.

In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge;
let me never be ashamed.
In your righteousness, deliver me and set me free;
incline your ear to me and save me.

Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe;
you are my crag and my stronghold.
Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the clutches of the evildoer and the oppressor.

For you are my hope, O Lord God,
my confidence since I was young.
I have been sustained by you ever since I was born;
from my mother’s womb you have been my strength;
my praise shall be always of you.

I have become a portent to many;
but you are my refuge and my strength.
Let my mouth be full of your praise
and your glory all the day long.
Do not cast me off in my old age;
forsake me not when my strength fails.

For my enemies are talking against me,
and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together.
They say, “God has forsaken him;
go after him and seize him;
because there is none who will save.”
O God, be not far from me;
come quickly to help me, O my God.

Let those who set themselves against me be put to shame and be disgraced;
let those who seek to do me evil be covered with scorn and reproach.

But I shall always wait in patience,
and shall praise you more and more.
My mouth shall recount your mighty acts
and saving deeds all day long;
though I cannot know the number of them.

I will begin with the mighty works of the Lord God;
I will recall your righteousness, yours alone.
O God, you have taught me since I was young,
and to this day I tell of your wonderful works.

And now that I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not forsake me,
till I make known your strength to this generation
and your power to all who are to come.
Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens;
you have done great things;
who is like you, O God?

You have showed me great troubles and adversities,
but you will restore my life
and bring me up again from the deep places of the earth.
You strengthen me more and more;
you enfold and comfort me.

Therefore I will praise you upon the lyre for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing to you with the harp, O Holy One of Israel.
My lips will sing with joy when I play to you,
and so will my soul, which you have redeemed.

My tongue will proclaim your righteousness all day long,
for they are ashamed and disgraced who sought to do me harm.

Give the King your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to the King’s Son;
That he may rule your people righteously
and the poor with justice;

That the mountains may bring prosperity to the people,
and the little hills bring righteousness.
He shall defend the needy among the people;
he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor.

He shall live as long as the sun and moon endure,
from one generation to another.
He shall come down like rain upon the mown field,
like showers that water the earth.
In his time shall the righteous flourish;
there shall be abundance of peace till the moon shall be no more.

He shall rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
His foes shall bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.

The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall pay tribute,
and the kings of Arabia and Saba offer gifts.
All kings shall bow down before him,
and all the nations do him service.

For he shall deliver the poor who cries out in distress,
and the oppressed who has no helper.
He shall have pity on the lowly and poor;
he shall preserve the lives of the needy.
He shall redeem their lives from oppression and violence,
and dear shall their blood be in his sight.

Long may he live!
and may there be given to him gold from Arabia;
may prayer be made for him always,
and may they bless him all the day long.

May there be abundance of grain on the earth,
growing thick even on the hilltops;
may its fruit flourish like Lebanon,
and its grain like grass upon the earth.

May his Name remain for ever
and be established as long as the sun endures;
may all the nations bless themselves in him and call him blessed.

Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous deeds!
And blessed be his glorious Name for ever!
and may all the earth be filled with his glory.
Amen. Amen.

Truly, God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had nearly slipped;
I had almost tripped and fallen;
Because I envied the proud
and saw the prosperity of the wicked:

For they suffer no pain,
and their bodies are sleek and sound;
In the misfortunes of others they have no share;
they are not afflicted as others are;

Therefore they wear their pride like a necklace
and wrap their violence about them like a cloak.
Their iniquity comes from gross minds,
and their hearts overflow with wicked thoughts.

They scoff and speak maliciously;
out of their haughtiness they plan oppression.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their evil speech runs through the world.

And so the people turn to them
and find in them no fault.
They say, “How should God know?
is there knowledge in the Most High?”
So then, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase their wealth.

In vain have I kept my heart clean,
and washed my hands in innocence.
I have been afflicted all day long,
and punished every morning.
Had I gone on speaking this way,
I should have betrayed the generation of your children.

When I tried to understand these things,
it was too hard for me;
Until I entered the sanctuary of God
and discerned the end of the wicked.

Surely, you set them in slippery places;
you cast them down in ruin.
Oh, how suddenly do they come to destruction,
come to an end, and perish from terror!
Like a dream when one awakens, O Lord,
when you arise you will make their image vanish.

When my mind became embittered,
I was sorely wounded in my heart.
I was stupid and had no understanding;
I was like a brute beast in your presence.

Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You will guide me by your counsel,
and afterwards receive me with glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you?
and having you I desire nothing upon earth.
Though my flesh and my heart should waste away,
God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.

Truly, those who forsake you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful.
But it is good for me to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge.
I will speak of all your works
in the gates of the city of Zion.

O God, why have you utterly cast us off?
why is your wrath so hot against the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your congregation that you purchased long ago,
the tribe you redeemed to be your inheritance,
and Mount Zion where you dwell.

Turn your steps toward the endless ruins;
the enemy has laid waste everything in your sanctuary.
Your adversaries roared in your holy place;
they set up their banners as tokens of victory.

They were like men coming up with axes to a grove of trees;
they broke down all your carved work with hatchets and hammers.
They set fire to your holy place;
they defiled the dwelling-place of your Name
and razed it to the ground.

They said to themselves, “Let us destroy them altogether.”
They burned down all the meeting-places of God in the land.
There are no signs for us to see;
there is no prophet left;
there is not one among us who knows how long.

How long, O God, will the adversary scoff?
will the enemy blaspheme your name for ever?
Why do you draw back your hand?
why is your right hand hidden in your bosom?

Yet God is my King from ancient times,
victorious in the midst of the earth.
You divided the sea by your might
and shattered the heads of the dragons upon the waters.

You crushed the heads of Leviathan
and gave him to the people of the desert for food.
You split open spring and torrent;
you dried up ever-flowing rivers.

Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you established the moon and the sun.
You fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you made both summer and winter.

Remember, O Lord, how the enemy scoffed,
how a foolish people despised your Name.
Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts;
never forget the lives of your poor.

Look upon your covenant;
the dark places of the earth are haunts of violence.
Let not the oppressed turn away ashamed;
let the poor and needy praise your Name.

Arise, O God, maintain your cause;
remember how fools revile you all day long.
Forget not the clamor of your adversaries,
the unending tumult of those who rise up against you.

We give you thanks, O God, we give you thanks,
calling upon your Name and declaring all your wonderful deeds.

“I will appoint a time,” says God;
“I will judge with equity.
Though the earth and all its inhabitants are quaking,
I will make its pillars fast.

“I will say to the boasters, ‘Boast no more,’
and to the wicked, ‘Do not toss your horns;
do not toss your horns so high,
nor speak with a proud neck.’”

For judgment is neither from the east nor from the west,
nor yet from the wilderness or the mountains.
It is God who judges;
he puts down one and lifts up another.

For in the Lord’s hand there is a cup,
full of spiced and foaming wine, which he pours out,
and all the wicked of the earth shall drink and drain the dregs.

But I will rejoice for ever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
He shall break off all the horns of the wicked;
but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

In Judah is God known;
his Name is great in Israel.
At Salem is his tabernacle,
and his dwelling is in Zion.
There he broke the flashing arrows,
the shield, the sword, and the weapons of battle.

How glorious you are!
more splendid than the everlasting mountains!
The strong of heart have been despoiled;
they sink into sleep;
none of the warriors can lift a hand.
At your rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both horse and rider lie stunned.

What terror you inspire!
who can stand before you when you are angry?

From heaven you pronounced judgment;
the earth was afraid and was still;
When God rose up to judgment
and to save all the oppressed of the earth.

Truly, wrathful Edom will give you thanks,
and the remnant of Hamath will keep your feasts.
Make a vow to the Lord your God and keep it;
let all around him bring gifts to him who is worthy to be feared.
He breaks the spirit of princes,
and strikes terror in the kings of the earth.

I will cry aloud to God;
I will cry aloud, and he will hear me.

In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord;
my hands were stretched out by night and did not tire;
I refused to be comforted.
I think of God, I am restless,
I ponder, and my spirit faints.

You will not let my eyelids close;
I am troubled and I cannot speak.
I consider the days of old;
I remember the years long past;
I commune with my heart in the night;
I ponder and search my mind.

Will the Lord cast me off for ever?
will he no more show his favor?
Has his loving-kindness come to an end for ever?
has his promise failed for evermore?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
has he, in his anger, withheld his compassion?

And I said, “My grief is this:
the right hand of the Most High has lost its power.”
I will remember the works of the Lord,
and call to mind your wonders of old time.
I will meditate on all your acts
and ponder your mighty deeds.

Your way, O God, is holy;
who is so great a god as our God?
You are the God who works wonders
and have declared your power among the peoples.
By your strength you have redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph.

The waters saw you, O God;
the waters saw you and trembled;
the very depths were shaken.
The clouds poured out water;
the skies thundered;
your arrows flashed to and fro;

The sound of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was in the sea,
and your paths in the great waters,
yet your footsteps were not seen.

You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.