69:1 For the leader; according to "Lilies." Of David.I
69:2 Save me, God, for the waters have reached my neck.
69:3 I have sunk into the mire of the deep, where there is no foothold. I havegone down to the watery depths; the flood overwhelms me.
69:4 I am weary with crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes have failed,looking for my God.
69:5 More numerous than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause.Too many for my strength are my treacherous enemies. Must I now restore what Idid not steal?II
69:6 God, you know my folly; my faults are not hidden from you.
69:7 Let those who wait for you, LORD of hosts, not be shamed through me. Letthose who seek you, God of Israel, not be disgraced through me
69:8 For your sake I bear insult, shame covers my face.
69:9 I have become an outcast to my kin, a stranger to my mother’s children.
69:10 Because zeal for your house consumes me, I am scorned by those who scornyou.
69:11 I have wept and fasted, but this led only to scorn.
69:12 I clothed myself in sackcloth; I became a byword for them.
69:13 They who sit at the gate gossip about me; drunkards make me the butt oftheir songs.III
69:14 But I pray to you, LORD, for the time of your favor. God, in your greatkindness answer me with your constant help.
69:15 Rescue me from the mire; do not let me sink. Rescue me from my enemies andfrom the watery depths.
69:16 Do not let the floodwaters overwhelm me, nor the deep swallow me, nor themouth of the pit close over me.
69:17 Answer me, LORD, in your generous love; in your great mercy turn to me.
69:18 Do not hide your face from your servant; in my distress hasten to answer me.
69:19 Come and ransom my life; because of my enemies redeem me.
69:20 You know my reproach, my shame, my disgrace; before you stand all my foes.
69:21 Insult has broken my heart, and I am weak; I looked for compassion, butthere was none, for comforters, but found none.
69:22 Instead they put gall in my food; for my thirst they gave me vinegar.IV
69:23 Make their own table a snare for them, a trap for their friends.
69:24 Make their eyes so dim they cannot see; keep their backs ever feeble.
69:25 Pour out your wrath upon them; let the fury of your anger overtake them.
69:26 Make their camp desolate, with none to dwell in their tents.
69:27 For they pursued the one you struck, added to the pain of the one youwounded.
69:28 Add that to their crimes; let them not attain to your reward.
69:29 Strike them from the book of the living; do not count them among the just!V
69:30 But I am afflicted and in pain; let your saving help protect me, God,
69:31 That I may praise God’s name in song and glorify it with thanksgiving.
69:32 My song will please the LORD more than oxen, more than bullocks with hornsand hooves:
69:33 "See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, take heart!
69:34 For the LORD hears the poor, does not spurn those in bondage.
69:35 Let the heavens and the earth sing praise, the seas and whatever moves inthem!"VI
69:36 God will rescue Zion, rebuild the cities of Judah. God’s servants shall dwellin the land and possess it;
69:37 it shall be the heritage of their descendants; those who love God’s nameshall dwell there.