Psalms 69

The waters have come up to my neck

Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.a ²I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.b ³I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.

⁴Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.c ⁵You, God, know my folly; my guilt is not hidden from you. ⁶Lord, the Lord Almighty, may those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me; God of Israel, may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me.

⁷For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face.d ⁸I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children;e ⁹for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.f

¹⁰When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn;g ¹¹when I put on sackcloth, people make sport of me. ¹²Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards.

¹³But I pray to you, Lord, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation.h ¹⁴Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters.i ¹⁵Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or the pit close its mouth over me.

¹⁶Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me.j ¹⁷Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble. ¹⁸Come near and rescue me; deliver me because of my foes.

¹⁹You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; all my enemies are before you. ²⁰Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.k ²¹They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.l

²²May the table set before them become a snare; may it become retribution and a trap. ²³May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.m ²⁴Pour out your wrath on them; let your fierce anger overtake them.

²⁵May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents.n ²⁶For they persecute those you wound and talk about the pain of those you hurt.o ²⁷Charge them with crime upon crime; do not let them share in your salvation.

²⁸May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous. ²⁹But as for me, afflicted and in pain— may your salvation, God, protect me. ³⁰I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.p

³¹This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hooves. ³²The poor will see and be glad— you who seek God, may your hearts live!q ³³The Lord hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.r

³⁴Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them,s ³⁵for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. Then people will settle there and possess it; ³⁶the children of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his name will dwell there.