Psalm 69

¹ Save me, O God,
   for the waters have come up to my neck.
² I sink in the miry depths,
   where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
   the floods engulf me.
³ I am worn out calling for help;
   my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
   looking for my God.
⁴ Those 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.

 ⁵ You, God, know my folly;
   my guilt is not hidden from you.

 ⁶ Lord, 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.
⁷ For I endure scorn for your sake,
   and shame covers my face.
⁸ I am a foreigner to my own family,
   a stranger to my own mother's children; 
⁹ for zeal for your house consumes me, 
   and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
¹⁰ When I weep and fast,
   I must endure scorn;
¹¹ when I put on sackcloth,
   people make sport of me.
¹² Those who sit at the gate mock me,
   and I am the song of the drunkards.

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

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

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

 ²² May the table set before them become a snare;
   may it become retribution and^[b] a trap.
²³ May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
   and their backs be bent forever.
²⁴ Pour out your wrath on them;
   let your fierce anger overtake them.
²⁵ May their place be deserted;
   let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
²⁶ For they persecute those you wound
   and talk about the pain of those you hurt.
²⁷ Charge them with crime upon crime;
   do not let them share in your salvation.
²⁸ May they be blotted out of the book of life
   and not be listed with the righteous.

 ²⁹ But as for me, afflicted and in pain—
   may your salvation, God, protect me.

 ³⁰ I will praise God's name in song 
   and glorify him with thanksgiving. 
³¹ This will please the LORD more than an ox,
   more than a bull with its horns and hooves.
³² The poor will see and be glad— 
   you who seek God, may your hearts live! 
³³ The LORD hears the needy
   and does not despise his captive people.

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