The Book of Psalms

⭑ Unlocked Dynamic Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 69 -

The water is up to my neck

O God, save me because I am in great danger. It is as though the flood water were up to my neck, and I were about to drown.

I continue to sink in the deep mud, and there is no solid ground for me to stand on. I am in deep water, and the flood is swirling around me.

I am exhausted from calling out for help; my throat is very dry. Because I have cried so much as I have waited for God to help me, my eyes are swollen from tears.

Those who hate me when there is no reason to hate me are more than the number of hairs on my head! Those who want to get rid of me are strong, and they tell lies about me. They demand that I return to them things that I did not steal!

O God, you see the sins that I have committed. You know that I have foolishly disobeyed your laws.

O Yahweh God, Commander of the angel armies, do not allow the wrong things that I have done cause those who trust in you to be disappointed. O God, whom we Israelite people worship, do not allow me to cause them to be shamed.

People have insulted me because I am devoted to you. They have thoroughly humiliated me.

Even my own older brothers act as if they do not know me; they treat me like a foreigner.

Some people have despised your temple; but because I have tried to keep your temple holy, people have caused trouble for me. So it is as though those who are insulting you are also insulting me.

When I have humbled myself and fasted to show my sadness about the disgraceful things that they have done to your temple, they just insult me.

When I put on rough sackcloth to show that I am sad, they laugh at me.

Even the elders of the city say bad things about me. The drunkards of the city sing disgusting songs about me.

But Yahweh, I will continue praying to you. At the time that you choose, answer me and rescue me because you faithfully love me, as you have promised to do.

Do not allow me to sink anymore in the mud. Rescue me from those who hate me! Lift me up out of these deep waters!

Do not allow the floods to swirl around me; do not allow the deep mud to swallow me; keep me from sinking into the pit of death.

O Yahweh, answer my prayer and help me because you are good and I can depend on your love for me. You have not punished me for what I deserve. I know you will listen to me!

Do not hide yourself from me; answer me quickly because I am in great trouble.

Come near to me and save me; rescue me from my enemies.

You know that I am insulted and that people shame and dishonor me; you know who all my enemies are.

Their insults have deeply offended me, and I feel helpless. I searched for someone who would pity me, but there was no one. I wanted someone to encourage me, but there was no one.

Instead, they gave me food that tasted like poison, and when I was thirsty, they gave me sour wine to drink.

I hope their own food will kill them; I hope that this will happen when they think that they are completely safe.

I hope that their eyes become dim so that they cannot see anything and that their backs will become weaker and weaker.

Show them that you are very angry with them! Because of your great anger, chase them and catch them.

Cause their towns to become abandoned; may there be no one to live in their tents.

Do this because they persecute those whom you have punished, they look at how those whom you have punished suffer, and they tell others about it.

Keep making a record of all their sins, do not fail to punish them for the evil things that they have done.

Erase their names from the book containing the names of those who have eternal life; do not include them in the list of righteous people.

As for me, I have pain and am suffering. O God, protect me and rescue me.

When God does that, I will sing as I praise God, and I will honor him by thanking him.

My doing that will please Yahweh more than sacrificing oxen, more than offering him full grown bulls.

Oppressed people will see that God has rescued me, and they will be glad. I desire that all who request God to help them may be encouraged.

Yahweh listens to those who are needy; he does not ignore those who have suffered for him.

I desire that everything will praise God, everything that is in heaven and on earth and all the creatures that are in the seas.

God will rescue the people of Jerusalem from their enemies, and he will rebuild the towns that are in Judah. His people will live there and again possess the land.

The descendants of his people will inherit it, and those who love him will live there safely.

The water is up to my neck

Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck!

I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

I am weary with my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail looking for my God.

Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. I have to restore what I didn’t take away.

God, you know my foolishness. My sins aren’t hidden from you.

Don’t let those who wait for you be shamed through me, Lord GOD of Armies. Don’t let those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, God of Israel.

Because for your sake, I have borne reproach. Shame has covered my face.

I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s children.

For the zeal of your house consumes me. The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

When I wept and I fasted, that was to my reproach.

When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them.

Those who sit in the gate talk about me. I am the song of the drunkards.

But as for me, my prayer is to you, LORD, in an acceptable time. God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer me in the truth of your salvation.

Deliver me out of the mire, and don’t let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.

Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me.

Answer me, LORD, for your loving kindness is good. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me.

Don’t hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me speedily!

Draw near to my soul and redeem it. Ransom me because of my enemies.

You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor. My adversaries are all before you.

Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness. I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; for comforters, but I found none.

They also gave me poison for my food. In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.

Let their table before them become a snare. May it become a retribution and a trap.

Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can’t see. Let their backs be continually bent.

Pour out your indignation on them. Let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.

Let their habitation be desolate. Let no one dwell in their tents.

For they persecute him whom you have wounded. They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.

Charge them with crime upon crime. Don’t let them come into your righteousness.

Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous.

But I am in pain and distress. Let your salvation, God, protect me.

I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

It will please the LORD better than an ox, or a bull that has horns and hoofs.

The humble have seen it, and are glad. You who seek after God, let your heart live.

For the LORD hears the needy, and doesn’t despise his captive people.

Let heaven and earth praise him; the seas, and everything that moves therein!

For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah. They shall settle there, and own it.

The children also of his servants shall inherit it. Those who love his name shall dwell therein.