1  Save me, O God!

For ^uthe waters have come up to my neck.¹

2  I sink in deep ^vmire,

where there is no foothold;

I have come into deep waters,

and the flood ^wsweeps over me.

3  ^xI am weary with my crying out;

^ymy throat is parched.

^zMy eyes grow dim

with ^awaiting for my God.

4  ^bMore in number than the hairs of my head

are ^cthose who hate me ^dwithout cause;

mighty are those who would destroy me,

^ethose who attack me with lies.

What I did not steal

must I now restore?

5  O God, you know my folly;

the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

6  Let not those who hope in you ^fbe put to shame through me,

O Lord God of hosts;

let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,

O God of Israel.

7  For it is ^gfor your sake that I have borne reproach,

that dishonor has covered my face.

8  I have become ^ha stranger to my brothers,

an alien to my mother’s sons.

9  For ⁱzeal for your house has consumed me,

and ^jthe reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

10  When I wept and humbled² my soul with fasting,

it became my reproach.

11  When I made ^ksackcloth my clothing,

I became ^la byword to them.

12  I am the talk of those who ^msit in the gate,

and the drunkards make ⁿsongs about me.

13  But as for me, my ^oprayer is to you, O Lord.

At ^pan acceptable time, O God,

in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

14  Deliver me

from sinking in ^qthe mire;

^rlet me be delivered from my enemies

and from ^sthe deep waters.

15  Let not the flood sweep over me,

or the deep swallow me up,

or ^tthe pit close ^uits mouth over me.

16  Answer me, O Lord, for your ^vsteadfast love is good;

according to your abundant ^wmercy, ^xturn to me.

17  ^yHide not your face from your servant,

^zfor I am in distress; ^amake haste to answer me.

18  Draw near to my soul, redeem me;

ransom me because of my enemies!

19  You know my ^breproach,

and my shame and my dishonor;

my foes are all known to you.

20  ^bReproaches have broken my heart,

so that I am in ^cdespair.

I ^dlooked for ^epity, but there was none,

and for ^fcomforters, but I found none.

21  They gave me ^gpoison for food,

and for my thirst they gave me ^hsour wine to drink.

22  ⁱLet their own ^jtable before them become a snare;

^kand when they are at peace, let it become a trap.³

23  ^lLet their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,

^mand make their loins tremble continually.

24  Pour out your indignation upon them,

and let your burning anger overtake them.

25  ⁿMay their camp be a desolation;

let no one dwell in their tents.

26  For they ^opersecute him whom ^pyou have struck down,

and they recount the pain of ^qthose you have wounded.

27  ^rAdd to them punishment upon punishment;

may they have no acquittal from you.⁴

28  Let them be ^sblotted out of the book of the living;

let them not be ^tenrolled among the righteous.

29  But I am afflicted and in pain;

let your salvation, O God, ^uset me on high!

30  I will ^vpraise the name of God with a song;

I will ^wmagnify him with ^xthanksgiving.

31  This will ^yplease the Lord more than an ox

or a bull ^zwith horns and hoofs.

32  When ^athe humble see it they will be glad;

you who seek God, ^alet your hearts revive.

33  For the Lord hears the needy

and ^bdoes not despise his own people who are prisoners.

34  Let ^cheaven and earth praise him,

the seas and everything that moves in them.

35  For ^dGod will save Zion

and build up the cities of Judah,

and people shall dwell there and possess it;

36  ^ethe offspring of his servants shall inherit it,

and those who love his name shall dwell in it.

1  ^uWhen Israel was a child, ^vI loved him,

and out of Egypt I ^wcalled ^xmy son.

2  ^yThe more they were called,

the more they went away;

^zthey kept sacrificing to the Baals

and burning offerings to idols.

3  Yet it was ^aI who taught Ephraim to walk;

I took them up by their arms,

but they did not know that ^bI healed them.

4  ^cI led them with cords of kindness,¹

with the bands of love,

and ^dI became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws,

and ^eI bent down to them and fed them.

5  ^fThey shall not² return to the land of Egypt,

but ^gAssyria shall be their king,

^hbecause ⁱthey have refused to return to me.

6  ^jThe sword shall rage against their cities,

consume the bars of their gates,

and devour them ^kbecause of their own counsels.

7  My people are bent ^lon turning away from me,

and though ^mthey call out to the Most High,

he shall not raise them up at all.

8  How can I give you up, O Ephraim?

How can I hand you over, O Israel?

ⁿHow can I make you ^olike Admah?

How can I treat you ^olike Zeboiim?

^pMy heart recoils within me;

my compassion grows warm and tender.

9  I will not execute my burning anger;

I will not again destroy Ephraim;

^qfor I am God and not a man,

^rthe Holy One in your midst,

and I will not come in wrath.³