Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness; Thou hast set me at large when I was in distress: Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (Yea, I have delivered him that without cause was mine adversary;)

Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations also of the mountains quaked And were shaken, because he was wroth.

He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And thick darkness was under his feet.

They came upon me in the day of my calamity; But Jehovah was my stay.

I was also perfect with him, And I kept myself from mine iniquity.

They cried, but there was none to save; Even unto Jehovah, but he answered them not.

But thou art he that took me out of the womb; Thou didst make me trust when I was upon my mother's breasts.

I was cast upon thee from the womb; Thou art my God since my mother bare me.

I will wash my hands in innocency: So will I compass thine altar, O Jehovah;

Thou, Jehovah, of thy favor hadst made my mountain to stand strong: Thou didst hide thy face; I was troubled.

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: My moisture was changed as with the drought of summer. Selah

For he spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I afflicted my soul with fasting; And my prayer returned into mine own bosom.

But one passed by, and, lo, he was not: Yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; And my sorrow was stirred.

My heart was hot within me; While I was musing the fire burned: Then'spake I with my tongue:

I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; Because thou didst it.

For they gat not the land in possession by their own sword, Neither did their own arm save them; But thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, Because thou wast favorable unto them.

These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself: But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me.

Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

There were they in great fear, where no fear was; For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: Thou hast put them to shame, because of God hath rejected them.

For it was not an enemy that reproached me; Then I could have borne it: Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; Then I would have hid myself from him:

But it was thou, a man mine equal, My companion, and my familiar friend.

He hath redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me; For they were many that strove with me.

His mouth was smooth as butter, But his heart was war: His words were softer than oil, Yet were they drawn swords.

The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;

Which my lips uttered, And my mouth spake, when I was in distress.

I cried unto him with my mouth, And he was extolled with my tongue.

Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, Thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.

When the Almighty scattered kings therein, It was as when it snoweth in Zalmon.

When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, That was to my reproach.

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

For I was envious at the arrogant, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

When I thought how I might know this, It was too painful for me;

For my soul was grieved, And I was pricked in my heart:

So brutish was I, and ignorant; I was as a beast before thee.

Thou didst cause sentence to be heard from heaven; The earth feared, and was still,

In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: My hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not; My soul refused to be comforted.

The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lightened the world: The earth trembled and shook.

Thy way was in the sea, And thy paths in the great waters, And thy footsteps were not known.

And might not be as their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that set not their heart aright, And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth; And a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also went up against Israel;

They were not estranged from that which they desired, Their food was yet in their mouths,

And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their redeemer.

For their heart was not right with him, Neither were they faithful in his covenant.

When God heard this , he was wroth, And greatly abhorred Israel;

He gave his people over also unto the sword, And was wroth with his inheritance.

So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.

Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; And there was none to bury them.

I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon as among them that know me: Behold, Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia: This one was born there.

Yea, of Zion it shall be said, This one and that one was born in her; And the Most High himself will establish her.

Jehovah will count, when he writeth up the peoples, This one was born there. Selah

Forty years long was I grieved with that generation, And said, It is a people that do err in their heart, And they have not known my ways:

Zion heard and was glad, And the daughters of Judah rejoiced, Because of thy judgments, O Jehovah.

Thou answeredst them, O Jehovah our God: Thou wast a God that forgavest them, Though thou tookest vengeance of their doings.

He sent a man before them; Joseph was sold for a servant:

His feet they hurt with fetters: He was laid in chains of iron,

And he brought them forth with silver and gold; And there was not one feeble person among his tribes.

Egypt was glad when they departed; For the fear of them had fallen upon them.

He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up: So he led them through the depths, as through a wilderness.

And the waters covered their adversaries; There was not one of them left.

And a fire was kindled in their company; The flame burned up the wicked.

Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment; And so the plague was stayed.

And that was reckoned unto him for righteousness, Unto all generations for evermore.

And shed innocent blood, Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, Whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with blood.

Therefore was the wrath of Jehovah kindled against his people, And he abhorred his inheritance.

Therefore he brought down their heart with labor; They fell down, and there was none to help.

Yea, he loved cursing, and it came unto him; And he delighted not in blessing, and it was far from him.

The sea saw it, and fled; The Jordan was driven back.

Jehovah preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he saved me.

I believe, for I will speak: I was greatly afflicted:

Before I was afflicted I went astray; But now I observe thy word.

I beheld the treacherous, and was grieved, Because they observe not thy word.

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go unto the house of Jehovah.

If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side, Let Israel now say,

If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side, When men rose up against us;

Then they had swallowed us up alive, When their wrath was kindled against us;

Then was our mouth filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing: Then said they among the nations, Jehovah hath done great things for them.

My frame was not hidden from thee, When I was made in secret, And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me , When as yet there was none of them.

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, Thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walk Have they hidden a snare for me.