Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have freed me when I was hemmed in and relieved me when I was in distress;
Be gracious to me and hear [and respond to] my prayer.

If I have done evil to him who was at peace with me,
Or without cause robbed him who was my enemy,

He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has fallen into the [very] pit which he made [as a trap].

Then the earth shook and quaked,
The foundations of the mountains trembled;
They were shaken because He was indignant and angry.

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

They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
But the Lord was my support.

He brought me out into a broad place;
He rescued me because He was pleased with me and delighted in me.

I was blameless before Him,
And I kept myself free from my sin.

They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
Even to the Lord [they cried], but He did not answer them.

Yet You are He who pulled me out of the womb;
You made me trust when on my mother’s breasts.

I was cast upon You from birth;
From my mother’s womb You have been my God.

I will wash my hands in innocence,
And I will go about Your altar, O Lord,

By Your favor and grace, O Lord, you have made my mountain stand strong;
You hid Your face, and I was horrified.

But as for me, I trust [confidently] in You and Your greatness, O Lord;
I said, “You are my God.”

Blessed be the Lord,
For He has shown His marvelous favor and lovingkindness to me [when I was assailed] in a besieged city.

For day and night Your hand [of displeasure] was heavy upon me;
My energy (vitality, strength) was drained away as with the burning heat of summer. Selah.

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

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth (mourning garment);
I humbled my soul with fasting,
And I prayed with my head bowed on my chest.

Yet he passed away, and lo, he was no more;
I sought him, but he could not be found.

I was mute and silent [before my enemies],
I refrained even from good,
And my distress grew worse.

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

Even my own close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me [betraying me].

You drove out the [pagan] nations with Your own hand;
Then you planted and established them (Israel);
[It was by Your power that] You uprooted the [pagan] peoples,
Then You spread them abroad.

“These things you have done and I kept silent;
You thought that I was just like you.
Now I will reprimand and denounce you and state the case in order before your eyes.

Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and guilt
And cleanse me from my sin.

I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness;
In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].

Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

There they were, in great terror and dread, where there had been no terror or dread;
For God scattered the bones of him who besieged you;
You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.

But it is you, a man my equal and my counsel,
My companion and my familiar friend;

He has redeemed my life in peace from the battle that was against me,
For there were many against me.

The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
But his heart was hostile;
His words were softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn swords.

They set a net for my steps;
My very life was bowed down.
They dug a pit before me;
Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah.

Which my lips uttered
And my mouth spoke as a promise when I was in distress.

I cried aloud to Him;
He was highly praised with my tongue.

You, O God, sent abroad plentiful rain;
You confirmed Your inheritance when it was parched and weary.

When the Almighty scattered [the Canaanite] kings in the land of Canaan,
It was snowing on Zalmon.

The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands;
The Lord is among them as He was at Sinai, in holiness.

When I wept and humbled myself with fasting,
It became my reproach.

Reproach and insults have broken my heart and I am so sick.
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
And for comforters, but I found none.

For I was envious of the arrogant
As I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

When I considered how to understand this,
It was too great an effort for me and too painful

When my heart was embittered
And I was pierced within [as with the fang of an adder],

Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.

You caused judgment to be heard from heaven;
The earth feared and was quiet

The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The lightnings illumined the world;
The earth trembled and shook.

Your way [of escape for Your people] was through the sea,
And Your paths through the great waters,
And Your footprints were not traceable.

Therefore, when the Lord heard, He was full of wrath;
A fire was kindled against Jacob,
And His anger mounted up against Israel,

Before they had satisfied their desire,
And while their food was in their mouths,

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

When God heard this, He was filled with [righteous] wrath;
And utterly rejected Israel, [greatly hating her ways],

He also handed His people over to the sword,
And was infuriated with His inheritance (Israel).

So David shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart;
And guided them with his skillful hands.

They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem,
And there was no one to bury them.

“I will mention Rahab (Egypt) and Babylon among those who know Me—
Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia (Cush)—
‘This one was born there.’”

The Lord will count, when He registers the peoples,
“This one was born there.” Selah.

I was afflicted and close to death from my youth on;
I suffer Your terrors; I am overcome.

“For forty years I was grieved and disgusted with that generation,
And I said, ‘They are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not acknowledge or regard My ways.’

Zion heard this and was glad,
And the daughters (cities) of Judah rejoiced [in relief]
Because of Your judgments, O Lord.

Moses and Aaron were among His priests,
And Samuel was among those who called on His name;
They called upon the Lord and He answered them.

He sent a man before them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

His feet they hurt with shackles;
He was put in chains of iron,

He brought the sons of Israel out [of Egypt] with silver and gold,
And among their tribes there was not one who stumbled.

Egypt was glad when they departed,
For the dread and fear of them had fallen on the Egyptians.

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

Thus they exchanged [the true God who was] their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.

Then Phinehas [the priest] stood up and interceded,
And so the plague was halted.

And that was credited to him for righteousness,
To all generations forever.

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

Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against His people
And He detested His own inheritance.

Therefore He humbled their heart with hard labor;
They stumbled and there was no one to help.

Let his children wander and beg;
Let them seek their food and be driven far from their ruined homes.

Because the man did not remember to show kindness,
But persecuted the suffering and needy man,
And the brokenhearted, to put them to death.

He also loved cursing, and it came [back] to him;
He did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.

The [Red] Sea looked and fled;
The Jordan turned back.

The Lord protects the simple (childlike);
I was brought low [humbled and discouraged], and He saved me.

Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep and honor Your word [with loving obedience].

Be the guarantee for Your servant for good [as Judah was the guarantee for Benjamin];
Do not let the arrogant oppress me.

I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

To which the [twelve] tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord,
[As was decreed as] an ordinance for Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,”
Let Israel now say,

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
When men rose up against us,

Then they would have [quickly] swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;

My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was being formed in secret,
And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were appointed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].

When my spirit was overwhelmed and weak within me [wrapped in darkness],
You knew my path.
In the way where I walk
They have hidden a trap for me.