Save me, God, * for the waters have reached my neck.

    I have sunk into the abysmal Mire * where there is no footing.

        I have entered the bottomless waters * where the vortex engulfs me.

    I am wearied by my crying; * my throat is hoarse.

My eyes grow bleary * as I wait, my God.

    More numerous than the hairs on my head * are my stealthy enemies.

    Many more than my hair * are my deceitful foes.

    What I did not steal, * this must I restore?

        God, you know my folly; * and my faults are not hidden from you.

           May they who hope in you not be disgraced * through me, Lord Yahweh of Armies.

               May they who seek you not be disappointed * through me, God of Israel.

               Because of you I have suffered abuse, * and disgrace has covered my face.

           I have become a stranger to my brothers, * an alien to my mother's sons.

        For zeal for your house has eaten me up, * and the insults of your insulters have fallen on me.

    So I poured out my soul while fasting, * and abuse itself was mine.

    I made sackcloth my garb, * and became a joke to them.

    Feasters and drunkards * compose songs to mock me.

        As for me, my prayer is to you, Yahweh; * God, favor me now!

        In your great kindness answer me * with your faithful help.

           Rescue me from the Mire * lest I be submerged.

           Let me be rescued from my Enemy, * and from the bottomless waters.

           Let not the vortex of the sea engulf me, * or the abyss ever swallow me, * or the Pit close its mouth on me.

               Answer me, Yahweh, * for your love is bounteous.

                   As befits your abundant mercy, * turn your face toward me.

                       Do not turn away * your face from your servant.

                   Because distress is mine, * quickly answer me.

               Draw near, El, redeem me; * ransom me from the Abode of my Foe.

           You know my abuse; * my shame and my disgrace are before you.

           Abuse has wasted my entrails; * disease has crushed my heart.

        I looked for a comforter, but there was none, * and for consolers, but I found none.

        They put poison in my food, * and for my thirst they served me vinegar.

    May their table be a trap before them, * and their companions a snare.

    May their eyes grow too dim to see, * and their thighs continually shake.

    Pour on them your wrath; * let your raging fury overtake them.

        Let their camp be deserted, * in their tents there be no one to live,

           because the one you struck they persecuted, * the pain of him you wounded they gossiped about.

           Charge them with crime after crime; * let them not enter your Field.

        Let them be erased from the book of life, * and not inscribed among the just.

    But I am afflicted and in pain; * may God's help sustain me,

    that I might praise God's Name in song,* and extol it with hymns of thanks.

    For this will please Yahweh more than a bull, * than an ox with horns and hoofs.

Look, you oppressed; * let those who seek God rejoice; * may your courage revive!

    For El hears his poor; * Yahweh does not despise those bound to him.

        Let heaven and earth praise him, * the seas and all that stirs in them.

    Surely God will save Zion, * and rebuild the cities of Judah. * Those expelled from it will return there.

The offspring of his servants will inherit it; * those who love his name will settle there.