Psalm 69:1-20

Revised Standard Version

⁴ More in number than the hairs of my head
    are those who hate me without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
    those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
    must I now restore?
⁵ O God, thou knowest my folly;
    the wrongs I have done are not hidden from thee.

⁶ Let not those who hope in thee be put to shame through me,
    O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek thee be brought to dishonor through me,
    O God of Israel.
⁷ For it is for thy sake that I have borne reproach,
    that shame has covered my face.
⁸ I have become a stranger to my brethren,
    an alien to my mother’s sons.

⁹ For zeal for thy house has consumed me,
    and the insults of those who insult thee have fallen on me.
¹⁰ When I humbled^[a] my soul with fasting,
    it became my reproach.
¹¹ When I made sackcloth my clothing,
    I became a byword to them.
¹² I am the talk of those who sit in the gate,
    and the drunkards make songs about me.

¹³ But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord.
    At an acceptable time, O God,
    in the abundance of thy steadfast love answer me.
With thy faithful help ¹⁴ rescue me
    from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
    and from the deep waters.
¹⁵ Let not the flood sweep over me,
    or the deep swallow me up,
    or the pit close its mouth over me.

¹⁶ Answer me, O Lord, for thy steadfast love is good;
    according to thy abundant mercy, turn to me.
¹⁷ Hide not thy face from thy servant;
    for I am in distress, make haste to answer me.
¹⁸ Draw near to me, redeem me,
    set me free because of my enemies!

¹⁹ Thou knowest my reproach,
    and my shame and my dishonor;
    my foes are all known to thee.
²⁰ Insults have broken my heart,
    so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none;
    and for comforters, but I found none.