Psalm 69-72

New American Standard Bible

A Cry of Distress and a Curse on Adversaries.

For the music director; according to ^[a]Shoshannim. A Psalm of David.

69 Save me, God,
For the ^(A)waters have ^[b]threatened my life.
²I have sunk in deep ^(B)mud, and there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters, and a ^[c]^(C)flood overflows me.
³I am ^(D)weary with my crying; my throat is parched;
My ^(E)eyes fail while I wait for my God.
⁴Those ^(F)who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head;
Those who would ^[d]destroy me ^(G)are powerful, those who oppose me with lies;
^(H)What I did not steal, I then have to restore.

⁵God, You know ^(I)my foolishness,
And ^(J)my guilt is not hidden from You.
⁶May those who wait for You not ^(K)be ashamed because of me, Lord ^[e]God of armies;
May those who seek You not be dishonored because of me, God of Israel,
⁷Because ^(L)for Your sake I have endured disgrace;
^(M)Dishonor has covered my face.
⁸I have become ^(N)estranged ^[f]from my brothers,
And a stranger to my mother’s sons.
⁹For ^(O)zeal for Your house has consumed me,
And ^(P)the taunts of those who taunt You have fallen on me.
¹⁰When I wept ^(Q)in my soul with fasting,
It became my ^(R)disgrace.
¹¹When I made ^(S)sackcloth my clothing,
I became ^(T)a proverb to them.
¹²Those who ^(U)sit in the gate talk about me,
And ^(V)songs of mockery by those habitually drunk are about me.

¹³But as for me, my prayer is to You, Lord, ^(W)at an acceptable time;
God, in the ^(X)greatness of Your mercy,
Answer me with ^[g]Your saving truth.
¹⁴Rescue me from the ^(Y)mud and do not let me sink;
May I be ^(Z)rescued from those who hate me, and from the ^(AA)depths of water.
¹⁵May the ^[h]^(AB)flood of water not overflow me
Nor the deep swallow me up,
Nor the ^(AC)pit close its mouth on me.

¹⁶Answer me, Lord, for ^(AD)Your mercy is good;
^(AE)According to the greatness of Your compassion, ^(AF)turn to me,
¹⁷And ^(AG)do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am ^(AH)in distress; answer me quickly.
¹⁸Come near to my soul and ^(AI)redeem it;
^(AJ)Ransom me because of my enemies!
¹⁹You know my ^(AK)disgrace, my shame, and my dishonor;
All my enemies are ^[i]known to You.

²⁰Disgrace has ^(AL)broken my heart, and I am so sick.
And ^(AM)I waited for sympathy, but there was none;
And for ^(AN)comforters, but I found none.
²¹They also gave me ^[j]^(AO)a bitter herb in my food,
And for my thirst they ^(AP)gave me vinegar to drink.

²²May ^(AQ)their table before them become a snare;
And ^[k]^(AR)when they are at peace, may it become a trap.
²³May their ^(AS)eyes grow dim so that they cannot see,
And make their ^(AT)hips shake continually.
²⁴^(AU)Pour out Your indignation on them,
And may Your burning anger overtake them.
²⁵May their ^[l]^(AV)camp be desolated;
May there be none living in their tents.
²⁶For they have ^(AW)persecuted him whom ^(AX)You Yourself struck,
And they tell of the pain of those whom ^(AY)You have ^[m]wounded.
²⁷Add ^(AZ)guilt to their guilt,
And ^(BA)may they not come into ^(BB)Your righteousness.
²⁸May they be ^(BC)wiped out of the ^(BD)book of life,
And may they not be ^[n]^(BE)recorded with the righteous.

²⁹But I am ^(BF)afflicted and in pain;
^[o]May Your salvation, God, ^(BG)set me safely on high.
³⁰I will ^(BH)praise the name of God with song,
And ^(BI)exalt Him with ^(BJ)thanksgiving.
³¹And it will ^(BK)please the Lord better than an ox
Or bull with horns and hoofs.
³²The ^(BL)humble ^[p]have seen it and are glad;
You who seek God, ^(BM)let your heart ^[q]revive.
³³For ^(BN)the Lord hears the needy,
And ^(BO)does not despise those of His who are prisoners.

³⁴^(BP)Heaven and earth shall praise Him,
The seas and ^(BQ)everything that moves in them.
³⁵For God will ^(BR)save Zion and ^(BS)build the cities of Judah,
So that they may live there and ^(BT)possess it.
³⁶The ^[r]^(BU)descendants of His servants will inherit it,
And those who love His name ^(BV)will live in it.

Prayer for Help against Persecutors.

For the music director. A Psalm of David; for a memorial.

70 ^(BW)God, hurry to save me;
Lord, hurry to help me!
²^(BX)May those who seek my ^[s]life
Be put to shame and humiliated;
May those who delight ^[t]in my harm
Be turned back and dishonored.
³^(BY)May those who say, “Aha, aha!” be ^[u]turned back
Because of their shame.

⁴May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And may those who love Your salvation say continually,
“May God be exalted!”
⁵But ^(BZ)I am afflicted and needy;
^(CA)Hurry to me, God!
You are my help and my savior;
Lord, do not delay.

Prayer of an Old Man for Rescue.

71 ^(CB)In You, Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be put to shame.
²^(CC)In Your righteousness rescue me and save me;
^(CD)Extend Your ear to me and help me.
³^(CE)Be to me a rock of ^(CF)dwelling to which I may continually come;
You have given the ^(CG)commandment to save me,
For You are ^(CH)my rock and my fortress.
⁴^(CI)Save me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
From the ^[v]grasp of the wrongdoer and the ruthless,
⁵For You are my ^(CJ)hope;
Lord ^[w]God, You are my ^(CK)confidence from my youth.
⁶I have ^(CL)leaned on you since my birth;
You are He who ^(CM)took me from my mother’s womb;
My ^(CN)praise is continually ^[x]of You.

⁷I have become a ^(CO)marvel to many,
For You are ^(CP)my strong refuge.
⁸My ^(CQ)mouth is filled with Your praise
And with ^(CR)Your glory all day long.
⁹Do not cast me away at the ^(CS)time of my old age;
Do not abandon me when my strength fails.
¹⁰For my enemies have spoken ^[y]against me;
And those who ^(CT)watch for my ^[z]life ^(CU)have consulted together,
¹¹Saying, “^(CV)God has abandoned him;
Pursue and seize him, for there is ^(CW)no one to save him.”

¹²God, ^(CX)do not be far from me;
My God, ^(CY)hurry to my aid!
¹³May those who are enemies of my soul be ^(CZ)put to shame and consumed;
May they be ^(DA)covered with disgrace and dishonor, who ^(DB)seek ^[aa]to injure me.
¹⁴But as for me, I will ^(DC)wait continually,
And will ^[ab]^(DD)praise You yet more and more.
¹⁵My ^(DE)mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And of ^(DF)Your salvation all day long;
For I ^(DG)do not know the art of writing.
¹⁶I will come ^(DH)with the mighty deeds of the Lord ^[ac]God;
I will ^(DI)make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.

¹⁷God, You ^(DJ)have taught me from my youth,
And I still ^(DK)declare Your wondrous deeds.
¹⁸And even when I am ^(DL)old and gray, God, do not abandon me,
Until I ^(DM)declare Your ^[ad]strength to this generation,
Your power to all who are to come.
¹⁹^[ae]For Your ^(DN)righteousness, God, reaches to the ^[af]heavens,
You who have ^(DO)done great things;
God, ^(DP)who is like You?
²⁰You who have ^(DQ)shown ^[ag]me many troubles and distresses
Will ^(DR)revive ^[ah]me again,
And will bring ^[ai]me up again ^(DS)from the depths of the earth.
²¹May You increase my ^(DT)greatness
And turn to ^(DU)comfort me.

²²I will also praise You with ^[aj]^(DV)a harp,
And Your ^[ak]truth, my God;
I will sing praises to You with the ^(DW)lyre,
^(DX)Holy One of Israel.
²³My lips will ^(DY)shout for joy when I sing praises to You;
And my ^(DZ)soul, which You have redeemed.
²⁴My ^(EA)tongue also will tell of Your righteousness all day long;
For they are ^(EB)put to shame, for they are humiliated who seek ^[al]my harm.

The Reign of the Righteous King.

A Psalm of Solomon.

72 Give the king ^(EC)Your judgments, God,
And ^(ED)Your righteousness to the king’s son.
²^[am]May ^[an]he ^(EE)judge Your people with righteousness
And ^[ao]^(EF)Your afflicted with justice.
³^[ap]May the mountains bring ^[aq]^(EG)peace to the people,
And the hills, in righteousness.
⁴^[ar]May he ^(EH)vindicate the ^[as]afflicted of the people,
Save the children of the needy,
And crush the oppressor.

⁵^[at]May they fear You ^(EI)while the sun shines,
And ^[au]as long as the moon shines, throughout all generations.
⁶^[av]May he come down ^(EJ)like rain upon the mown grass,
Like ^(EK)showers that water the earth.
⁷^[aw]May the ^(EL)righteous flourish in his days,
As well as an ^(EM)abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.

⁸May he also rule ^(EN)from sea to sea,
And from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
⁹^[ax]May ^(EO)the nomads of the desert ^(EP)bow before him,
And his enemies ^(EQ)lick the dust.
¹⁰^[ay]May the kings of ^(ER)Tarshish and of the ^[az]^(ES)islands bring gifts;
May the kings of ^(ET)Sheba and ^(EU)Seba ^(EV)offer tributes.
¹¹^[ba]And may all ^(EW)kings bow down before him,
All ^(EX)nations serve him.

¹²For he will ^(EY)save the needy when he cries for help,
The ^[bb]afflicted also, and him who has no helper.
¹³He will have ^(EZ)compassion on the poor and needy,
And he will save the ^[bc]lives of the needy.
¹⁴He will ^[bd]^(FA)rescue their ^[be]life from oppression and violence,
And their blood will be ^(FB)precious in his sight;
¹⁵So may he live, and may the ^(FC)gold of Sheba be given to him;
And ^[bf]they are to pray for him continually;
^[bg]They are to bless him all day long.

¹⁶May there be abundance of grain on the earth on top of the mountains;
Its fruit will wave like the cedars of ^(FD)Lebanon;
And may those from the city flourish like the ^(FE)vegetation of the earth.
¹⁷May his ^(FF)name endure forever;
May his name produce descendants ^[bh]^(FG)as long as the sun shines;
And may people ^(FH)wish blessings on themselves by him;
^(FI)May all nations call him blessed.

¹⁸^(FJ)Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who alone ^(FK)works wonders.
¹⁹And blessed be His ^(FL)glorious name forever;
And may the whole ^(FM)earth be filled with His glory.
^(FN)Amen and Amen.

²⁰The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

Footnotes

Psalm 69 Title Or possibly Lilies
Psalm 69:1 Lit come up to my soul
Psalm 69:2 Lit flowing stream
Psalm 69:4 Or silence
Psalm 69:6 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Psalm 69:8 Lit to
Psalm 69:13 Or the faithfulness of Your salvation
Psalm 69:15 Lit stream
Psalm 69:19 Lit before You
Psalm 69:21 Or poison
Psalm 69:22 Lit for those who are secure
Psalm 69:25 Lit encampment
Psalm 69:26 Lit pierced
Psalm 69:28 Lit written
Psalm 69:29 Or Your salvation, O God, will set...
Psalm 69:32 Some mss and ancient versions will see
Psalm 69:32 Or live
Psalm 69:36 Lit seed
Psalm 70:2 Or soul
Psalm 70:2 Or to injure me
Psalm 70:3 Some mss appalled
Psalm 71:4 Lit palm
Psalm 71:5 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Psalm 71:6 Lit in
Psalm 71:10 Lit with reference to
Psalm 71:10 Lit soul
Psalm 71:13 Lit my injury
Psalm 71:14 Lit add upon all Your praise
Psalm 71:16 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
Psalm 71:18 Lit arm
Psalm 71:19 Or And
Psalm 71:19 Lit height
Psalm 71:20 Another reading is us
Psalm 71:20 Another reading is us
Psalm 71:20 Another reading is us
Psalm 71:22 Lit an instrument of a harp
Psalm 71:22 Or faithfulness
Psalm 71:24 Or to injure me
Psalm 72:2 Or He will judge
Psalm 72:2 Many of the pronouns in this Psalm may be rendered He since the typical reference is to the Messiah
Psalm 72:2 Or Your humble
Psalm 72:3 Or The mountains will bring
Psalm 72:3 Or prosperity
Psalm 72:4 Or He will vindicate
Psalm 72:4 Or humble
Psalm 72:5 Or They will fear
Psalm 72:5 Lit before the moon
Psalm 72:6 Or He will come down
Psalm 72:7 Or The righteous will flourish
Psalm 72:9 Or The nomads...will bow
Psalm 72:10 Or The kings...will bring
Psalm 72:10 Or coastlands
Psalm 72:11 Or All kings will bow down
Psalm 72:12 Or humble
Psalm 72:13 Lit souls
Psalm 72:14 Lit redeem
Psalm 72:14 Lit soul
Psalm 72:15 Lit he is to
Psalm 72:15 Lit He is to
Psalm 72:17 Lit before the sun