Through My Bible Yr 01 – September 21

¹ Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
² I sink into the deep mud, where there is no place to stand.
I have entered deep waters, and the rapids rush over me.
³ I am worn out from my crying. My throat is sore.
My eyes are blurry, as I wait for my God.

⁴ Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs on my head.
Those who want to destroy me, my lying enemies, are strong.
I must repay things I did not steal.

⁵ God, you know my folly,
and my guilt is not hidden from you.
⁶ May those who place their confidence in you ^[2]
    not be put to shame because of me,
    O Lord, the Lord of Armies.
May those who seek you not be disgraced because of me,
    O God of Israel.
⁷ It is for your sake that I bear scorn.
Shame covers my face.
⁸ I have become a stranger to my brothers,
a foreigner to my mother’s sons.
⁹ Yes, zeal for your house consumes me.
The scorn of those who scorn you falls on me.
¹⁰ I wept as I fasted,
but this only brought insults to me.
¹¹ When I wore sackcloth as my clothing,
I was a joke to them.
¹² Those who sit in the gatehouse gossip about me,
and the songs of the drunks are about me.

¹³ But I direct my prayer to you, O Lord, for a time of favor.
God, in the greatness of your mercy,
    answer me with the certainty of salvation from you.
¹⁴ Rescue me from the mud, so I do not sink.
Let me escape from those who hate me and from the deep waters.
¹⁵ Do not let the rapids rush over me.
Do not let the deep swallow me up.
Do not let the pit close its mouth over me.
¹⁶ Answer me, Lord, for your mercy is good.
According to your great compassion, turn to me.
¹⁷ Do not hide your face from your servant.
Because I am in distress, hurry, answer me.
¹⁸ Come near. Redeem my soul.
Ransom me because of my enemies.

¹⁹ You know my disgrace, my shame, and my confusion.
All my foes are in front of you.
²⁰ Disgrace has broken my heart, and I am helpless.
I waited for sympathy, but there was none.
I waited for comforters, but I did not find any.
²¹ Instead they put bitter poison in my food.
For my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.

²² May the table set before them become a snare.
May it be a trap to them and their allies. ^[3]
23 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see.
Make their legs always tremble.
²⁴ Pour out your wrath on them.
Let the heat of your anger catch up with them.
²⁵ May their camp be desolate.
May there be no one dwelling in their tents.
²⁶ For they pursue those you have disciplined, O God,
and they talk about the pain of those you wound.
²⁷ Add guilt to their guilt.
Do not let them enter into your righteousness.
²⁸ May they be erased from the book of life.
May they not be listed among the righteous.

²⁹ But I am afflicted and in pain.
O God, may salvation from you set me on high.
³⁰ I will praise God’s name in song.
I will proclaim his greatness with thanksgiving.
³¹ For the Lord this is better than an ox,
than a bull that has horns and hoofs.
³² The poor will see and be glad.
You who seek God, may your hearts live!
³³ For the Lord listens to the needy,
and he does not despise the captives who belong to him.
³⁴ Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and all that move in them,
³⁵ for God will save Zion,
and he will build the cities of Judah.
Then people will settle there and possess it.
³⁶ Then the descendants of his servants will inherit it,
and those who love his name will dwell in it.