For the choir director; according to Shoshannim. A Psalm of David.

     1Save me, O God,
            For the waters have threatened my life.

     2I have sunk in deep mire, and there is no foothold;
            I have come into deep waters, and a flood overflows me.

     3I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched;
            My eyes fail while I wait for my God.

     4Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head;
            Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies,
            What I did not steal, I then have to restore.

     5O God, it is Thou who dost know my folly,
            And my wrongs are not hidden from Thee.

     6May those who wait for Thee not be ashamed through me, O Lord GOD of hosts;
            May those who seek Thee not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel,

     7Because for Thy sake I have borne reproach;
            Dishonor has covered my face.

     8I have become estranged from my brothers,
            And an alien to my mother’s sons.

     9For zeal for Thy house has consumed me,
            And the reproaches of those who reproach Thee have fallen on me.

     10When I wept in my soul with fasting,
            It became my reproach.

     11When I made sackcloth my clothing,
            I became a byword to them.

     12Those who sit in the gate talk about me,
            And I am the song of the drunkards.

     13But as for me, my prayer is to Thee, O LORD, at an acceptable time;
            O God, in the greatness of Thy lovingkindness,
            Answer me with Thy saving truth.

     14Deliver me from the mire, and do not let me sink;
            May I be delivered from my foes, and from the deep waters.

     15May the flood of water not overflow me,
            And may the deep not swallow me up,
            And may the pit not shut its mouth on me.

     16Answer me, O LORD, for Thy lovingkindness is good;
            According to the greatness of Thy compassion, turn to me,

     17And do not hide Thy face from Thy servant,
            For I am in distress; answer me quickly.

     18Oh draw near to my soul and redeem it;
            Ransom me because of my enemies!

     19Thou dost know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor;
            All my adversaries are before Thee.

     20Reproach has broken my heart, and I am so sick.
            And I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
            And for comforters, but I found none.

     21They also gave me gall for my food,
            And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

     22May their table before them become a snare;
            And when they are in peace, may it become a trap.

     23May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see,
            And make their loins shake continually.

     24Pour out Thine indignation on them,
            And may Thy burning anger overtake them.

     25May their camp be desolate;
            May none dwell in their tents.

     26For they have persecuted him whom Thou Thyself hast smitten,
            And they tell of the pain of those whom Thou hast wounded.

     27Do Thou add iniquity to their iniquity,
            And may they not come into Thy righteousness.

     28May they be blotted out of the book of life,
            And may they not be recorded with the righteous.

     29But I am afflicted and in pain;
            May Thy salvation, O God, set me securely on high.

     30I will praise the name of God with song,
            And shall magnify Him with thanksgiving.

     31And it will please the LORD better than an ox
            Or a young bull with horns and hoofs.

     32The humble have seen it and are glad;
            You who seek God, let your heart revive.

     33For the LORD hears the needy,
            And does not despise His who are prisoners.

     34Let heaven and earth praise Him,
            The seas and everything that moves in them.

     35For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah,
            That they may dwell there and possess it.

     36And the descendants of His servants will inherit it,
            And those who love His name will dwell in it.