*Psalms 69

₁O God, please save me.

The water has come up to my neck.

₂I have sunk deep into the mud,

and there is nothing that I can stand on.

I have come into deep water,

and the water flood flows over me.

₃I am tired of crying

and asking You for help.

My throat hurts,

and my eyes are tired because

I keep on waiting for my God.

₄There are more people who

hate me than there are hairs on my head,

but I have done nothing wrong.

There are a lot of people

who want me to die.

I have done nothing wrong,

but they are my enemies.

They say I have stolen something

and I must give it back,

but I have not stolen anything.

₅O God, You know

how foolish I have been,

and You know everything

that I have done wrong.

₆My Lord, God Almighty,

there are people who believe in You.

Please don't let them be ashamed

because of the wrong things that I have done.

Don't let your people be humiliated

because of my sins.

₇It is because I belong to You

that people say bad things to me

and humiliate me.

₈My own brothers

don't know me anymore,

and I am like a stranger to my family.

₉My strong love for your temple

feels like a fire burning in me.

People want to say bad things to You,

but they do it by saying

those things to me.

₁₀When I cried and fasted

and humbled myself,

they laughed at me.

₁₁They mocked me and

said bad things to me

when I put on sack-cloth.

₁₂The people at the gate

say bad things about me,

and the drunk people mock me

and sing songs about me.

₁₃But I will pray to You, O Lord.

Please answer me and help me

when You think the time is right.

Your love never ends.

You are a faithful God.

₁₄Please save me from the mud,

because I am going down into it.

Please save me from those people

who hate me. Please take me

out of the deep water.

₁₅Don't let the water flood flow over me,

don't let the deep water swallow me

and don't let the grave

close its mouth over me.

₁₆Lord, please do what I ask You.

You are good and your love never ends.

Your mercy is so big.

Please feel sorry for me and help me.

₁₇I belong to You,

so please don't look away from me

when I suffer.

Please hurry and do what I ask.

₁₈Come to me, come very near

to me and set me free.

Please save me from my enemies.

₁₉You can see how they mock

and humiliate me and

what bad things they say to me.

You know who my enemies are.

₂₀I feel broken and weak

because of all the things they have said to me.

I looked for someone to feel sorry for me,

but there was no one.

I wanted someone to comfort me,

but I found no one.

₂₁When I asked for food,

they gave me poison,

and when I was thirsty,

they gave me vinegar to drink.

₂₂Please punish them

when they are having a feast.

When they think there is peace,

let them fall into a trap.

₂₃Make them blind

so that they can not see,

and make their legs lame

so that they can not walk.

₂₄Show them how angry

You are with them and

don't let them escape from You.

₂₅Destroy their homes so that

no one is able to live there.

₂₆Because they chase a person

after You have beaten him,

and they talk about the suffering

of the people that You have wounded.

₂₇Please punish them

for everything that they have done wrong.

Don't say they are innocent

and don't forgive them.

₂₈Take their names out of

the book_of_life and don't write down

their names with the names

of the people who are righteous.

₂₉I can not protect myself

and I am hurting. O God,

please save me and protect me.

₃₀I will sing and

praise the name of God.

I will tell everyone how great He is

and thank Him for everything.

₃₁This will please the Lord

more than sacrificing an ox,

or giving Him an offering

of a bull with horns and hooves.

₃₂When the poor

and oppressed people see this,

they will be happy.

It will encourage all the people

who worship God.

₃₃The Lord listens

when poor people pray to Him.

His people who are prisoners

are very important to Him.

₃₄Heaven and earth

must praise the Lord,

and so must the sea and everything in it.

₃₅Because God will save Zion

and He will build the cities

of Judah again.

His people will live there and

the land will belong to them.

₃₆The descendants of his servants

will inherit the land

and the people who love his name

will live there.