June 30

Psalms 69:1 — 72:20

To the director on The Lilies. Of David.
69 Save me, O God, for the waters have come clear to the soul.

 2 I have sunk down in deep mire, where there is no standing ground.

       I have come into profound waters,

       And a flowing stream itself has washed me away.

 3 I have become tired by my calling out;

       My throat has become hoarse.

       My eyes have failed while waiting for my God.

 4 Those hating me without a cause have become even more than the hairs of my head.

       Those bringing me to silence, being my enemies for no reason, have become numerous.

       What I had not taken by robbery I then proceeded to give back.

 5 O God, you yourself have come to know my foolishness,

       And from you my own guiltiness has not been hidden.

 6 O may those hoping in you not be ashamed because of me,

       O Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies.

       O may those seeking you not be humiliated because of me,

       O God of Israel.

 7 For on your account I have borne reproach,

       Humiliation has covered my face.

 8 I have become one estranged to my brothers,

       And a foreigner to the sons of my mother.

 9 For sheer zeal for your house has eaten me up,

       And the very reproaches of those reproaching you have fallen upon me.

10 And I proceeded to weep with the fasting of my soul,

       But it came to be for reproaches to me.

11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,

       Then I became to them a proverbial saying.

12 Those sitting in the gate began concerning themselves about me,

       And [I was] the subject of the songs of drinkers of intoxicating liquor.

13 But as for me, my prayer was to you, O Jehovah,

       At an acceptable time, O God.

       In the abundance of your loving-kindness answer me with the truth of salvation by you.

14 Deliver me from the mire, that I may not sink down.

       O may I be delivered from those hating me and from the deep waters.

15 O may not the flowing stream of waters wash me away,

       Nor the depth swallow me up,

       Nor the well close its mouth over me.

16 Answer me, O Jehovah, for your loving-kindness is good.

       According to the multitude of your mercies turn to me,

17 And do not conceal your face from your servant.

       Because I am in sore straits, answer me quickly.

18 Do come near to my soul, reclaim it;

       On account of my enemies redeem me.

19 You yourself have come to know my reproach and my shame and my humiliation.

       All those showing hostility to me are in front of you.

20 Reproach itself has broken my heart, and [the wound] is incurable.

       And I kept hoping for someone to show sympathy, but there was none;

       And for comforters, but I found none.

21 But for food they gave [me] a poisonous plant,

       And for my thirst they tried to make me drink vinegar.

22 Let their table before them become a trap,

       And what is for their welfare a snare.

23 Let their eyes become darkened so as not to see;

       And cause their very hips to wobble constantly.

24 Pour out upon them your denunciation,

       And may your own burning anger overtake them.

25 Let their walled camp become desolate;

       In their tents may there come to be no dweller.

26 For the one whom you yourself have struck they have pursued,

       And the pains of those pierced by you they keep recounting.

27 Do give error upon their error,

       And may they not come into your righteousness.

28 Let them be wiped out of the book of the living ones,

       And with the righteous ones may they not be written in.

29 But I am afflicted and aching.

       May your own salvation, O God, protect me.

30 I will praise the name of God with song,

       And I will magnify him with thanksgiving.

31 This will also be more pleasing to Jehovah than a bull,

       Than a young bull displaying horns, splitting the hoof.

32 The meek ones will certainly see [it]; they will rejoice.

       YOU who are seeking God, let YOUR heart also keep alive.

33 For Jehovah is listening to the poor ones,

       And he will indeed not despise his very own prisoners.

34 Let heaven and earth praise him,

       The seas and everything moving about in them.

35 For God himself will save Zion

       And will build the cities of Judah;

       And they will certainly dwell there and take possession of it.

36 And the offspring of his servants themselves will inherit it,

       And those loving his name will be the ones to reside in it.

To the director. Of David, to bring to remembrance.

70 O God, to deliver me,

    O Jehovah, to my assistance do make haste.

 2 May those be ashamed and abashed who are seeking my soul.

      May those turn back and be humiliated who are taking delight in my calamity.

 3 May those go back by reason of their shame who are saying: “Aha, aha!”

 4 May those exult and rejoice in you, all of whom are seeking you,

      And may they say constantly: “God be magnified!”—those loving your salvation.

 5 But I am afflicted and poor.

      O God, do act quickly for me.

      You are my help and the Provider of escape for me.

      O Jehovah, do not be too late.

71 In you, O Jehovah, I have taken refuge.

    O may I never be ashamed.

 2 In your righteousness may you deliver me and provide me with escape.

      Incline to me your ear and save me.

 3 Become to me a rock fortress into which to enter constantly.

      You must command to save me,

      For you are my crag and my stronghold.

 4 O my God, provide me with escape from the hand of the wicked one,

      From the palm of the one acting unjustly and oppressively.

 5 For you are my hope, O Sovereign Lord Jehovah, my confidence from my youth.

 6 Upon you I have supported myself from the belly;

      You are the One severing me even from the inward parts of my mother.

      In you my praise is constantly.

 7 I have become just like a miracle to many people;

      But you are my strong refuge.

 8 My mouth is filled with your praise,

      All day long with your beauty.

 9 Do not throw me away in the time of old age;

      Just when my power is failing, do not leave me.

10 For my enemies have said in regard to me,

       And the very ones keeping watch for my soul have jointly exchanged counsel,

11 Saying: “God himself has left him.

       Pursue and catch him, for there is no deliverer.”

12 O God, do not keep far away from me.

       O my God, do hurry to my assistance.

13 May those be ashamed, may those come to their end, who are resisting my soul.

       May those cover themselves with reproach and humiliation who are seeking calamity for me.

14 But as for me, I shall wait constantly,

       And I will add to all your praise.

15 My own mouth will recount your righteousness,

       All day long your salvation,

       For I have not come to know the numbers [of them].

16 I shall come in grand mightiness, O Sovereign Lord Jehovah;

       I shall mention your righteousness, yours alone.

17 O God, you have taught me from my youth on,

       And until now I keep telling about your wonderful works.

18 And even until old age and gray-headedness, O God, do not leave me,

       Until I may tell about your arm to the generation,

       To all those who are to come, about your mightiness.

19 Your righteousness, O God, is up to the height;

       As respects the great things that you have done,

       O God, who is like you?

20 Because you have made me see many distresses and calamities,

       May you revive me again;

       And from the watery deeps of the earth may you again bring me up.

21 May you enlarge my greatness,

       And may you surround [and] comfort me.

22 I too, I shall laud you on an instrument of a stringed sort,

       As regards your trueness, O my God.

       I will make melody to you on the harp, O Holy One of Israel.

23 My lips will cry out joyfully when I am inclined to make melody to you,

       Even my soul that you have redeemed.

24 Also, my own tongue, all day long, will utter in an undertone your righteousness,

       For they have become ashamed, for they have become abashed, who are seeking calamity for me.

Regarding Solomon.

72 O God, give your own judicial decisions to the king,

    And your righteousness to the son of the king.

 2 May he plead the cause of your people with righteousness

       And of your afflicted ones with judicial decision.

 3 Let the mountains carry peace to the people,

       Also the hills, through righteousness.

 4 Let him judge the afflicted ones of the people,

       Let him save the sons of the poor one,

       And let him crush the defrauder.

 5 They will fear you as long as there is a sun,

       And before the moon for generation after generation.

 6 He will descend like the rain upon the mown grass,

       Like copious showers that wet the earth.

 7 In his days the righteous one will sprout,

       And the abundance of peace until the moon is no more.

 8 And he will have subjects from sea to sea

       And from the River to the ends of the earth.

 9 Before him the inhabitants of waterless regions will bow down,

       And his very enemies will lick the dust itself.

10 The kings of Tarshish and of the islands—

       Tribute they will pay.

       The kings of Sheba and of Seba—

       A gift they will present.

11 And to him all the kings will prostrate themselves;

       All the nations, for their part, will serve him.

12 For he will deliver the poor one crying for help,

       Also the afflicted one and whoever has no helper.

13 He will feel sorry for the lowly one and the poor one,

       And the souls of the poor ones he will save.

14 From oppression and from violence he will redeem their soul,

       And their blood will be precious in his eyes.

15 And let him live, and to him let some of the gold of Sheba be given.

       And in his behalf let prayer be made constantly;

       All day long let him be blessed.

16 There will come to be plenty of grain on the earth;

       On the top of the mountains there will be an overflow.

       His fruit will be as in Lebanon,

       And those who are from the city will blossom like the vegetation of the earth.

17 Let his name prove to be to time indefinite;

       Before the sun let his name have increase,

       And by means of him let them bless themselves;

       Let all nations pronounce him happy.

18 Blessed be Jehovah God, Israel’s God,

       Who alone is doing wonderful works.

19 And blessed be his glorious name to time indefinite,

       And let his glory fill the whole earth.

       Amen and Amen.

        20 The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, have come to their end.
 

End of June