⁴ “Show me, Lord, my life’s end
    and the number of my days;^(I)
    let me know how fleeting^(J) my life is.^(K)
5 You have made my days^(L) a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,^(M)
    even those who seem secure.^[b]

⁶ “Surely everyone goes around^(N) like a mere phantom;^(O)
    in vain they rush about,^(P) heaping up wealth^(Q)
    without knowing whose it will finally be.^(R)

⁷ “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
    My hope is in you.^(S)
8 Save me^(T) from all my transgressions;^(U)
    do not make me the scorn^(V) of fools.
⁹ I was silent;^(W) I would not open my mouth,^(X)
    for you are the one who has done this.^(Y)
10 Remove your scourge from me;
    I am overcome by the blow^(Z) of your hand.^(AA)
11 When you rebuke^(AB) and discipline^(AC) anyone for their sin,
    you consume^(AD) their wealth like a moth^(AE)—
    surely everyone is but a breath.^(AF)

¹² “Hear my prayer, Lord,
    listen to my cry for help;^(AG)
    do not be deaf^(AH) to my weeping.^(AI)
I dwell with you as a foreigner,^(AJ)
    a stranger,^(AK) as all my ancestors were.^(AL)
13 Look away from me, that I may enjoy life again
    before I depart and am no more.”^(AM)

⁴ Blessed is the one^(AY)
    who trusts in the Lord,^(AZ)
who does not look to the proud,^(BA)
    to those who turn aside to false gods.^[d](BB)
5 Many, Lord my God,
    are the wonders^(BC) you have done,
    the things you planned for us.
None can compare^(BD) with you;
    were I to speak and tell of your deeds,
    they would be too many^(BE) to declare.

⁶ Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—^(BF)
    but my ears you have opened^[e]—^(BG)
    burnt offerings^(BH) and sin offerings^[f] you did not require.
⁷ Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—
    it is written about me in the scroll.^[g](BI)
8 I desire to do your will,^(BJ) my God;^(BK)
    your law is within my heart.”^(BL)

⁹ I proclaim your saving acts^(BM) in the great assembly;^(BN)
    I do not seal my lips, Lord,
    as you know.^(BO)
10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
    I speak of your faithfulness^(BP) and your saving help.
I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness
    from the great assembly.^(BQ)

¹¹ Do not withhold your mercy^(BR) from me, Lord;
    may your love^(BS) and faithfulness^(BT) always protect^(BU) me.
¹² For troubles^(BV) without number surround me;
    my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.^(BW)
They are more than the hairs of my head,^(BX)
    and my heart fails^(BY) within me.
¹³ Be pleased to save me, Lord;
    come quickly, Lord, to help me.^(BZ)

¹⁴ May all who want to take my life^(CA)
    be put to shame and confusion;^(CB)
may all who desire my ruin^(CC)
    be turned back in disgrace.
¹⁵ May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”^(CD)
    be appalled at their own shame.
¹⁶ But may all who seek you^(CE)
    rejoice and be glad^(CF) in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
    “The Lord is great!”^(CG)

¹⁷ But as for me, I am poor and needy;^(CH)
    may the Lord think^(CI) of me.
You are my help^(CJ) and my deliverer;^(CK)
    you are my God, do not delay.^(CL)

⁴ I said, “Have mercy^(CV) on me, Lord;
    heal^(CW) me, for I have sinned^(CX) against you.”
⁵ My enemies say of me in malice,
    “When will he die and his name perish?^(CY)”
⁶ When one of them comes to see me,
    he speaks falsely,^(CZ) while his heart gathers slander;^(DA)
    then he goes out and spreads^(DB) it around.

⁷ All my enemies whisper together^(DC) against me;
    they imagine the worst for me, saying,
⁸ “A vile disease has afflicted him;
    he will never get up^(DD) from the place where he lies.”
⁹ Even my close friend,^(DE)
    someone I trusted,
one who shared my bread,
    has turned^[i] against me.^(DF)

¹⁰ But may you have mercy^(DG) on me, Lord;
    raise me up,^(DH) that I may repay^(DI) them.
¹¹ I know that you are pleased with me,^(DJ)
    for my enemy does not triumph over me.^(DK)
12 Because of my integrity^(DL) you uphold me^(DM)
    and set me in your presence forever.^(DN)

¹³ Praise^(DO) be to the Lord, the God of Israel,^(DP)
    from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.^(DQ)

² God looks down from heaven^(D)
    on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,^(E)
    any who seek God.^(F)
3 Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.^(G)

⁴ Do all these evildoers know nothing?

They devour my people as though eating bread;
    they never call on God.
⁵ But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
    where there was nothing to dread.^(H)
God scattered the bones^(I) of those who attacked you;^(J)
    you put them to shame,^(K) for God despised them.^(L)

⁶ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When God restores his people,
    let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

⁴ My heart is in anguish^(G) within me;
    the terrors^(H) of death have fallen on me.
⁵ Fear and trembling^(I) have beset me;
    horror^(J) has overwhelmed me.
⁶ I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest.
⁷ I would flee far away
    and stay in the desert;^[c](K)
8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,^(L)
    far from the tempest and storm.^(M)”

⁹ Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,^(N)
    for I see violence and strife^(O) in the city.^(P)
10 Day and night they prowl^(Q) about on its walls;
    malice and abuse are within it.
¹¹ Destructive forces^(R) are at work in the city;
    threats and lies^(S) never leave its streets.

¹² If an enemy were insulting me,
    I could endure it;
if a foe were rising against me,
    I could hide.
¹³ But it is you, a man like myself,
    my companion, my close friend,^(T)
14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship^(U)
    at the house of God,^(V)
as we walked about
    among the worshipers.

¹⁵ Let death take my enemies by surprise;^(W)
    let them go down alive to the realm of the dead,^(X)
    for evil finds lodging among them.

¹⁶ As for me, I call to God,
    and the Lord saves me.
¹⁷ Evening,^(Y) morning^(Z) and noon^(AA)
    I cry out in distress,
    and he hears my voice.
¹⁸ He rescues me unharmed
    from the battle waged against me,
    even though many oppose me.
¹⁹ God, who is enthroned from of old,^(AB)
    who does not change—
he will hear^(AC) them and humble them,
    because they have no fear of God.^(AD)

²⁰ My companion attacks his friends;^(AE)
    he violates his covenant.^(AF)
21 His talk is smooth as butter,^(AG)
    yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,^(AH)
    yet they are drawn swords.^(AI)

²² Cast your cares on the Lord
    and he will sustain you;^(AJ)
he will never let
    the righteous be shaken.^(AK)
23 But you, God, will bring down the wicked
    into the pit^(AL) of decay;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful^(AM)
    will not live out half their days.^(AN)

But as for me, I trust in you.^(AO)

³ Even from birth the wicked go astray;
    from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.
⁴ Their venom is like the venom of a snake,^(D)
    like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
⁵ that will not heed^(E) the tune of the charmer,^(F)
    however skillful the enchanter may be.

⁶ Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;^(G)
    Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!^(H)
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away;^(I)
    when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.^(J)
8 May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,^(K)
    like a stillborn child^(L) that never sees the sun.

⁹ Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns^(M)—
    whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.^[c](N)
10 The righteous will be glad^(O) when they are avenged,^(P)
    when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.^(Q)
11 Then people will say,
    “Surely the righteous still are rewarded;^(R)
    surely there is a God who judges the earth.”^(S)