69:2 Quicksand under me, swamp water over me; I’m going down for the third time.
69:3 I’m hoarse from calling for help, Bleary-eyed from searching the sky for God.
69:4 I’ve got more enemies than hairs on my head; Liars and cheats are out to knife me in the back. What I never stole Must I now give back?
69:5 God, you know every sin I’ve committed; My life’s a wide-open book before you.
69:6 Don’t let those who look to you in hope Be discouraged by what happens to me, Dear Lord! God of the armies! Don’t let those out looking for you Come to a dead end by following me— Please, dear God of Israel!
69:7 Because of you I look like an idiot, I walk around ashamed to show my face.
69:8 My brothers shun me like a bum off the street; My family treats me like an unwanted guest.
69:9 I love you more than I can say. Because I’m madly in love with you, They blame me for everything they dislike about you.
69:10 When I poured myself out in prayer and fasting, All it got me was more contempt.
69:11 When I put on a sad face, They treated me like a clown.
69:12 Now drunks and gluttons Make up drinking songs about me.
69:13 And me? I pray. God, it’s time for a break! God, answer in love! Answer with your sure salvation!
69:14 Rescue me from the swamp, Don’t let me go under for good, Pull me out of the clutch of the enemy; This whirlpool is sucking me down.
69:15 Don’t let the swamp be my grave, the Black Hole Swallow me, its jaws clenched around me.
69:16 Now answer me, God, because you love me; Let me see your great mercy full-face.
69:17 Don’t look the other way; your servant can’t take it. I’m in trouble. Answer right now!
69:18 Come close, God; get me out of here. Rescue me from this deathtrap.
69:19 You know how they kick me around— Pin on me the donkey’s ears, the dunce’s cap.
69:20 I’m broken by their taunts, Flat on my face, reduced to a nothing. I looked in vain for one friendly face. Not one. I couldn’t find one shoulder to cry on.
69:21 They put poison in my soup, Vinegar in my drink.
69:22 Let their supper be bait in a trap that snaps shut; May their best friends be trappers who’ll skin them alive.
69:23 Make them become blind as bats, Give them the shakes from morning to night.
69:24 Let them know what you think of them, Blast them with your red-hot anger.
69:25 Burn down their houses, Leave them desolate with nobody at home.
69:26 They gossiped about the one you disciplined, Made up stories about anyone wounded by God.
69:27 Pile on the guilt, Don’t let them off the hook.
69:28 Strike their names from the list of the living; No rock-carved honor for them among the righteous.
69:29 I’m hurt and in pain; Give me space for healing, and mountain air.
69:30 Let me shout God’s name with a praising song, Let me tell his greatness in a prayer of thanks.
69:31 For God, this is better than oxen on the altar, Far better than blue-ribbon bulls.
69:32 The poor in spirit see and are glad— Oh, you God-seekers, take heart!
69:33 For God listens to the poor, He doesn’t walk out on the wretched.
69:34 You heavens, praise him; praise him, earth; Also ocean and all things that swim in it.
69:35 For God is out to help Zion, Rebuilding the wrecked towns of Judah. Guess who will live there— The proud owners of the land?
69:36 No, the children of his servants will get it, The lovers of his name will live in it.
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