[1] God, save me from all my troubles! The water has risen to my mouth.
[2] There is nothing to stand on. I am sinking down, down into the mud. I am in deep water. And the waves are crashing around me. I am about to drown.
[3] I am getting weak from calling for help. My throat is hurting. I have waited and looked for help from you until my eyes are hurting.
[4] I have more enemies than the hairs on my head. They hate me for no reason. They try hard to destroy me. My enemies tell lies about me. They lied and said I stole things. And then they forced me to pay for things I did not steal.
[5] God, you know I did nothing wrong. I can’t hide my sins from you.
[6] My Master, Lord All-Powerful, don’t let your followers be ashamed of me. God of Israel, don’t let your worshipers be embarrassed because of me.
[7] My face is covered with shame. I carry this shame for you.
[8] My brothers treat me like a stranger. My mother’s sons treat me like a foreigner.
[9] My strong feelings for your temple are destroying me. I get the insults from people who make fun of you.
[10] I cry and fast, and they make fun of me for it.
[11] I wear rough cloth to show my sadness, and people tell jokes about me.
[12] They talk about me in public places. The beer drinkers make up songs about me.
[13] As for me, this is my prayer to you Lord: I want you to accept me! God, I want you to answer me with love. I know I can trust you to save me.
[14] Pull me from the mud. Don’t let me sink down into the mud. Save me from the people who hate me. Save me from this deep water.
[15] Don’t let the waves drown me. Don’t let the deep hole swallow me. Don’t let the grave close its mouth on me.
[16] Lord, your love is good. Answer me with all your love. With all your kindness, turn to me and help me!
[17] Don’t turn away from your servant. I am in trouble! Hurry, help me!
[18] Come save my soul. Rescue me from my enemies.
[19] You know my shame. You know my enemies humiliated me. You saw them do those things to me.
[20] The shame has crushed me! I am about to die from shame. I waited for sympathy, but none could be found. I waited for some person to comfort me, but no person came.
[21] They gave me poison, not food. They gave me vinegar, not wine.
[22] Their tables are covered with food. They have such big fellowship meals. I hope those meals destroy them.
[23] I hope they become blind and their backs become weak.
[24] Let them feel all of your anger.
[25] Make their homes empty. Don’t let anyone live there.
[26] Punish them, and they will run away. Then they really will have pains and wounds to talk about.
[27] Punish them for the bad things they did. Don’t show them how good you can be.
[28] Erase their names from the Book of Life. Don’t write their names in the book with the names of the good people.
[29] I am sad and hurting. God, lift me up. Save me!
[30] I will praise God’s name in song. I will praise him with a song of thanks.
[31] This will make God happy! This will be better than killing a bull and offering the whole animal as a sacrifice.
[32] Poor people, you came to worship God. You will be happy to know these things.
[33] The Lord listens to poor, helpless people. The Lord still likes people in prison.
[34] Praise God, heaven and earth! Sea and everything in it, praise the Lord!
[35] The Lord will save Zion. The Lord will rebuild the cities of Judah. The people who own the land will live there again!
[36] The descendants of his servants will get that land. The people who love his name will live there.