²² It is a land as dark as midnight,
    a land of gloom and confusion,
    where even the light is dark as midnight.’”

⁶ They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord
    who brought us safely out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness—
    a land of deserts and pits,
a land of drought and death,
    where no one lives or even travels?’

¹² Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds?
    Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness?

¹⁹ Yet you have crushed us in the jackal’s desert home.
    You have covered us with darkness and death.

⁴ Even when I walk
    through the darkest valley,^[a]
I will not be afraid,
    for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
    protect and comfort me.

¹⁷ Do you know where the gates of death are located?
    Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?

²² No darkness is thick enough
    to hide the wicked from his eyes.

⁵ Let the darkness and utter gloom claim that day for its own.
    Let a black cloud overshadow it,
    and let the darkness terrify it.