¹⁶ No, my hope will go down with me to the grave.
    We will rest together in the dust!”

¹⁷ For in death the wicked cause no trouble,
    and the weary are at rest.
¹⁸ Even captives are at ease in death,
    with no guards to curse them.
¹⁹ Rich and poor are both there,
    and the slave is free from his master.

⁶ I sank down to the very roots of the mountains.
    I was imprisoned in the earth,
    whose gates lock shut forever.
But you, O Lord my God,
    snatched me from the jaws of death!

¹⁷ Yes, this anguish was good for me,
    for you have rescued me from death
    and forgiven all my sins.
¹⁸ For the dead^[a] cannot praise you;
    they cannot raise their voices in praise.
Those who go down to the grave
    can no longer hope in your faithfulness.

⁷ Come quickly, Lord, and answer me,
    for my depression deepens.
Don’t turn away from me,
    or I will die.

⁴ I am as good as dead,
    like a strong man with no strength left.
⁵ They have left me among the dead,
    and I lie like a corpse in a grave.
I am forgotten,
    cut off from your care.
⁶ You have thrown me into the lowest pit,
    into the darkest depths.
⁷ Your anger weighs me down;
    with wave after wave you have engulfed me. Interlude

⁸ You have driven my friends away
    by making me repulsive to them.
I am in a trap with no way of escape.

¹⁸ He protects them from the grave,
    from crossing over the river of death.

¹⁹ “Or God disciplines people with pain on their sickbeds,
    with ceaseless aching in their bones.
²⁰ They lose their appetite
    for even the most delicious food.
²¹ Their flesh wastes away,
    and their bones stick out.
²² They are at death’s door;
    the angels of death wait for them.

²³ “But if an angel from heaven appears—
    a special messenger to intercede for a person
    and declare that he is upright—
²⁴ he will be gracious and say,
‘Rescue him from the grave,
    for I have found a ransom for his life.’
²⁵ Then his body will become as healthy as a child’s,
    firm and youthful again.
²⁶ When he prays to God,
    he will be accepted.
And God will receive him with joy
    and restore him to good standing.
²⁷ He will declare to his friends,
‘I sinned and twisted the truth,
    but it was not worth it.^[a]
28 God rescued me from the grave,
    and now my life is filled with light.’