Save me from my persecutors,
    for they are too strong for me.^(A)

⁴ More in number than the hairs of my head
    are those who hate me without cause;
many are those who would destroy me,
    my enemies who accuse me falsely.
What I did not steal,
    must I now restore?^(A)
5 O God, you know my folly;
    the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.^(B)

⁶ Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
    O Lord God of hosts;
do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me,
    O God of Israel.
⁷ It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,
    that shame has covered my face.^(C)
8 I have become a stranger to my kindred,
    an alien to my mother’s children.^(D)

⁹ It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;
    the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.^(E)
10 When I humbled my soul with fasting,^[a]
    they insulted me for doing so.^(F)
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing,
    I became a byword to them.^(G)
12 I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,
    and the drunkards make songs about me.^(H)

¹³ But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
    At an acceptable time, O God,
    in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.
With your faithful help^{(I) 14} rescue me
    from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
    and from the deep waters.^(J)