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Psalm 41

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor!
    The Lord rescues them when they are in trouble.
The Lord protects them
    and keeps them alive.
He gives them prosperity in the land
    and rescues them from their enemies.
The Lord nurses them when they are sick
    and restores them to health.

“O Lord,” I prayed, “have mercy on me.
    Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
But my enemies say nothing but evil about me.
    “How soon will he die and be forgotten?” they ask.
They visit me as if they were my friends,
    but all the while they gather gossip,
    and when they leave, they spread it everywhere.
All who hate me whisper about me,
    imagining the worst.
“He has some fatal disease,” they say.
    “He will never get out of that bed!”
Even my best friend, the one I trusted completely,
    the one who shared my food, has turned against me.

10 Lord, have mercy on me.
    Make me well again, so I can pay them back!
11 I know you are pleased with me,
    for you have not let my enemies triumph over me.
12 You have preserved my life because I am innocent;
    you have brought me into your presence forever.

13 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
    who lives from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and amen!

O Yahweh, Be Gracious to Me

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

41 How blessed is he who (A)considers the [a]poor;
Yahweh will provide him escape (B)in a day of [b]calamity.
Yahweh will (C)keep him and keep him alive,
And he shall be (D)blessed upon the earth;
And (E)do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
Yahweh will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You [c]restore him to health.

As for me, I said, “O Yahweh, be gracious to me;
(F)Heal my soul, for (G)I have sinned against You.”
My enemies (H)speak evil against me,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
And [d]when he comes to see me, he (I)speaks [e]worthlessness;
His heart gathers wickedness to itself;
When he goes outside, he speaks it.
All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me, they (J)devise for me [f]calamity, saying,
“A vile thing is poured out [g]upon him,
That when he lies down, he will (K)not rise up again.”
Even my (L)close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.

10 But You, O Yahweh, be gracious to me and (M)raise me up,
That I may repay them.
11 By this I know that (N)You delight in me,
Because (O)my enemy makes no shout in triumph over me.
12 As for me, (P)You uphold me in my integrity,
And You make me (Q)stand firm in Your presence forever.

13 (R)Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 41:1 Or helpless
  2. Psalm 41:1 Lit evil
  3. Psalm 41:3 Lit turn all his bed
  4. Psalm 41:6 Or if he
  5. Psalm 41:6 Or emptiness
  6. Psalm 41:7 Lit evil
  7. Psalm 41:8 Or within