Font Size
Psalm 88
New International Reader's Version
Psalm 88
New International Reader's Version
For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
88 Lord, you are the God who saves me.
Day and night I cry out to you.
2 Please hear my prayer.
Pay attention to my cry for help.
3 I have so many troubles
I’m about to die.
4 People think my life is over.
I’m like someone who doesn’t have any strength.
5 People treat me as if I were dead.
I’m like those who have been killed and are now in the grave.
You don’t even remember them anymore.
They are cut off from your care.
6 It’s as if you have put me deep down in the grave.
It’s as if you have put me in that deep, dark place.
7 Your great anger lies heavy on me.
All the waves of your anger have crashed over me.
8 You have taken my closest friends away from me.
You have made me sickening to them.
I feel trapped and can’t escape.
9 I’m crying so much I can’t see very well.
Lord, I call out to you every day.
I lift up my hands to you in prayer.
10 Do you do wonderful things for those who are dead?
Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
11 Do those who are dead speak about your love?
Do those who are in the grave tell how faithful you are?
12 Are your wonderful deeds known in that dark place?
Are your holy acts known in that land where the dead are forgotten?
13 Lord, I cry out to you for help.
In the morning I pray to you.
14 Lord, why do you say no to me?
Why do you turn your face away from me?
15 I’ve been in pain ever since I was young.
I’ve been close to death.
You have made me suffer terrible things.
I have lost all hope.
16 Your great anger has swept over me.
Your terrors have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood.
They have closed in all around me.
18 You have taken my friends and neighbors away from me.
Darkness is my closest friend.
Psalm 88
New International Version
Psalm 88
New International Version
Psalm 88[a]
A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth.[b] A maskil[c] of Heman the Ezrahite.
1 Lord, you are the God who saves me;(A)
day and night I cry out(B) to you.
2 May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.
3 I am overwhelmed with troubles(C)
and my life draws near to death.(D)
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;(E)
I am like one without strength.(F)
5 I am set apart with the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
who are cut off(G) from your care.
6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.(H)
7 Your wrath(I) lies heavily on me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.[d](J)
8 You have taken from me my closest friends(K)
and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined(L) and cannot escape;(M)
9 my eyes(N) are dim with grief.
I call(O) to you, Lord, every day;
I spread out my hands(P) to you.
10 Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do their spirits rise up and praise you?(Q)
11 Is your love declared in the grave,
your faithfulness(R) in Destruction[e]?
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
13 But I cry to you for help,(S) Lord;
in the morning(T) my prayer comes before you.(U)
14 Why, Lord, do you reject(V) me
and hide your face(W) from me?
15 From my youth(X) I have suffered(Y) and been close to death;
I have borne your terrors(Z) and am in despair.(AA)
16 Your wrath(AB) has swept over me;
your terrors(AC) have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood;(AD)
they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken from me friend(AE) and neighbor—
darkness is my closest friend.
Footnotes
- Psalm 88:1 In Hebrew texts 88:1-18 is numbered 88:2-19.
- Psalm 88:1 Title: Possibly a tune, “The Suffering of Affliction”
- Psalm 88:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
- Psalm 88:7 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 10.
- Psalm 88:11 Hebrew Abaddon
New International Reader's Version (NIRV) 
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.