Psalm 69
Common English Bible
Psalm 69
For the music leader. According to “The Lilies.” Of David.
69 Save me, God,
because the waters have reached my neck!
2 I have sunk into deep mud.
My feet can’t touch the bottom!
I have entered deep water;
the flood has swept me up.
3 I am tired of crying.
My throat is hoarse.
My eyes are exhausted with waiting for my God.
4 More numerous than the hairs on my head
are those who hate me for no reason.
My treacherous enemies,
those who would destroy me, are countless.
Must I now give back
what I didn’t steal in the first place?
5 God, you know my foolishness;
my wrongdoings aren’t hidden from you.
6 Lord God of heavenly forces!—
don’t let those who hope in you
be put to shame because of me.
God of Israel!—
don’t let those who seek you
be disgraced because of me.
7 I am insulted because of you.
Shame covers my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my own brothers,
an immigrant to my mother’s children.
9 Because passion for your house has consumed me,
the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me!
10 I wept while I fasted—
even for that I was insulted.
11 When I wore funeral clothes,
people made fun of me.
12 Those who sit at the city gate muttered things about me;
drunkards made up rude songs.
13 But me? My prayer reaches you, Lord,
at just the right time.
God, in your great and faithful love,
answer me with your certain salvation!
14 Save me from the mud!
Don’t let me drown!
Let me be saved from those who hate me
and from these watery depths!
15 Don’t let me be swept away by the floodwaters!
Don’t let the abyss swallow me up!
Don’t let the pit close its mouth over me!
16 Answer me, Lord, for your faithful love is good!
Turn to me in your great compassion!
17 Don’t hide your face from me, your servant,
because I’m in deep trouble.
Answer me quickly!
18 Come close to me!
Redeem me!
Save me because of my enemies!
19 You know full well the insults I’ve received;
you know my shame and my disgrace.
All my adversaries are right there in front of you.
20 Insults have broken my heart.
I’m sick about it.
I hoped for sympathy,
but there wasn’t any;
I hoped for comforters,
but couldn’t find any.
21 They gave me poison for food.
To quench my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let the table before them become a trap,
their offerings a snare.
23 Let their eyes grow too dim to see;
make their insides tremble constantly.
24 Pour out your anger on them—
let your burning fury catch them.
25 Let their camp be devastated;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 Because they go after those you’ve already struck;
they talk about the pain of those you’ve already pierced.
27 Pile guilt on top of their guilt!
Don’t let them come into your righteousness!
28 Let them be wiped out of the scroll of life!
Let them not be recorded along with the righteous!
29 And me? I’m afflicted.
I’m full of pain.
Let your salvation keep me safe, God!
30 I will praise God’s name with song;
I will magnify him with thanks
31 because that is more pleasing to the Lord than an ox,
more pleasing than a young bull with full horns and hooves.
32 Let the afflicted see it and be glad!
You who seek God—
let your hearts beat strong again
33 because the Lord listens to the needy
and doesn’t despise his captives.
34 Let heaven and earth praise God,
the oceans too, and all that moves within them!
35 God will most certainly save Zion
and will rebuild Judah’s cities
so that God’s servants can live there and possess it.
36 The offspring of God’s servants will inherit Zion,
and those who love God’s name will dwell there.
Psalm 69
King James Version
69 Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3 I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
5 O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.
6 Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.
7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.
9 For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
10 When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach.
11 I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.
12 They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
16 Hear me, O Lord; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
17 And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.
18 Draw nigh unto my soul, and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.
19 Thou hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee.
20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
24 Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
25 Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.
27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity: and let them not come into thy righteousness.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
29 But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
32 The humble shall see this, and be glad: and your heart shall live that seek God.
33 For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners.
34 Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moveth therein.
35 For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah: that they may dwell there, and have it in possession.
36 The seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.
Psalm 69
English Standard Version
Save Me, O God
To the choirmaster: according to (A)Lilies. Of David.
69 Save me, O God!
For (B)the waters have come up to my neck.[a]
2 I sink in deep (C)mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood (D)sweeps over me.
3 (E)I am weary with my crying out;
(F)my throat is parched.
(G)My eyes grow dim
with (H)waiting for my God.
4 (I)More in number than the hairs of my head
are (J)those who hate me (K)without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
(L)those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5 O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
6 Let not those who hope in you (M)be put to shame through me,
O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel.
7 For it is (N)for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become (O)a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother's sons.
9 For (P)zeal for your house has consumed me,
and (Q)the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and humbled[b] my soul with fasting,
it became my reproach.
11 When I made (R)sackcloth my clothing,
I became (S)a byword to them.
12 I am the talk of those who (T)sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make (U)songs about me.
13 But as for me, my (V)prayer is to you, O Lord.
At (W)an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14 Deliver me
from sinking in (X)the mire;
(Y)let me be delivered from my enemies
and from (Z)the deep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or (AA)the pit close (AB)its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O Lord, for your (AC)steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant (AD)mercy, (AE)turn to me.
17 (AF)Hide not your face from your servant,
(AG)for I am in distress; (AH)make haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!
19 You know my (AI)reproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20 (AJ)Reproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in (AK)despair.
I (AL)looked for (AM)pity, but there was none,
and for (AN)comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me (AO)poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me (AP)sour wine to drink.
22 (AQ)Let their own (AR)table before them become a snare;
(AS)and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.[c]
23 (AT)Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
(AU)and make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 (AV)May their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they (AW)persecute him whom (AX)you have struck down,
and they recount the pain of (AY)those you have wounded.
27 (AZ)Add to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you.[d]
28 Let them be (BA)blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be (BB)enrolled among the righteous.
29 But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, (BC)set me on high!
30 I will (BD)praise the name of God with a song;
I will (BE)magnify him with (BF)thanksgiving.
31 This will (BG)please the Lord more than an ox
or a bull (BH)with horns and hoofs.
32 When (BI)the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, (BJ)let your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy
and (BK)does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
34 Let (BL)heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For (BM)God will save Zion
and build up the cities of Judah,
and people shall dwell there and possess it;
36 (BN)the offspring of his servants shall inherit it,
and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
Footnotes
- Psalm 69:1 Or waters threaten my life
- Psalm 69:10 Hebrew lacks and humbled
- Psalm 69:22 Hebrew; a slight revocalization yields (compare Septuagint, Syriac, Jerome) a snare, and retribution and a trap
- Psalm 69:27 Hebrew may they not come into your righteousness
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
