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.

¹Lord, you are the God who saves me;^(A)
day and night I cry out^(B) to you.
²May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.

³I am overwhelmed with troubles^(C)
    and my life draws near to death.^(D)
⁴I am counted among those who go down to the pit;^(E)
    I am like one without strength.^(F)
⁵I 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.

⁶You have put me in the lowest pit,
    in the darkest depths.^(H)
⁷Your wrath^(I) lies heavily on me;
    you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.^[d]^(J)
⁸You 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.
¹⁰Do you show your wonders to the dead?
    Do their spirits rise up and praise you?^(Q)
¹¹Is your love declared in the grave,
    your faithfulness^(R) in Destruction^[e]?
¹²Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
    or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

¹³But I cry to you for help,^(S) Lord;
in the morning^(T) my prayer comes before you.^(U)
¹⁴Why, Lord, do you reject^(V) me
and hide your face^(W) from me?

¹⁵From my youth^(X) I have suffered^(Y) and been close to death;
    I have borne your terrors^(Z) and am in despair.^(AA)
¹⁶Your wrath^(AB) has swept over me;
    your terrors^(AC) have destroyed me.
¹⁷All day long they surround me like a flood;^(AD)
    they have completely engulfed me.
¹⁸You 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

Jonah 1

New International Version

Jonah Flees From the Lord

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah^(A) son of Amittai:^(B) ²“Go to the great city of Nineveh^(C) and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

³But Jonah ran^(D) away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish^(E). He went down to Joppa,^(F) where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.^(G)

⁴Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.^(H) ⁵All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.^(I)

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. ⁶The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call^(J) on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”^(K)

⁷Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.”^(L) They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.^(M) ⁸So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

⁹He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord,^(N) the God of heaven,^(O) who made the sea^(P) and the dry land.^(Q)”

¹⁰This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

¹¹The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

¹²“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”^(R)

¹³Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.^(S) ¹⁴Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man,^(T) for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.”^(U) ¹⁵Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.^(V) ¹⁶At this the men greatly feared^(W) the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows^(X) to him.