Psalm 6

Common English Bible

Psalm 6

For the music leader. On stringed instruments. According to the eighth.^[a] A psalm of David.

6 Please, Lord,
    don’t punish me when you are angry;
    don’t discipline me when you are furious.
²Have mercy on me, Lord,
    because I’m frail.
Heal me, Lord,
    because my bones are shaking in terror!
³My whole body^[b] is completely terrified!
        But you, Lord! How long will this last?
⁴Come back to me, Lord! Deliver me!
    Save me for the sake of your faithful love!
⁵No one is going to praise you
    when they are dead.
Who gives you thanks
    from the grave?^[c]

⁶I’m worn out from groaning.
    Every night, I drench my bed with tears;
    I soak my couch all the way through.
⁷My vision fails because of my grief;
    it’s weak because of all my distress.
⁸Get away from me, all you evildoers,
    because the Lord has heard me crying!
⁹The Lord has listened to my request.
    The Lord accepts my prayer.
¹⁰All my enemies will be ashamed
    and completely terrified;
    they will be defeated
    and ashamed instantly.

Footnotes

Psalm 6:1 Perhaps a reference to an eight-string instrument; also in Ps 12
Psalm 6:3 Or soul; also in 6:4
Psalm 6:5 Heb Sheol

Psalm 12

Common English Bible

Psalm 12

For the music leader. According to the Sheminith.^[a] A psalm of David.

12 Help, Lord, because the godly are all gone;
    the faithful have completely disappeared
    from the human race!
²Everyone tells lies to everyone else;
    they talk with slick speech and divided hearts.
³Let the Lord cut off all slick-talking lips
    and every tongue that brags and brags,
⁴    that says, “We’re unbeatable with our tongues!
    Who could get the best of us with lips like ours?”

⁵But the Lord says,
    “Because the poor are oppressed,
    because of the groans of the needy,
    I’m now standing up.
    I will provide the help they are gasping for.”^[b]
⁶The Lord’s promises are pure,
    like silver that’s been refined in an oven,
    purified seven times over!

⁷You, Lord, will keep us,^[c]
protecting us from this generation forever.
⁸The wicked roam all over the place,
while depravity is praised by human beings.