^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.

^(K)As whirlwinds in the Negeb sweep on,
    it comes from the wilderness,
    from a terrible land.
² A stern vision is told to me;
    ^(L)the traitor betrays,
    and the destroyer destroys.
Go up, O ^(M)Elam;
    lay siege, O ^(N)Media;
all the ^(O)sighing she has caused
    I bring to an end.
³ Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
    ^(P)pangs have seized me,
    like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
    I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
⁴ My heart staggers; horror has appalled me;
    ^(Q)the twilight I longed for
    has been turned for me into trembling.
^5 (R)They prepare the table,
    they spread the rugs,^[b]
    they eat, they drink.
Arise, O princes;
    ^(S)oil the shield!
⁶ For thus the Lord said to me:
“Go, set a watchman;
    let him announce what he sees.
⁷ When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs,
    riders on donkeys, riders on camels,
let him listen diligently,
    very diligently.”
⁸ Then he who saw cried out:^[c]
(T)“Upon a watchtower I stand, O Lord,
    continually by day,
and at my post I am stationed
    whole nights.
⁹ And behold, here come riders,
    horsemen in pairs!”
^(U)And he answered,
    ^(V)“Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
^(W)and all the carved images of her gods
    he has shattered to the ground.”
¹⁰ O ^(X)my threshed and winnowed one,
    what I have heard from the Lord of hosts,
    the God of Israel, I announce to you.

One is calling to me from ^(AA)Seir,
    “Watchman, what time of the night?
    Watchman, what time of the night?”
¹² The watchman says:
“Morning comes, and also ^(AB)the night.
    If you will inquire, ^(AC)inquire;
    come back again.”

In the thickets in ^(AF)Arabia you will lodge,
    O ^(AG)caravans of ^(AH)Dedanites.
¹⁴ To the thirsty bring water;
    meet the fugitive with bread,
    O inhabitants of the land of ^(AI)Tema.
¹⁵ For they have fled from the swords,
    from the drawn sword,
from the bent bow,
    and from the press of battle.

^(J)“Just are you, ^(K)O Holy One, ^(L)who is and who was,
    for you brought these judgments.
⁶ For ^(M)they have shed the blood of ^(N)saints and prophets,
    and ^(O)you have given them blood to drink.
It is what they deserve!”

“Yes, Lord God the Almighty,
    ^(Q)true and just are your judgments!”