¹ From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me.
    Let all Israel repeat this:
² From my earliest youth my enemies have persecuted me,
    but they have never defeated me.
³ My back is covered with cuts,
    as if a farmer had plowed long furrows.
⁴ But the Lord is good;
    he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly.

⁵ May all who hate Jerusalem^[a]
    be turned back in shameful defeat.
⁶ May they be as useless as grass on a rooftop,
    turning yellow when only half grown,
⁷ ignored by the harvester,
    despised by the binder.
⁸ And may those who pass by
    refuse to give them this blessing:
“The Lord bless you;
    we bless you in the Lord’s name.”

¹ From the depths of despair, O Lord,
    I call for your help.
² Hear my cry, O Lord.
    Pay attention to my prayer.

³ Lord, if you kept a record of our sins,
    who, O Lord, could ever survive?
⁴ But you offer forgiveness,
    that we might learn to fear you.

⁵ I am counting on the Lord;
    yes, I am counting on him.
    I have put my hope in his word.
⁶ I long for the Lord
    more than sentries long for the dawn,
    yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.

⁷ O Israel, hope in the Lord;
    for with the Lord there is unfailing love.
    His redemption overflows.
⁸ He himself will redeem Israel
    from every kind of sin.

¹ Lord, my heart is not proud;
    my eyes are not haughty.
I don’t concern myself with matters too great
    or too awesome for me to grasp.
² Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself,
    like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother’s milk.
    Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

³ O Israel, put your hope in the Lord—
    now and always.