Psalm 51
New American Standard Bible
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
For the music director. A Psalm of David, when [a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (A)Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness;
According to the greatness of (B)Your compassion, (C)wipe out my wrongdoings.
2 (D)Wash me thoroughly from my guilt
And (E)cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I (F)know my wrongdoings,
And my sin is constantly before me.
4 (G)Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is (H)evil in Your sight,
So that (I)You [b]are justified [c]when You speak
And [d]blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was (J)brought forth in guilt,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire (K)truth in the [e]innermost being,
And in secret You will (L)make wisdom known to me.
7 [f]Purify me (M)with hyssop, and I will be clean;
[g]Cleanse me, and I will be (N)whiter than snow.
8 [h]Let me hear (O)joy and gladness,
Let the (P)bones You have broken rejoice.
9 (Q)Hide Your face from my sins
And wipe out all my guilty deeds.
10 (R)Create [i]in me a (S)clean heart, God,
And renew a (T)steadfast spirit within me.
11 (U)Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your (V)Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the (W)joy of Your salvation,
And sustain me with a (X)willing spirit.
13 Then I will (Y)teach wrongdoers Your ways,
And sinners will [j]be (Z)converted to You.
14 Save me from (AA)the guilt of bloodshed, God, (AB)the God of my salvation;
Then my (AC)tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 Lord, [k](AD)open my lips,
So that my mouth may (AE)declare Your praise.
16 For You (AF)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a (AG)broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.
18 (AH)By Your favor do good to Zion;
[l](AI)Build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then You will delight in [m](AJ)righteous sacrifices,
In (AK)burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then [n]bulls will be offered on Your altar.
Footnotes
- Psalm 51 Title 2 Sam 12:1
- Psalm 51:4 Or may be in the right
- Psalm 51:4 Many mss in Your words
- Psalm 51:4 Lit pure
- Psalm 51:6 Or inward parts
- Psalm 51:7 Or May You purify...that I may be clean
- Psalm 51:7 Or May You cleanse
- Psalm 51:8 Or May You cause
- Psalm 51:10 Lit for
- Psalm 51:13 Or turn back
- Psalm 51:15 Or may You open
- Psalm 51:18 Or May You build
- Psalm 51:19 Or sacrifices of righteousness
- Psalm 51:19 Lit they will offer bulls
Psalm 51
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 51
Prayer for Cleansing and Pardon
To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy,
blot out my transgressions.(A)
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.(B)
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.(C)
4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
and blameless when you pass judgment.(D)
5 Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.(E)
6 You desire truth in the inward being;[a]
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.(F)
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.(G)
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.(H)
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.(I)
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right[b] spirit within me.(J)
11 Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.(K)
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing[c] spirit.(L)
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.(M)
14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.(N)
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.(O)
16 For you have no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.(P)
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God[d] is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.(Q)
Psalm 51
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
51 Unto the end, understanding for David,
2 When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul David went to the house of Achimelech. [1 Kings 22.]
3 Why dost thou glory in malice, thou that art mighty in iniquity?
4 All the day long thy tongue hath devised injustice: as a sharp razor, thou hast wrought deceit.
5 Thou hast loved malice more than goodness: and iniquity rather than to speak righteousness.
6 Thou hast loved all the words of ruin, O deceitful tongue.
7 Therefore will God destroy thee for ever: he will pluck thee out, and remove thee from thy dwelling place: and thy root out of the land of the living.
8 The just shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, and say:
9 Behold the man that made not God his helper: But trusted in the abundance of his riches: and prevailed in his vanity.
10 But I, as a fruitful olive tree in the house of God, have hoped in the mercy of God for ever, yea for ever and ever.
11 I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name, for it is good in the sight of thy saints.
Psalm 51
The Message
51 1-3 Generous in love—God, give grace!
Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I’ve been;
my sins are staring me down.
4-6 You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen
it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
whatever you decide about me is fair.
I’ve been out of step with you for a long time,
in the wrong since before I was born.
What you’re after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.
7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don’t look too close for blemishes,
give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash,
or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
I’ll let loose with your praise.
16-17 Going through the motions doesn’t please you,
a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship
when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.
18-19 Make Zion the place you delight in,
repair Jerusalem’s broken-down walls.
Then you’ll get real worship from us,
acts of worship small and large,
Including all the bulls
they can heave onto your altar!
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson