³ Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,
    and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast;
⁴ this is a decree for Israel,
    an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
⁵ When God went out against Egypt,
    he established it as a statute for Joseph.

I heard an unknown voice say:

⁶ ‘I removed the burden from their shoulders;
    their hands were set free from the basket.
⁷ In your distress you called and I rescued you,
    I answered you out of a thundercloud;
    I tested you at the waters of Meribah.^[c]
8 Hear me, my people, and I will warn you –
    if you would only listen to me, Israel!
⁹ You shall have no foreign god among you;
    you shall not worship any god other than me.
¹⁰ I am the Lord your God,
    who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

¹¹ ‘But my people would not listen to me;
    Israel would not submit to me.
¹² So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
    to follow their own devices.

¹³ ‘If my people would only listen to me,
    if Israel would only follow my ways,
¹⁴ how quickly I would subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes!
¹⁵ Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
    and their punishment would last for ever.
¹⁶ But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
    with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.’

³ I am overwhelmed with troubles
    and my life draws near to death.
⁴ I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
    I am like one without strength.
⁵ I am set apart with the dead,
    like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
    who are cut off from your care.

⁶ You have put me in the lowest pit,
    in the darkest depths.
⁷ Your wrath lies heavily on me;
    you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.^[d]
8 You have taken from me my closest friends
    and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined and cannot escape;
⁹     my eyes are dim with grief.

I call to you, Lord, every day;
    I spread out my hands to you.
¹⁰ Do you show your wonders to the dead?
    Do their spirits rise up and praise you?
¹¹ Is your love declared in the grave,
    your faithfulness in Destruction?^[e]
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
    or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?

¹³ But I cry to you for help, Lord;
    in the morning my prayer comes before you.
¹⁴ Why, Lord, do you reject me
    and hide your face from me?

¹⁵ From my youth I have suffered and been close to death;
    I have borne your terrors and am in despair.
¹⁶ Your wrath has swept over me;
    your terrors have destroyed me.
¹⁷ All day long they surround me like a flood;
    they have completely engulfed me.
¹⁸ You have taken from me friend and neighbour –
    darkness is my closest friend.

⁴ For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;
    I sing for joy at what your hands have done.
⁵ How great are your works, Lord,
    how profound your thoughts!
⁶ Senseless people do not know,
    fools do not understand,
⁷ that though the wicked spring up like grass
    and all evildoers flourish,
    they will be destroyed for ever.

⁸ But you, Lord, are for ever exalted.

⁹ For surely your enemies, Lord,
    surely your enemies will perish;
    all evildoers will be scattered.
¹⁰ You have exalted my horn^[b] like that of a wild ox;
    fine oils have been poured on me.
¹¹ My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
    my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.

¹² The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
    they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
¹³ planted in the house of the Lord,
    they will flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ They will still bear fruit in old age,
    they will stay fresh and green,
¹⁵ proclaiming, ‘The Lord is upright;
    he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.’

³ The seas have lifted up, Lord,
    the seas have lifted up their voice;
    the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
⁴ Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
    mightier than the breakers of the sea –
    the Lord on high is mighty.

⁵ Your statutes, Lord, stand firm;
    holiness adorns your house
    for endless days.