Psalm 116 (English Standard Version)

I Love the Lord

1 I ¹love the LORD, because he has ²heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. 2 Because he ³inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. 3 ⁴The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish. 4 Then ⁵I called on the name of the LORD: "O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!" 5 ⁶Gracious is the LORD, and ⁷righteous; our God is ⁸merciful. 6 The LORD preserves ⁹the simple; when ¹⁰I was brought low, he saved me. 7 Return, O my soul, to your ¹¹rest; for the LORD has ¹²dealt bountifully with you. 8 For ¹³you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; 9 I will walk before the LORD ¹⁴in the land of the living. 10 ¹⁵I believed, ¹⁶even when^a I spoke, "I am greatly afflicted"; 11 ¹⁷I said in my alarm, ¹⁸"All mankind are liars." 12 What shall I ¹⁹render to the LORD for all his benefits to me? 13 I will lift up ²⁰the cup of salvation and ²¹call on the name of the LORD, 14 I will ²²pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people. 15 ²³Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his ²⁴saints. 16 O LORD, I am your ²⁵servant; I am your servant, ²⁶the son of your maidservant. You have ²⁷loosed my bonds. 17 I will ²⁸offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and ²⁹call on the name of the LORD. 18 I will ³⁰pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, 19 in ³¹the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. ³²Praise the LORD!