The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 I run to you, God; I run for dear life. Don't let me down! Take me seriously this time!
1
In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
2 Get down on my level and listen, and please - no procrastination! Your granite cave a hiding place, your high cliff aerie a place of safety.
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Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.
3 You're my cave to hide in, my cliff to climb. Be my safe leader, be my true mountain guide.
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For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.
4 Free me from hidden traps; I want to hide in you.
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Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength.
5 I've put my life in your hands. You won't drop me, you'll never let me down.
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Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
6 I hate all this silly religion, but you, God, I trust.
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I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.
7 I'm leaping and singing in the circle of your love; you saw my pain, you disarmed my tormentors,
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I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
8 You didn't leave me in their clutches but gave me room to breathe.
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And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.
9 Be kind to me, God - I'm in deep, deep trouble again. I've cried my eyes out; I feel hollow inside.
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Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
10 My life leaks away, groan by groan; my years fade out in sighs. My troubles have worn me out, turned my bones to powder.
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For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
11 To my enemies I'm a monster; I'm ridiculed by the neighbors. My friends are horrified; they cross the street to avoid me.
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I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.
12 They want to blot me from memory, forget me like a corpse in a grave, discard me like a broken dish in the trash.
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I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
13 The street-talk gossip has me "criminally insane"! Behind locked doors they plot how to ruin me for good.
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For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.
14 Desperate, I throw myself on you: you are my God!
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But I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God.
15 Hour by hour I place my days in your hand, safe from the hands out to get me.
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My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
16 Warm me, your servant, with a smile; save me because you love me.
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Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies' sake.
17 Don't embarrass me by not showing up; I've given you plenty of notice. Embarrass the wicked, stand them up, leave them stupidly shaking their heads as they drift down to hell.
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Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.
18 Gag those loudmouthed liars who heckle me, your follower, with jeers and catcalls.
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Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
19 What a stack of blessing you have piled up for those who worship you, Ready and waiting for all who run to you to escape an unkind world.
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Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!
20 You hide them safely away from the opposition. As you slam the door on those oily, mocking faces, you silence the poisonous gossip.
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Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed God! His love is the wonder of the world.
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Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city.
22 I panicked. "Out of sight, out of mind," I said. But you heard me say it, you heard and listened.
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For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.
23 Love God, all you saints; God takes care of all who stay close to him, But he pays back in full those arrogant enough to go it alone.
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O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
24 Be brave. Be strong. Don't give up. Expect God to get here soon.
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Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The King James Version is in the public domain.