The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 Take a deep breath, God; calm down - don't be so hasty with your punishing rod.
1
O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!
2 Your sharp-pointed arrows of rebuke draw blood; my backside smarts from your caning.
2
For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.
3 I've lost twenty pounds in two months because of your accusation. My bones are brittle as dry sticks because of my sin.
3
There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 I'm swamped by my bad behavior, collapsed under gunnysacks of guilt.
4
For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5 The cuts in my flesh stink and grow maggots because I've lived so badly.
5
My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness,
6 And now I'm flat on my face feeling sorry for myself morning to night.
6
I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning.
7 All my insides are on fire, my body is a wreck.
7
For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I'm on my last legs; I've had it - my life is a vomit of groans.
8
I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
9 Lord, my longings are sitting in plain sight, my groans an old story to you.
9
O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart's about to break; I'm a burned-out case. Cataracts blind me to God and good;
10
My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes--it also has gone from me.
11 old friends avoid me like the plague. My cousins never visit, my neighbors stab me in the back.
11
My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off.
12 My competitors blacken my name, devoutly they pray for my ruin.
12
Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long.
13 But I'm deaf and mute to it all, ears shut, mouth shut.
13
But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
14 I don't hear a word they say, don't speak a word in response.
14
I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes.
15 What I do, God, is wait for you, wait for my Lord, my God - you will answer!
15
But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16 I wait and pray so they won't laugh me off, won't smugly strut off when I stumble.
16
For I said, "Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!"
17 I'm on the edge of losing it - the pain in my gut keeps burning.
17
For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever before me.
18 I'm ready to tell my story of failure, I'm no longer smug in my sin.
18
I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.
19 My enemies are alive and in action, a lynch mob after my neck.
19
But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 I give out good and get back evil from God-haters who can't stand a God-lover.
20
Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good.
21 Don't dump me, God; my God, don't stand me up.
21
Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me!
22 Hurry and help me; I want some wide-open space in my life!
22
Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!
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 English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.