The Message Bible MSG
King James Version KJV
1 Take a deep breath, God; calm down - don't be so hasty with your punishing rod.
1
O LORD, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
2 Your sharp-pointed arrows of rebuke draw blood; my backside smarts from your caning.
2
For thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore.
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 thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
4 I'm swamped by my bad behavior, collapsed under gunnysacks of guilt.
4
For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an 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 are corrupt because of my foolishness.
6 And now I'm flat on my face feeling sorry for myself morning to night.
6
I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
7 All my insides are on fire, my body is a wreck.
7
For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: 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 sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
9 Lord, my longings are sitting in plain sight, my groans an old story to you.
9
Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee.
10 My heart's about to break; I'm a burned-out case. Cataracts blind me to God and good;
10
My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.
11 old friends avoid me like the plague. My cousins never visit, my neighbors stab me in the back.
11
My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.
12 My competitors blacken my name, devoutly they pray for my ruin.
12
They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.
13 But I'm deaf and mute to it all, ears shut, mouth shut.
13
But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.
14 I don't hear a word they say, don't speak a word in response.
14
Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs.
15 What I do, God, is wait for you, wait for my Lord, my God - you will answer!
15
For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.
16 I wait and pray so they won't laugh me off, won't smugly strut off when I stumble.
16
For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.
17 I'm on the edge of losing it - the pain in my gut keeps burning.
17
For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me.
18 I'm ready to tell my story of failure, I'm no longer smug in my sin.
18
For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.
19 My enemies are alive and in action, a lynch mob after my neck.
19
But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
20 I give out good and get back evil from God-haters who can't stand a God-lover.
20
They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
21 Don't dump me, God; my God, don't stand me up.
21
Forsake me not, 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 King James Version is in the public domain.