Common English Bible CEB
The Message Bible MSG
1 Save me, God, because the waters have reached my neck!
1
God, God, save me! I'm in over my head,
2 I have sunk into deep mud. My feet can't touch the bottom! I have entered deep water; the flood has swept me up.
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Quicksand under me, swamp water over me; I'm going down for the third time.
3 I am tired of crying. My throat is hoarse. My eyes are exhausted with waiting for my God.
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I'm hoarse from calling for help, Bleary-eyed from searching the sky for God.
4 More numerous than the hairs on my head are those who hate me for no reason. My treacherous enemies, those who would destroy me, are countless. Must I now give back what I didn't steal in the first place?
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I've got more enemies than hairs on my head; Sneaks and liars are out to knife me in the back. What I never stole Must I now give back?
5 God, you know my foolishness; my wrongdoings aren't hidden from you.
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God, you know every sin I've committed; My life's a wide-open book before you.
6 LORD God of heavenly forces!— don't let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me. God of Israel!— don't let those who seek you be disgraced because of me.
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Don't let those who look to you in hope Be discouraged by what happens to me, Dear Lord! God of the armies! Don't let those out looking for you Come to a dead end by following me - Please, dear God of Israel!
7 I am insulted because of you. Shame covers my face.
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Because of you I look like an idiot, I walk around ashamed to show my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my own brothers, an immigrant to my mother's children.
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My brothers shun me like a bum off the street; My family treats me like an unwanted guest.
9 Because passion for your house has consumed me, the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me!
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I love you more than I can say. Because I'm madly in love with you, They blame me for everything they dislike about you.
10 I wept while I fasted— even for that I was insulted.
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When I poured myself out in prayer and fasting, All it got me was more contempt.
11 When I wore funeral clothes, people made fun of me.
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When I put on a sad face, They treated me like a clown.
12 Those who sit at the city gate muttered things about me; drunkards made up rude songs.
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Now drunks and gluttons Make up drinking songs about me.
13 But me? My prayer reaches you, LORD, at just the right time. God, in your great and faithful love, answer me with your certain salvation!
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And me? I pray. God, it's time for a break! God, answer in love! Answer with your sure salvation!
14 Save me from the mud! Don't let me drown! Let me be saved from those who hate me and from these watery depths!
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Rescue me from the swamp, Don't let me go under for good, Pull me out of the clutch of the enemy; This whirlpool is sucking me down.
15 Don't let me be swept away by the floodwaters! Don't let the abyss swallow me up! Don't let the pit close its mouth over me!
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Don't let the swamp be my grave, the Black Hole Swallow me, its jaws clenched around me.
16 Answer me, LORD, for your faithful love is good! Turn to me in your great compassion!
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Now answer me, God, because you love me; Let me see your great mercy full-face.
17 Don't hide your face from me, your servant, because I'm in deep trouble. Answer me quickly!
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Don't look the other way; your servant can't take it. I'm in trouble. Answer right now!
18 Come close to me! Redeem me! Save me because of my enemies!
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Come close, God; get me out of here. Rescue me from this deathtrap.
19 You know full well the insults I've received; you know my shame and my disgrace. All my adversaries are right there in front of you.
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You know how they kick me around - Pin on me the donkey's ears, the dunce's cap.
20 Insults have broken my heart. I'm sick about it. I hoped for sympathy, but there wasn't any; I hoped for comforters, but couldn't find any.
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I'm broken by their taunts, Flat on my face, reduced to a nothing. I looked in vain for one friendly face. Not one. I couldn't find one shoulder to cry on.
21 They gave me poison for food. To quench my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
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They put poison in my soup, Vinegar in my drink.
22 Let the table before them become a trap, their offerings a snare.
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Let their supper be bait in a trap that snaps shut; May their best friends be trappers who'll skin them alive.
23 Let their eyes grow too dim to see; make their insides tremble constantly.
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Make them become blind as bats, Give them the shakes from morning to night.
24 Pour out your anger on them— let your burning fury catch them.
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Let them know what you think of them, Blast them with your red-hot anger.
25 Let their camp be devastated; let no one dwell in their tents.
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Burn down their houses, Leave them desolate with nobody at home.
26 Because they go after those you've already struck; they talk about the pain of those you've already pierced.
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They gossiped about the one you disciplined, Made up stories about anyone wounded by God.
27 Pile guilt on top of their guilt! Don't let them come into your righteousness!
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Pile on the guilt, Don't let them off the hook.
28 Let them be wiped out of the scroll of life! Let them not be recorded along with the righteous!
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Strike their names from the list of the living; No rock-carved honor for them among the righteous.
29 And me? I'm afflicted. I'm full of pain. Let your salvation keep me safe, God!
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I'm hurt and in pain; Give me space for healing, and mountain air.
30 I will praise God's name with song; I will magnify him with thanks
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Let me shout God's name with a praising song, Let me tell his greatness in a prayer of thanks.
31 because that is more pleasing to the LORD than an ox, more pleasing than a young bull with full horns and hooves.
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For God, this is better than oxen on the altar, Far better than blue-ribbon bulls.
32 Let the afflicted see it and be glad! You who seek God— let your hearts beat strong again
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The poor in spirit see and are glad - Oh, you God-seekers, take heart!
33 because the LORD listens to the needy and doesn't despise his captives.
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For God listens to the poor, He doesn't walk out on the wretched.
34 Let heaven and earth praise God, the oceans too, and all that moves within them!
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You heavens, praise him; praise him, earth; Also ocean and all things that swim in it.
35 God will most certainly save Zion and will rebuild Judah's cities so that God's servants can live there and possess it.
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For God is out to help Zion, Rebuilding the wrecked towns of Judah. Guess who will live there - The proud owners of the land?
36 The offspring of God's servants will inherit Zion, and those who love God's name will dwell there.
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No, the children of his servants will get it, The lovers of his name will live in it.
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible
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.