New International Version NIV
The Message Bible MSG
1 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
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God, God, save me! I'm in over my head,
2 I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me.
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Quicksand under me, swamp water over me; I'm going down for the third time.
3 I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
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I'm hoarse from calling for help, Bleary-eyed from searching the sky for God.
4 Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.
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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 You, God, know my folly; my guilt is not 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, the LORD Almighty, may those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me; God of Israel, may those who seek you not be put to shame 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 For I endure scorn for your sake, and 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 am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own 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 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall 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 When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn;
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When I poured myself out in prayer and fasting, All it got me was more contempt.
11 when I put on sackcloth, people make sport 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 gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards.
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Now drunks and gluttons Make up drinking songs about me.
13 But I pray to you, LORD, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure 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 Rescue me from the mire, do not let me sink; deliver me from those who hate me, from the deep waters.
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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 Do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up or 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, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me.
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Now answer me, God, because you love me; Let me see your great mercy full-face.
17 Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
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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 near and rescue me; deliver me because of my foes.
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Come close, God; get me out of here. Rescue me from this deathtrap.
19 You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; all my enemies are before you.
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You know how they kick me around - Pin on me the donkey's ears, the dunce's cap.
20 Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.
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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 put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.
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They put poison in my soup, Vinegar in my drink.
22 May the table set before them become a snare; may it become retribution and a trap.
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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 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.
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Make them become blind as bats, Give them the shakes from morning to night.
24 Pour out your wrath on them; let your fierce anger overtake them.
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Let them know what you think of them, Blast them with your red-hot anger.
25 May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
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Burn down their houses, Leave them desolate with nobody at home.
26 For they persecute those you wound and talk about the pain of those you hurt.
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They gossiped about the one you disciplined, Made up stories about anyone wounded by God.
27 Charge them with crime upon crime; do not let them share in your salvation.
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Pile on the guilt, Don't let them off the hook.
28 May they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed 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 But as for me, afflicted and in pain— may your salvation, God, protect me.
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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 in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.
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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 This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hooves.
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For God, this is better than oxen on the altar, Far better than blue-ribbon bulls.
32 The poor will see and be glad— you who seek God, may your hearts live!
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The poor in spirit see and are glad - Oh, you God-seekers, take heart!
33 The LORD hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.
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For God listens to the poor, He doesn't walk out on the wretched.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them,
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You heavens, praise him; praise him, earth; Also ocean and all things that swim in it.
35 for God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. Then people will settle 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 children of his servants will inherit it, and those who love his 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.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
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.