A psalm of David.

Psalmus David.

(A psalm. Of David.)

I have cried to thee, O Lord, hear me: hearken to my voice, when I cry to thee.

Domine, clamavi ad te: exaudi me; intende voci meæ, cum clamavero ad te.

Come quickly, Lord, at my cry for succour; do not let my appeal to thee go unheard.

Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight; the lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice.

Dirigatur oratio mea sicut incensum in conspectu tuo; elevatio manuum mearum sacrificium vespertinum.

Welcome as incense-smoke let my prayer rise up before thee; when I lift up my hands, be it acceptable as the evening sacrifice.

Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth: and a door round about my lips.

Pone, Domine, custodiam ori meo, et ostium circumstantiæ labiis meis.

Lord, set a guard on my mouth, post a sentry before my lips;

Incline not my heart to evil words; to make excuses in sins. With men that work iniquity: and I will not communicate with the choicest of them.

Non declines cor meum in verba malitiæ, ad excusandas excusationes in peccatis; cum hominibus operantibus iniquitatem, et non communicabo cum electis eorum.

do not turn my heart towards thoughts of evil, and deeds of treachery; never let me take part with the wrong-doers, and share the banquet with them.

The just man shall correct me in mercy, and shall reprove me: but let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head. For my prayer also shall still be against the things with which they are well pleased:

Corripiet me justus in misericordia, et increpabit me: oleum autem peccatoris non impinguet caput meum. Quoniam adhuc et oratio mea in beneplacitis eorum:

Rather let some just man deal me heavy blows; this shall be his kindness to me; reprove me, and it shall be balm poured over me; such unction never will this head refuse. Their injuries I will still greet with a prayer …

their judges falling upon the rock have been swallowed up. They shall hear my words, for they have prevailed:

absorpti sunt juncti petræ judices eorum. Audient verba mea, quoniam potuerunt.

… My words have won their hearts, a people that had seen their chieftains hurled down the rock-face,

as when the thickness of the earth is broken up upon the ground: Our bones are scattered by the side of hell.

Sicut crassitudo terræ erupta est super terram, dissipata sunt ossa nostra secus infernum.

a people whose bones lie scattered at the grave’s mouth, like seed when the earth is cloven into furrows.

But to thee, O Lord, Lord, are my eyes: in thee have I put my trust, take not away my soul.

Quia ad te, Domine, Domine, oculi mei; in te speravi, non auferas animam meam.

To thee these eyes look, my Lord, my Master; in thee I trust; let not my life be forfeit.

Keep me from the snare, which they have laid for me, and from the stumbling-blocks of them that work iniquity.

Custodi me a laqueo quem statuerunt mihi, et a scandalis operantium iniquitatem.

Preserve me from the ambush they have laid for me, from the snares of the wrong-doers.

The wicked shall fall in his net: I am alone until I pass.

Cadent in retiaculo ejus peccatores: singulariter sum ego, donec transeam.

Into their own net, sinner upon sinner, may they fall, and I pass on in safety.