Psalmus David.

(A psalm. Of David.)

A psalm of David.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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 …

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:

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,

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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