(To the choir-master. For stringed instruments. A maskil. Of David.)

In finem, in carminibus. Intellectus David.

Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David.

Give audience to my prayer, O God; do not spurn this plea of mine;

Exaudi, Deus, orationem meam, et ne despexeris deprecationem meam:

Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my supplication:

hear and grant relief. No rest I find in my distress,

intende mihi, et exaudi me. Contristatus sum in exercitatione mea, et conturbatus sum

be attentive to me and hear me. I am grieved in my exercise; and am troubled,

daunted ever by the hue and cry of godless enemies, whose malicious spite would compass my ruin.

a voce inimici, et a tribulatione peccatoris. Quoniam declinaverunt in me iniquitates, et in ira molesti erant mihi.

at the voice of the enemy, and at the tribulation of the sinner. For they have cast iniquities upon me: and in wrath they were troublesome to me.

My heart is full of whirling thoughts; the fear of death stands over me;

Cor meum conturbatum est in me, et formido mortis cecidit super me.

My heart is troubled within me: and the fear of death is fallen upon me.

trembling and terrified, I see perils closing round me.

Timor et tremor venerunt super me, et contexerunt me tenebræ.

Fear and trembling are come upon me: and darkness hath covered me.

Had I but wings, I cry, as a dove has wings, to fly away and find rest!

Et dixi: Quis dabit mihi pennas sicut columbæ, et volabo, et requiescam?

And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest?

Far would I flee; the wilderness should be my shelter,

Ecce elongavi fugiens, et mansi in solitudine.

Lo, I have gone far off flying away; and I abode in the wilderness.

so I might find speedy refuge from the whirlwind and the storm.

Exspectabam eum qui salvum me fecit a pusillanimitate spiritus, et tempestate.

I waited for him that hath saved me from pusillanimity of spirit, and a storm.

Plunge them deep, Lord, in ruin, bring dissension into their councils! Do I not see, already, violence and sedition in the city?

Præcipita, Domine; divide linguas eorum: quoniam vidi iniquitatem et contradictionem in civitate.

Cast down, O Lord, and divide their tongues; for I have seen iniquity and contradiction in the city.

Day and night they make the round of its walls, and all the while there is wrong and oppression at the heart of it,

Die ac nocte circumdabit eam super muros ejus iniquitas; et labor in medio ejus,

Day and night shall iniquity surround it upon its walls: and in the midst thereof are labour,

its treacherous heart; cruelty and cunning walk ever in its streets.

et injustitia: et non defecit de plateis ejus usura et dolus.

and injustice. And usury and deceit have not departed from its streets.

Had some enemy decried me, I could have borne it patiently; some open ill-wisher, I could have sheltered myself from his attack.

Quoniam si inimicus meus maledixisset mihi, sustinuissem utique. Et si is qui oderat me super me magna locutus fuisset, abscondissem me forsitan ab eo.

For if my enemy had reviled me, I would verily have borne with it. And if he that hated me had spoken great things against me, I would perhaps have hidden my self from him.

But thou, my second self, my familiar friend!

Tu vero homo unanimis, dux meus, et notus meus:

But thou a man of one mind, my guide, and my familiar,

How pleasant was the companionship we shared, thou and I; how lovingly we walked as fellow pilgrims in the house of God!

qui simul mecum dulces capiebas cibos; in domo Dei ambulavimus cum consensu.

Who didst take sweetmeats together with me: in the house of God we walked with consent.

May death overtake them, may the abyss swallow them up alive, their homes, their hearts so tainted with evil!

Veniat mors super illos, et descendant in infernum viventes: quoniam nequitiæ in habitaculis eorum, in medio eorum.

Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into hell. For there is wickedness in their dwellings: in the midst of them.

Still I will call upon God, and the Lord will save;

Ego autem ad Deum clamavi, et Dominus salvabit me.

But I have cried to God: and the Lord will save me.

still at evening and morn and noon I will cry aloud and make my plea known; he will not be deaf to my appeal.

Vespere, et mane, et meridie, narrabo, et annuntiabo; et exaudiet vocem meam.

Evening and morning, and at noon I will speak and declare: and he shall hear my voice.

He will win my soul peace, will rescue me from attack, when many take part against me.

Redimet in pace animam meam ab his qui appropinquant mihi: quoniam inter multos erant mecum.

He shall redeem my soul in peace from them that draw near to me: for among many they were with me.

He, the God who reigned before time was, will listen to me, will bring them low. Never a change of heart, never the fear of God;

Exaudiet Deus, et humiliabit illos, qui est ante sæcula. Non enim est illis commutatio, et non timuerunt Deum.

God shall hear, and the Eternal shall humble them. For there is no change with them, and they have not feared God:

not one but will turn against his friend, break his pledged word.

Extendit manum suam in retribuendo; contaminaverunt testamentum ejus:

he hath stretched forth his hand to repay. They have defiled his covenant,

Smooth as butter their looks, when their hearts are all hatred; soft as oil their speech, yet never was drawn sword so deadly.

divisi sunt ab ira vultus ejus, et appropinquavit cor illius. Molliti sunt sermones ejus super oleum; et ipsi sunt jacula.

they are divided by the wrath of his countenance, and his heart hath drawn near. His words are smoother than oil, and the same are darts.

Cast the burden of thy cares upon the Lord, and he will sustain thee; never will he let thee stumble, his servant if thou be.

Jacta super Dominum curam tuam, et ipse te enutriet; non dabit in æternum fluctuationem justo.

Cast thy care upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall not suffer the just to waver for ever.

These, O God, thou wilt sink in a pit of ruin; the blood-thirsty, the treacherous, will not live out half their days; but I, Lord, will put my trust in thee.

Tu vero, Deus, deduces eos in puteum interitus. Viri sanguinum et dolosi non dimidiabunt dies suos; ego autem sperabo in te, Domine.

But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee, O Lord.