In finem, pro iis qui commutabuntur. David.

(To the choir-master. Melody: The Lilies. Of David.)

Unto the end, for them that shall be changed; for David.

Salvum me fac, Deus, quoniam intraverunt aquæ usque ad animam meam.

O God, save me; see how the waters close about me, shoulder-high!

Save me, O God: for the waters are come in even unto my soul.

Infixus sum in limo profundi et non est substantia. Veni in altitudinem maris, et tempestas demersit me.

I am like one who sticks fast in deep mire, with no ground under his feet, one who has ventured out into mid-ocean, to be drowned by the storm.

I stick fast in the mire of the deep: and there is no sure standing. I am come into the depth of the sea: and a tempest hath overwhelmed me.

Laboravi clamans, raucæ factæ sunt fauces meæ; defecerunt oculi mei, dum spero in Deum meum.

Hoarse my throat with crying wearily for help; my eyes ache with looking up for mercy to my God.

I have laboured with crying; my jaws are become hoarse, my eyes have failed, whilst I hope in my God.

Multiplicati sunt super capillos capitis mei qui oderunt me gratis. Confortati sunt qui persecuti sunt me inimici mei injuste; quæ non rapui, tunc exsolvebam.

Countless as the hairs on my head are my wanton enemies, I am no match for the oppressors that wrong me. Should I make amends to them, I, that never robbed them?

They are multiplied above the hairs of my head, who hate me without cause. My enemies are grown strong who have wrongfully persecuted me: then did I pay that which I took not away.

Deus, tu scis insipientiam meam; et delicta mea a te non sunt abscondita.

O God, thou knowest my rash doings, no fault of mine is hidden from thy sight.

O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my offences are not hidden from thee:

Non erubescant in me qui exspectant te, Domine, Domine virtutum; non confundantur super me qui quærunt te, Deus Israël.

Master, Lord of hosts, shall ill fortune of mine bring shame to those who trust in thee, make men repent of looking for aid to thee, the God of Israel?

Let not them be ashamed for me, who look for thee, O Lord, the Lord of hosts. Let them not be confounded on my account, who seek thee, O God of Israel.

Quoniam propter te sustinui opprobrium; operuit confusio faciem meam.

It is for thy sake that I have met with reproach, that I have so often blushed with confusion,

Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.

Extraneus factus sum fratribus meis, et peregrinus filiis matris meæ.

an outcast among my own brethren, a stranger to my own mother’s children.

I am become a stranger to my brethren, and an alien to the sons of my mother.

Quoniam zelus domus tuæ comedit me, et opprobria exprobrantium tibi ceciderunt super me.

Was it not jealousy for the honour of thy house that consumed me; was it not uttered against thee, the reproach I bore?

For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up: and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.

Et operui in jejunio animam meam, et factum est in opprobrium mihi.

What more could I do? I humbled myself before them by fasting; and that, too, was matter for finding fault;

And I covered my soul in fasting: and it was made a reproach to me.

Et posui vestimentum meum cilicium; et factus sum illis in parabolam.

I dressed in sackcloth, and they made a by-word of me.

And I made haircloth my garment: and I became a byword to them.

Adversum me loquebantur qui sedebant in porta, et in me psallebant qui bibebant vinum.

Idlers in the market-place taunt me; the drunkards make a song of me over their wine.

They that sat in the gate spoke against me: and they that drank wine made me their song.

Ego vero orationem meam ad te, Domine; tempus beneplaciti, Deus. In multitudine misericordiæ tuæ, exaudi me in veritate salutis tuæ.

To thee, Lord, I make my prayer; never man more needed thy good will. Listen to me, O God, full of mercy as thou art, faithful as thou art to thy promise of aid.

But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord; for the time of thy good pleasure, O God. In the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation.

Eripe me de luto, ut non infigar; libera me ab iis qui oderunt me, et de profundis aquarum.

Save me from sinking in the mire, rescue me from my enemies, from the deep waters that surround me;

Draw me out of the mire, that I may not stick fast: deliver me from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.

Non me demergat tempestas aquæ, neque absorbeat me profundum, neque urgeat super me puteus os suum.

let me not sink under the flood, swallowed up in its depths, and the well’s mouth close above me.

Let not the tempest of water drown me, nor the deep swallow me up: and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.

Exaudi me, Domine, quoniam benigna est misericordia tua; secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum respice in me.

Listen to me, Lord, of thy gracious mercy, look down upon me in the abundance of thy pity;

Hear me, O Lord, for thy mercy is kind; look upon me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.

Et ne avertas faciem tuam a puero tuo; quoniam tribulor, velociter exaudi me.

do not turn thy face away from thy servant in this time of trouble, give a speedy answer to my prayer.

And turn not away thy face from thy servant: for I am in trouble, hear me speedily.

Intende animæ meæ, et libera eam; propter inimicos meos, eripe me.

Draw near in my distress, and grant deliverance; relieve me, so hard pressed by my enemies.

Attend to my soul, and deliver it: save me because of my enemies.

Tu scis improperium meum, et confusionem meam, et reverentiam meam;

Lord, thou knowest how they reproach me, how I blush with shame;

Thou knowest my reproach, and my confusion, and my shame.

in conspectu tuo sunt omnes qui tribulant me. Improperium exspectavit cor meum et miseriam: et sustinui qui simul contristaretur, et non fuit; et qui consolaretur, et non inveni.

thou seest how many are my persecutors. Heart-broken with that shame, I pine away, looking round for pity, where pity is none, for comfort, where there is no comfort to be found.

In thy sight are all they that afflict me; my heart hath expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none: and for one that would comfort me, and I found none.

Et dederunt in escam meam fel, et in siti mea potaverunt me aceto.

They gave me gall to eat, and when I was thirsty they gave me vinegar to drink.

And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Fiat mensa eorum coram ipsis in laqueum, et in retributiones, et in scandalum.

Let their feast be turned into a trap, a net to catch them and theirs,

Let their table become as a snare before them, and a recompense, and a stumbling-block.

Obscurentur oculi eorum, ne videant, et dorsum eorum semper incurva.

ever the blind eye be theirs, ever the halting loin.

Let their eyes be darkened that they see not; and their back bend thou down always.

Effunde super eos iram tuam, et furor iræ tuæ comprehendat eos.

Pour out thy anger upon them, let them be overtaken by the tide of thy vengeance;

Pour out thy indignation upon them: and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.

Fiat habitatio eorum deserta, et in tabernaculis eorum non sit qui inhabitet.

let their dwelling-place be deserted, their tents for ever uninhabited.

Let their habitation be made desolate: and let there be none to dwell in their tabernacles.

Quoniam quem tu percussisti persecuti sunt, et super dolorem vulnerum meorum addiderunt.

Who is it they persecute? A man already afflicted by thee; hard was my hurt to bear, and these have added to it.

Because they have persecuted him whom thou hast smitten; and they have added to the grief of my wounds.

Appone iniquitatem super iniquitatem eorum, et non intrent in justitiam tuam.

Do thou add guilt to guilt in their reckoning; let them never claim thy acquittal;

Add thou iniquity upon their iniquity: and let them not come into thy justice.

Deleantur de libro viventium, et cum justis non scribantur.

let their names be blotted out from the record of the living, and never be written among the just.

Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; and with the just let them not be written.

Ego sum pauper et dolens; salus tua, Deus, suscepit me.

See how friendless I am, and how distressed! Let thy help, O God, sustain me.

But I am poor and sorrowful: thy salvation, O God, hath set me up.

Laudabo nomen Dei cum cantico, et magnificabo eum in laude:

I will sing in praise of God’s name, herald it gratefully;

I will praise the name of God with a canticle: and I will magnify him with praise.

et placebit Deo super vitulum novellum, cornua producentem et ungulas.

a more acceptable sacrifice, this, to the Lord than any young bullock, for all its promise of horn and hoof.

And it shall please God better than a young calf, that bringeth forth horns and hoofs.

Videant pauperes, et lætentur; quærite Deum, et vivet anima vestra:

Here is a sight to make the afflicted rejoice; to cheer men’s spirits in their quest for God.

Let the poor see and rejoice: seek ye God, and your soul shall live.

quoniam exaudivit pauperes Dominus, et vinctos suos non despexit.

The Lord listens to the prayer of the destitute; he does not forget his servants in their chains.

For the Lord hath heard the poor: and hath not despised his prisoners.

Laudent illum cæli et terra; mare, et omnia reptilia in eis.

To him be praise from sky, earth and sea, and from all the creatures that move about them.

Let the heavens and the earth praise him; the sea, and every thing that creepeth therein.

Quoniam Deus salvam faciet Sion, et ædificabuntur civitates Juda, et inhabitabunt ibi, et hæreditate acquirent eam.

God will grant deliverance to Sion; the cities of Juda will rise from their ruins, inhabited now and held firmly in possession,

For God will save Sion, and the cities of Juda shall be built up. And they shall dwell there, and acquire it by inheritance.

Et semen servorum ejus possidebit eam; et qui diligunt nomen ejus habitabunt in ea.

an inheritance for the race that serves him, a home for all true lovers of his name.

And the seed of his servants shall possess it; and they that love his name shall dwell therein.