A canticle of a psalm for the sons of Core: unto the end, for Maheleth, to answer understanding of Eman the Ezrahite.

Canticum Psalmi, filiis Core, in finem, pro Maheleth ad respondendum. Intellectus Eman Ezrahitæ.

(A song. A psalm. Of the sons of Core. To the choir-master. Melody: Mahalat. For singing. A maskil. Of Heman the Ezrahite.)

O Lord, the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day, and in the night before thee.

Domine, Deus salutis meæ, in die clamavi et nocte coram te.

Lord God, day and night I cry bitterly to thee;

Let my prayer come in before thee: incline thy ear to my petition.

Intret in conspectu tuo oratio mea, inclina aurem tuam ad precem meam.

let my prayer reach thy pre-sence, give audience to my entreaty,

For my soul is filled with evils: and my life hath drawn nigh to hell.

Quia repleta est malis anima mea, et vita mea inferno appropinquavit.

for indeed my heart is full of trouble. My life sinks ever closer to the grave;

I am counted among them that go down to the pit: I am become as a man without help,

Æstimatus sum cum descendentibus in lacum, factus sum sicut homo sine adjutorio,

I count as one of those who go down into the abyss, like one powerless.

free among the dead. Like the slain sleeping in the sepulchres, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cast off from thy hand.

inter mortuos liber; sicut vulnerati dormientes in sepulchris, quorum non es memor amplius, et ipsi de manu tua repulsi sunt.

As well lie among the dead, men laid low in the grave, men thou rememberest no longer, cast away, now, from thy protecting hand.

They have laid me in the lower pit: in the dark places, and in the shadow of death.

Posuerunt me in lacu inferiori, in tenebrosis, et in umbra mortis.

Such is the place where thou hast laid me, in a deep pit where the dark waters swirl;

Thy wrath is strong over me: and all thy waves thou hast brought in upon me.

Super me confirmatus est furor tuus, et omnes fluctus tuos induxisti super me.

heavily thy anger weighs down on me, and thou dost overwhelm me with its full flood.

Thou hast put away my acquaintance far from me: they have set me an abomination to themselves. I was delivered up, and came not forth:

Longe fecisti notos meos a me; posuerunt me abominationem sibi. Traditus sum, et non egrediebar;

Thou hast estranged all my acquaintance from me, so that they treat me as a thing accursed; I lie in a prison whence there is no escape,

my eyes languished through poverty. All the day I cried to thee, O Lord: I stretched out my hands to thee.

oculi mei languerunt præ inopia. Clamavi ad te, Domine, tota die; expandi ad te manus meas.

my eyes grow dim with tears. On thee I call, to thee stretch out my hands, each day that passes.

Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? or shall physicians raise to life, and give praise to thee?

Numquid mortuis facies mirabilia? aut medici suscitabunt, et confitebuntur tibi?

Not for the dead thy wonderful power is shewn; not for pale shadows to return and give thee thanks.

Shall any one in the sepulchre declare thy mercy: and thy truth in destruction?

Numquid narrabit aliquis in sepulchro misericordiam tuam, et veritatem tuam in perditione?

There in the grave, how shall they recount thy mercies; how shall they tell of thy faithfulness, now that life is gone?

Shall thy wonders be known in the dark; and thy justice in the land of forgetfulness?

Numquid cognoscentur in tenebris mirabilia tua? et justitia tua in terra oblivionis?

How can there be talk of thy marvels in a world of darkness, of thy favour in a land where all is forgotten?

But I, O Lord, have cried to thee: and in the morning my prayer shall prevent thee.

Et ego ad te, Domine, clamavi, et mane oratio mea præveniet te.

To prayer, Lord, fall I lustily; it shall reach thee, while there is yet time.

Lord, why castest thou off my prayer: why turnest thou away thy face from me?

Ut quid, Domine, repellis orationem meam; avertis faciem tuam a me?

Why dost thou reject my plea, Lord, and turn thy face away from me?

I am poor, and in labours from my youth: and being exalted have been humbled and troubled.

Pauper sum ego, et in laboribus a juventute mea; exaltatus autem, humiliatus sum et conturbatus.

Ever since youth, misery and mortal sickness have been my lot; wearily I have borne thy visitations;

Thy wrath hath come upon me: and thy terrors have troubled me.

In me transierunt iræ tuæ, et terrores tui conturbaverunt me:

I am overwhelmed with thy anger, dismayed by thy threats,

They have come round about me like water all the day: they have compassed me about together.

circumdederunt me sicut aqua tota die; circumdederunt me simul.

that still cut me off like a flood, all at once surrounding me.

Friend and neighbour thou hast put far from me: and my acquaintance, because of misery.

Elongasti a me amicum et proximum, et notos meos a miseria.

Friends and neighbours gone, a world of shadows is all my company.