Psalms 22

1 To the Chief Musician. On "the Hind of the Dawn." A Melody of David. My GOD, my GOD, why hast thou forsaken me? Far from saving me, The words of my loud lamentation?

To the chief music-maker on Aijeleth-hash-shahar. A Psalm. Of David. My God, my God, why are you turned away from me? why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my crying?

2 My God! I keep crying—By day, and thou dost not answer, and, By night, and there is no rest for me.

O my God, I make my cry in the day, and you give no answer; and in the night, and have no rest.

3 But, thou, art holy, Who inhabitest the praises of Israel.

But you are holy, O you who are seated among the praises of Israel.

4 In thee, trusted our fathers, They trusted, and thou didst deliver them;

Our fathers had faith in you: they had faith and you were their saviour.

5 Unto thee, made they outcry, and escaped, In thee, they trusted, and had not turned pale.

They sent up their cry to you and were made free: they put their faith in you and were not put to shame.

6 But, I, am a worm and no one, a reproach of men, and despised of a people;

But I am a worm and not a man; cursed by men, and looked down on by the people.

7 All that see me, laugh at me, —They open wide the mouth, They shake the head: —

I am laughed at by all those who see me: pushing out their lips and shaking their heads they say,

8 He should trust in Yahweh—let him deliver him, —Let him rescue him, seeing he delighteth in him.

He put his faith in the Lord; let the Lord be his saviour now: let the Lord be his saviour, because he had delight in him.

9 For, thou, art he that severed me from the womb, he that caused me to trust, upon the breasts of my mother;

But it was you who took care of me from the day of my birth: you gave me faith even from my mother's breasts.

10 Upon thee, was I cast from the time I was born, From the womb of my mother, my GOD, hast thou been.

I was in your hands even before my birth; you are my God from the time when I was in my mother's body.

11 Be not far from me, for, distress, is near, For there is none to help.

Be not far from me, for trouble is near; there is no one to give help.

12 Many bulls have surrounded me, Strong oxen of Bashan, have enclosed me;

A great herd of oxen is round me: I am shut in by the strong oxen of Bashan.

13 They have opened wide against me their mouth, A lion rending and roaring.

I saw their mouths wide open, like lions crying after food.

14 Like water, am I poured out, and, put out of joint, are all my bones, —My heart, hath become, like wax, it is melted in the midst of my body;

I am flowing away like water, and all my bones are out of place: my heart is like wax, it has become soft in my body.

15 Dried as a potsherd, is my strength, And, my tongue, is made to cleave to my gums, And, in the dust of death, wilt thou lay me.

My throat is dry like a broken vessel; my tongue is fixed to the roof of my mouth, and the dust of death is on my lips.

16 For dogs have surrounded me, —An assembly of evil doers, have encircled me, They have pierced my hands and my feet,

Dogs have come round me: I am shut in by the band of evil-doers; they made wounds in my hands and feet.

17 I may tell all my bones, They, look for—they behold me!

I am able to see all my bones; their looks are fixed on me:

18 They part my garments among them, and, for my vestment, they cast lots.

They make a division of my robes among them, by the decision of chance they take my clothing.

19 But, thou, O Yahweh, be not far off, O my help! to aid me, make haste;

Do not be far from me, O Lord: O my strength, come quickly to my help.

20 Rescue, from the sword, my life, from the power of the dog, my solitary self:

Make my soul safe from the sword, my life from the power of the dog.

21 Save me from the mouth of the lion, —Yea, from the horns of wild beasts, hast thou delivered me.

Be my saviour from the lion's mouth; let me go free from the horns of the cruel oxen.

22 I will declare thy Name unto my brethren, —In the midst of the convocation, will I praise thee.

I will give the knowledge of your name to my brothers: I will give you praise among the people.

23 Ye that revere Yahweh, praise him, All ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him, And, stand in awe of him, all ye seed of Israel.

You who have fear of the Lord, give him praise; all you seed of Jacob, give him glory; go in fear of him, all you seed of Israel.

24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the humbling of the patient one, neither hath he hid his face from him, but, when he cried for help unto him, he heard.

For he has not been unmoved by the pain of him who is troubled; or kept his face covered from him; but he has given an answer to his cry.

25 Of thee, is my praise in the great convocation, My vows, will I pay, before them who revere him.

My praise will be of you in the great meeting: I will make my offerings before his worshippers.

26 The patient wronged-ones shall eat and be satisfied, They shall praise Yahweh, who are seekers of him, Let your heart live for aye.

The poor will have a feast of good things: those who make search for the Lord will give him praise: your heart will have life for ever.

27 All the ends of the earth, will remember and turn to Yahweh, Yea all the families of the nations, will bow themselves down before thee,

All the ends of the earth will keep it in mind and be turned to the Lord: all the families of the nations will give him worship.

28 For, to Yahweh, belongeth the kingdom, And One to Rule over the nations.

For the kingdom is the Lord's; he is the ruler among the nations.

29 All the great ones of the earth, shall eat and bow down, Before him shall kneel, all that go down to the dust, Even he who had not kept alive, his own soul!

All the fat ones of the earth will give him worship; all those who go down to the dust will make themselves low before him, even he who has not enough for the life of his soul.

30 My seed, shall serve him, It shall be recounted, of the Lord, to a generation that shall come:

A seed will be his servant; the doings of the Lord will be made clear to the generation which comes after.

31 That his righteousness may be declared to a people to be born, That he wrought with effect!

They will come and make his righteousness clear to a people of the future because he has done this.