1  eBlessed is the one who considers the poor!1

fIn the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;

2  the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;

he is called blessed in the land;

you gdo not give him up to the will of his enemies.

3  The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;

in his illness you restore him to full health.2

4  As for me, I said, “O Lord, hbe gracious to me;

iheal me,3 for I have sinned against you!”

5  My enemies say of me in malice,

“When will he die, and his name perish?”

6  And when one comes to see me, jhe utters empty words,

while his heart gathers iniquity;

when he goes out, he tells it abroad.

7  All who hate me whisper together about me;

they imagine the worst for me.4

8  They say, “A deadly thing is poured out5 on him;

he will not rise again from where he lies.”

9  Even my kclose friend in whom I trusted,

who late my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

10  But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,

and raise me up, that I may repay them!

11  By this I know that myou delight in me:

my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.

12  But nyou have upheld me because of omy integrity,

and pset me in your presence qforever.

13  rBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

Amen and Amen.

Book Two