Psalm 38:1–22

¹Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger

or discipline me in your wrath.^y

²Your arrows^z have pierced me,

and your hand has come down on me.

³Because of your wrath there is no health^a in my body;

there is no soundness in my bones^b because of my sin.

⁴My guilt has overwhelmed^c me

like a burden too heavy to bear.^d

⁵My wounds^e fester and are loathsome^f

because of my sinful folly.^g

⁶I am bowed down^h and brought very low;

all day long I go about mourning.ⁱ

⁷My back is filled with searing pain;^j

there is no health^k in my body.

⁸I am feeble and utterly crushed;^l

I groan^m in anguish of heart.ⁿ

⁹All my longings^o lie open before you, Lord;

my sighing^p is not hidden from you.

¹⁰My heart pounds,^q my strength fails^r me;

even the light has gone from my eyes.^s

¹¹My friends and companions avoid me because of my wounds;^t

my neighbors stay far away.

¹²Those who want to kill me set their traps,^u

those who would harm me talk of my ruin;^v

all day long they scheme and lie.^w

¹³I am like the deaf, who cannot hear,^x

like the mute, who cannot speak;

¹⁴I have become like one who does not hear,

whose mouth can offer no reply.

¹⁵Lord, I wait^y for you;

you will answer,^z Lord my God.

¹⁶For I said, “Do not let them gloat^a

or exalt themselves over me when my feet slip.”^b

¹⁷For I am about to fall,^c

and my pain^d is ever with me.

¹⁸I confess my iniquity;^e

I am troubled by my sin.

¹⁹Many have become my enemies^f without cause^b;

those who hate me^g without reason^h are numerous.

²⁰Those who repay my good with evilⁱ

lodge accusations^j against me,

though I seek only to do what is good.

²¹Lord, do not forsake me;^k

do not be far^l from me, my God.

²²Come quickly^m to help me,ⁿ

my Lord and my Savior.^o