Psalm 88

Modern

Literal

I Cry Out before You

¹A song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath Leannoth.^a A Maskil^b of Heman the Ezrahite.

O LORD, the God of my salvation,

day and night I cry out before You.

¹A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah, for the one directing. According to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. O YHWH, God of my salvation, by day I have cried out, and in the night before You.

²May my prayer come before You;

incline Your ear to my cry.

²May my prayer come before Your face; incline Your ear to my cry!

³For my soul is full of troubles,

and my life draws near to Sheol.

³For my soul is filled with troubles, and my life has reached to Sheol.

⁴I am counted among those descending to the Pit.

I am like a man without strength.

⁴I am counted with those going down into the Pit; I am like a man with no strength,

⁵I am forsaken among the dead,

like the slain who lie in the grave,

whom You remember no more,

who are cut off from Your care.

⁵among the dead set free, like the slain lying down in the grave, whom You do not remember anymore, even they who are cut off from Your hand.

⁶You have laid me in the lowest Pit,

in the darkest of the depths.

⁶You have set me in the lowest Pit, in darkness in the depths.

⁷Your wrath weighs heavily upon me;

all Your waves have submerged me.

Selah

⁷Upon me Your wrath has grabbed hold, and with all Your waves You have afflicted. Selah

⁸You have removed my friends from me;

You have made me repulsive to them;

I am confined and cannot escape.

⁸You have put my acquaintances far from me; You have made me loathsome to them; I am shut in, and I cannot go forth.

⁹My eyes grow dim with grief.

I call to You daily, O LORD;

I spread out my hands to You.

⁹My eye languishes from this affliction; I have called to You, O YHWH, all the day; I have stretched out to You my hands.

¹⁰Do You work wonders for the dead?

Do departed spirits rise up to praise You?

Selah

¹⁰Will You work wonders for the dead? And if departed spirits rise up, do they thank You? Selah

¹¹Can Your loving devotion be proclaimed in the grave,

Your faithfulness in Abaddon?^a

¹¹Can Your loving devotion be recounted in the Grave, or Your faithfulness in Abaddon?

¹²Will Your wonders be known in the darkness,

or Your righteousness in the land of oblivion?

¹²Will Your wonders be known in the darkness, and Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

¹³But to You, O LORD, I cry for help;

in the morning my prayer comes before You.

¹³And I, O YHWH, cry for help to You, and in the morning my prayer comes before You.

¹⁴Why, O LORD, do You reject me?

Why do You hide Your face from me?

¹⁴Why, O YHWH, do You reject my soul? You hide Your face from me.

¹⁵From my youth I was afflicted and near death.

I have borne Your terrors; I am in despair.

¹⁵I am afflicted and dying from my youth; I bear Your terrors; I am in despair.

¹⁶Your wrath has swept over me;

Your terrors have destroyed me.

¹⁶Your wrath has passed over me; Your terrors have destroyed me.

¹⁷All day long they engulf me like water;

they enclose me on every side.

¹⁷They came around me like the waters all the day, they surrounded me altogether.

¹⁸You have removed my beloved and my friend;

darkness is my closest companion.

¹⁸You have put far my beloved and friend; my close acquaintance is darkness.