| New King James Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. | 1I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of God's wrath. |
| 2He has led me and made me walk In darkness and not in light. | 2He has driven me away and forced me to walk in darkness instead of light. |
| 3Surely He has turned His hand against me Time and time again throughout the day. | 3Yes, He repeatedly turns His hand against me all day long. |
| 4He has aged my flesh and my skin, And broken my bones. | 4He has worn away my flesh and skin; He has shattered my bones. |
| 5He has besieged me And surrounded me with bitterness and woe. | 5He has laid siege against me, encircling me with bitterness and hardship. |
| 6He has set me in dark places Like the dead of long ago. | 6He has made me dwell in darkness like those who have been dead for ages. |
| 7He has hedged me in so that I cannot get out; He has made my chain heavy. | 7He has walled me in so I cannot escape; He has weighed me down with chains. |
| 8Even when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer. | 8Even when I cry out and plead for help, He rejects my prayer. |
| 9He has blocked my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked. | 9He has walled in my ways with cut stones; He has made my paths crooked. |
| 10He has been to me a bear lying in wait, Like a lion in ambush. | 10He is a bear waiting in ambush, a lion in hiding. |
| 11He has turned aside my ways and torn me in pieces; He has made me desolate. | 11He forced me off my way and tore me to pieces; He left me desolate. |
| 12He has bent His bow And set me up as a target for the arrow. | 12He strung His bow and set me as the target for His arrow. |
| 13He has caused the arrows of His quiver To pierce my loins. | 13He pierced my kidneys with His arrows. |
| 14I have become the ridicule of all my people— Their taunting song all the day. | 14I am a laughingstock to all my people, mocked by their songs all day long. |
| 15He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drink wormwood. | 15He filled me with bitterness, satiated me with wormwood. |
| 16He has also broken my teeth with gravel, And covered me with ashes. | 16He ground my teeth on gravel and made me cower in the dust. |
| 17You have moved my soul far from peace; I have forgotten prosperity. | 17My soul has been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is. |
| 18And I said, “My strength and my hope Have perished from the LORD.” | 18Then I thought: My future is lost, as well as my hope from the LORD. |
| 19Remember my affliction and roaming, The wormwood and the gall. | 19Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood and the poison. |
| 20My soul still remembers And sinks within me. | 20I continually remember them and have become depressed. |
| 21This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. | 21Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: |
| 22Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. | 22Because of the LORD's faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. |
| 23They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. | 23They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! |
| 24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” | 24I say: The LORD is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him. |
| 25The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. | 25The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. |
| 26It is good that one should hope and wait quietly For the salvation of the LORD. | 26It is good to wait quietly for deliverance from the LORD. |
| 27It is good for a man to bear The yoke in his youth. | 27It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is still young. |
| 28Let him sit alone and keep silent, Because God has laid it on him; | 28Let him sit alone and be silent, for God has disciplined him. |
| 29Let him put his mouth in the dust— There may yet be hope. | 29Let him put his mouth in the dust-- perhaps there is still hope. |
| 30Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes him, And be full of reproach. | 30Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him; let him be filled with shame. |
| 31For the Lord will not cast off forever. | 31For the Lord will not reject us forever. |
| 32Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion According to the multitude of His mercies. | 32Even if He causes suffering, He will show compassion according to His abundant, faithful love. |
| 33For He does not afflict willingly, Nor grieve the children of men. | 33For He does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind. |
| 34To crush under one’s feet All the prisoners of the earth, | 34Crushing all the prisoners of the land beneath one's feet, |
| 35To turn aside the justice due a man Before the face of the Most High, | 35denying justice to a man in the presence of the Most High, |
| 36Or subvert a man in his cause— The Lord does not approve. | 36or suppressing a person's lawsuit-- the Lord does not approve of these things. |
| 37Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, When the Lord has not commanded it? | 37Who is there who speaks and it happens, unless the Lord has ordained it? |
| 38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That woe and well-being proceed? | 38Do not both adversity and good come from the mouth of the Most High? |
| 39Why should a living man complain, A man for the punishment of his sins? | 39Why should any living person complain, any man, because of the punishment for his sins? |
| 40Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD; | 40Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the LORD. |
| 41Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven. | 41Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven: |
| 42We have transgressed and rebelled; You have not pardoned. | 42We have sinned and rebelled; You have not forgiven. |
| 43You have covered Yourself with anger And pursued us; You have slain and not pitied. | 43You have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us; You have killed without compassion. |
| 44You have covered Yourself with a cloud, That prayer should not pass through. | 44You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass through. |
| 45You have made us an offscouring and refuse In the midst of the peoples. | 45You have made us disgusting filth among the peoples. |
| 46All our enemies Have opened their mouths against us. | 46All our enemies open their mouths against us. |
| 47Fear and a snare have come upon us, Desolation and destruction. | 47We have experienced panic and pitfall, devastation and destruction. |
| 48My eyes overflow with rivers of water For the destruction of the daughter of my people. | 48My eyes flow with streams of tears because of the destruction of my dear people. |
| 49My eyes flow and do not cease, Without interruption, | 49My eyes overflow unceasingly, without end, |
| 50Till the LORD from heaven Looks down and sees. | 50until the LORD looks down from heaven and sees. |
| 51My eyes bring suffering to my soul Because of all the daughters of my city. | 51My eyes bring me grief because of the fate of all the women in my city. |
| 52My enemies without cause Hunted me down like a bird. | 52For no apparent reason, my enemies hunted me like a bird. |
| 53They silenced my life in the pit And threw stones at me. | 53They dropped me alive into a pit and threw stones at me. |
| 54The waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!” | 54Water flooded over my head, and I thought: I'm going to die! |
| 55I called on Your name, O LORD, From the lowest pit. | 55I called on Your name, Yahweh, from the depths of the Pit. |
| 56You have heard my voice: “Do not hide Your ear From my sighing, from my cry for help.” | 56You hear my plea: Do not ignore my cry for relief. |
| 57You drew near on the day I called on You, And said, “Do not fear!” | 57You come near when I call on You; You say: "Do not be afraid." |
| 58O Lord, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life. | 58You defend my cause, Lord; You redeem my life. |
| 59O LORD, You have seen how I am wronged; Judge my case. | 59 LORD, You see the wrong done to me; judge my case. |
| 60You have seen all their vengeance, All their schemes against me. | 60You see all their malice, all their plots against me. |
| 61You have heard their reproach, O LORD, All their schemes against me, | 61 LORD, You hear their insults, all their plots against me. |
| 62The lips of my enemies And their whispering against me all the day. | 62The slander and murmuring of my opponents attack me all day long. |
| 63Look at their sitting down and their rising up; I am their taunting song. | 63When they sit and when they rise, look, I am mocked by their songs. |
| 64Repay them, O LORD, According to the work of their hands. | 64You will pay them back what they deserve, LORD, according to the work of their hands. |
| 65Give them a veiled heart; Your curse be upon them! | 65You will give them a heart filled with anguish. May Your curse be on them! |
| 66In Your anger, Pursue and destroy them From under the heavens of the LORD. | 66You will pursue them in anger and destroy them under Your heavens. |
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