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³Let my prayer come before Thee,

Incline Thine ear unto my cry.

 

⁴For my soul is sated with troubles,

And my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

⁵I am counted with them that go down into the pit;

I am become as a man that hath no help;

⁶Set apart among the dead,

Like the slain that lie in the grave,

Whom Thou rememberest no more;

And they are cut off from Thy hand.

 

⁷Thou hast laid me in the nethermost pit,

In dark places, in the deeps.

⁸Thy wrath lieth hard upon me,

And all Thy waves Thou pressest down. Selah

⁹Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me;

Thou hast made me an abomination unto them;

I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

 

¹⁰Mine eye languisheth by reason of affliction;

I have called upon Thee, O Lord, every day,

I have spread forth my hands unto Thee.

¹¹Wilt Thou work wonders for the dead?

Or shall the shades arise and give Thee thanks? Selah

¹²Shall Thy mercy be declared in the grave?

Or Thy faithfulness in destruction?

¹³Shall Thy wonders be known in the dark?

And Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

 

¹⁴But as for me, unto Thee, O Lord, do I cry,

And in the morning doth my prayer come to meet Thee.

¹⁵Lord, why castest Thou off my soul?

Why hidest Thou Thy face from me?

¹⁶I am afflicted and at the point of death from my youth up;

I have borne Thy terrors, I am distracted.

¹⁷Thy fierce wrath is gone over me;

Thy terrors have cut me off.

¹⁸They came round about me like water all the day;

They compassed me about together.

¹⁹Friend and companion hast Thou put far from me,

And mine acquaintance into darkness.

89 Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite.

²I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever;

To all generations will I make known Thy faithfulness with my mouth.

³For I have said: 'For ever is mercy built;

In the very heavens Thou dost establish Thy faithfulness.

⁴I have made a covenant with My chosen,

I have sworn unto David My servant:

⁵For ever will I establish thy seed,

And build up thy throne to all generations.' Selah

 

⁶So shall the heavens praise Thy wonders, O Lord,

Thy faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.

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