If I am guilty, woe to me! If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look on my affliction.
Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.
Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him; I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.
Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me; though I am blameless, he would prove me perverse. I am blameless; I regard not myself; I loathe my life.
Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.
although you know that I am not guilty, and there is none to deliver out of your hand?
but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,
So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’”
Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; look, and see our disgrace! Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows. We must pay for the water we drink; the wood we get must be bought. Our pursuers are at our necks; we are weary; we are given no rest.
“Look, O Lord, for I am in distress; my stomach churns; my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious. In the street the sword bereaves; in the house it is like death.
You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Look on my affliction and deliver me, for I do not forget your law.
The wicked shall return to Sheol, all the nations that forget God.
“Let my enemy be as the wicked, and let him who rises up against me be as the unrighteous.
Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him.
When I remember, I am dismayed, and shuddering seizes my flesh.
I shall be condemned; why then do I labor in vain?
Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back? Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,
Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.