Psalms 39

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 [For the choirmaster For Jeduthun Psalm Of David] I said, 'I wil watch how I behave so that I do notsin by my tongue. I will keep a muzzle on my mouth as long as any sinner is near.'	1 Unto the end. A Psalm of David himself.
2 I stayed dumb, silent, speechless, but the sinner's prosperity redoubled my torment.	2 I have waited expectantly for the Lord, and he was attentive to me.
3 My heart had been smouldering within me, but at the thought of this it flared up and the words camebursting out,	3 And he heard my prayers and he led me out of the pit of misery and the quagmire. And he stationed my feet upon a rock, and he directed my steps.
4 'Yahweh, let me know my fate, how much longer I have to live. Show me just how frail I am.	4 And he sent a new canticle into my mouth, a song to our God. Many will see, and they will fear; and they will hope in the Lord.
5 'Look, you have given me but a hand's breadth or two of life, the length of my life is as nothing to you.Every human being that stands on earth is a mere puff of wind,	5 Blessed is the man whose hope is in the name of the Lord, and who has no respect for vanities and absurd falsehoods.
6 every human being that walks only a shadow; a mere puff of wind is the wealth stored away -- noknowing who wil profit from it.'	6 You have accomplished your many wonders, O Lord my God, and there is no one similar to you in your thoughts. I have announced and I have spoken: they are multiplied beyond number.
7 So now, Lord, what am I to hope for? My hope is in you.	7 Sacrifice and oblation, you did not want. But you have perfected ears for me. Holocaust and sin offering, you did not require.
8 Save me from al my sins, do not make me the butt of fools.	8 Then I said, “Behold, I draw near.” At the head of the book, it has been written of me:
9 I keep silence, I speak no more since you yourself have been at work.	9 that I should do your will. My God, I have willed it. And your law is in the midst of my heart.
10 Take your scourge away from me. I am worn out by the blows you deal me.	10 I have announced your justice in a great Church: behold, I will not restrain my lips. O Lord, you have known it.
11 You correct human beings by punishing sin, like a moth you eat away all their desires -- a humanbeing is a mere puff of wind.	11 I have not concealed your justice within my heart. I have spoken your truth and your salvation. I have not concealed your mercy and your truth from a great assembly.
12 Yahweh, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for help, do not remain deaf to my weeping. For I am astranger in your house, a nomad like al my ancestors.	12 O Lord, do not take your tender mercies far from me. Your mercy and your truth ever sustain me.
13 Turn away your gaze that I may breathe freely before I depart and am no more!	13 For evils without number have surrounded me. My iniquities have taken hold of me, and I was not able to see. They have been multiplied beyond the hairs of my head. And my heart has forsaken me.
	14 Be pleased, O Lord, to rescue me. Look down, O Lord, to help me.
	15 Let them together be confounded and awed, who seek after my soul to steal it away. Let them be turned back and be in awe, who wish evils upon me.
	16 Let them bear their confusion all at once, who say to me, “Well, well.”
	17 Let all who seek you exult and rejoice over you. And let those who love your salvation always say, “May the Lord be magnified.”
	18 But I am a beggar and poor. The Lord has been concerned about me. You are my helper and my protector. My God, do not delay.