Psalm 31

New International Reader’s Version

1 LORD, I have come to you for safety. Don’t let me ever be put to shame. Save me, because you do what is right.2 Pay attention to me. Come quickly to help me. Be the rock I go to for safety. Be the strong fort that saves me.3 You are my rock and my fort. Lead me and guide me for the honour of your name.4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me. You are my place of safety.5 Into your hands I commit my very life. LORD, set me free. You are my faithful God.6 I hate those who worship worthless statues of gods. But I trust in the LORD.7 I will be glad and full of joy because you love me. You saw that I was hurting. You took note of my great pain.8 You have not handed me over to the enemy. You have put me in a wide and safe place.9 LORD, have mercy on me. I’m in deep trouble. I’m so sad I can hardly see. My whole body grows weak with sadness.10 Pain has taken over my life. My years are spent in groaning. I have no strength because I’m hurting so much. My body is getting weaker and weaker.11 My neighbours make fun of me because I have so many enemies. My closest friends are afraid of me. People who see me on the street run away from me.12 No one remembers me. I might as well be dead. I have become like broken pottery.13 I hear many people whispering, ‘There is terror all around him!’ Many have joined together against me. They plan to kill me.14 But I trust in you, LORD. I say, ‘You are my God.’15 My whole life is in your hands. Save me from the hands of my enemies. Save me from those who are chasing me.16 May you look on me with favour. Save me because your love is faithful.17 LORD, I have cried out to you. Don’t let me be put to shame. But let sinners be put to shame. Let them lie silent in the place of the dead.18 Their lips tell lies. Let them be silenced. They speak with pride against those who do right. They make fun of them.19 You have stored up so many good things. You have stored them up for those who have respect for you. You give those things while everyone watches. You give them to people who run to you for safety.20 They are safe because you are with them. You hide them from the evil plans of their enemies. In your house you keep them safe from those who bring charges against them.21 Give praise to the LORD. He showed me his wonderful love when my enemies attacked the city I was in.22 I was afraid and said, ‘I’ve been cut off from you!’ But you heard my cry for your favour. You heard me when I called out to you for help.23 Love the LORD, all you who are faithful to him! The LORD keeps safe those who are faithful to him. But he completely pays back those who are proud.24 Be strong, all you who put your hope in the LORD. Never give up.

Psalm 31

English Standard Version

1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! (Ps 11:1; Ps 31:17; Ps 71:1; Ps 143:1)2 Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! (Ps 18:2; Ps 91:2)3 For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me; (Ps 23:3)4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge. (Job 18:8; Ps 25:15; Ps 43:2)5 Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. (De 32:4; Lu 23:46; Ac 7:59)6 I hate[1] those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord. (De 32:21; Ps 26:5; Jer 8:19; Jer 14:22; Jon 2:8)7 I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul, (Ps 1:6)8 and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place. (De 32:30; Job 36:16)9 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also. (Ps 6:7; Ps 66:14)10 For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away. (Ps 6:2; Ps 32:3; Ps 38:3; Ps 102:3)11 Because of all my adversaries I have become a reproach, especially to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me. (Job 19:13; Ps 41:7; Isa 53:3; Mt 26:56; Mr 14:50)12 I have been forgotten like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel. (Ps 88:5; Ec 9:5; Isa 30:14)13 For I hear the whispering of many— terror on every side!— as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life. (2Sa 17:1; Jer 20:10; Mt 27:1)14 But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” (Ps 31:1; Ps 31:6)15 My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! (1Ch 29:30; Job 24:1; Ps 7:1)16 Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love! (Ps 4:6)17 O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol. (1Sa 2:9; Ps 31:1; Ps 94:17; Ps 115:17)18 Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt. (Ps 17:10; Jud 1:15)19 Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind! (Ps 23:5)20 In the cover of your presence you hide them from the plots of men; you store them in your shelter from the strife of tongues. (Ps 27:5; Ps 32:7)21 Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was in a besieged city. (1Sa 23:7; Ps 17:7)22 I had said in my alarm,[2] “I am cut off from your sight.” But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cried to you for help. (2Sa 15:14; Ps 116:11; Isa 38:11; La 3:54; Jon 2:4)23 Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride. (De 32:41; Ps 30:4)24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord! (Ps 27:14)