Psalm 39
39
To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David.
1I said, I will take heed to my ways,
That I sin not with my tongue:
I will keep my mouth with a bridle,
While the wicked is before me.
2I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good;
And my sorrow was stirred.
3My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned:
Then spake I with my tongue.
4 LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is;
That I may know how frail I am.
5Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth;
And mine age is as nothing before thee: Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
6Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: Surely they are disquieted in vain:
He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
7And now, Lord, what wait I for?
My hope is in thee.
8Deliver me from all my transgressions:
Make me not the reproach of the foolish.
9I was dumb, I opened not my mouth;
Because thou didst it. 10Remove thy stroke away from me:
I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.
11When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity,
Thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth:
Surely every man is vanity. Selah.
12Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry;
Hold not thy peace at my tears:
For I am a stranger with thee,
And a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
13O spare me, that I may recover strength,
Before I go hence, and be no more.
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Psalm 39: KJV
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Rights in the Authorized (King James) Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Published by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.
Learn More About King James VersionPsalms 39
39
(A psalm by David for Jeduthun, the music leader.)
A Prayer for Forgiveness
1I told myself, “I'll be careful
not to sin by what I say,
and I'll muzzle my mouth
when evil people are near.”
2I kept completely silent,
but it did no good,#39.2 but … good: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
and I hurt even worse.
3I felt a fire burning inside,
and the more I thought,
the more it burned,
until at last I said:
4“Please, Lord,
show me my future.
Will I soon be gone?
5You made my life short,
so brief that the time
means nothing to you.
“Human life is but a breath,
6and it disappears
like a shadow.
Our struggles are senseless;
we store up more and more,
without ever knowing
who will get it all.
7“What am I waiting for?
I depend on you, Lord!
8Save me from my sins.
Don't let fools sneer at me.
9You treated me like this,
and I kept silent,
not saying a word.
10“Won't you stop punishing me?
You have worn me down.
11You punish us severely
because of our sins.
Like a moth, you destroy
what we treasure most.
We are as frail as a breath.
12“Listen, Lord, to my prayer!
My eyes are flooded with tears,
as I pray to you.
I am merely a stranger
visiting in your home
as my ancestors did.
13Stop being angry with me
and let me smile again
before I am dead and gone.”
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.