Psalm 38 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

Do Not Forsake Me, O Lord

Psa 38:1A Psalm of David, for the memorial offering.
O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath!

Psa 38:2

Psa 38:2For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me.

Psa 38:3

Psa 38:3There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.

Psa 38:4

Psa 38:4For my iniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

Psa 38:5

Psa 38:5My wounds stink and fester
because of my foolishness,

Psa 38:6

Psa 38:6I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all the day I go about mourning.

Psa 38:7

Psa 38:7For my sides are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.

Psa 38:8

Psa 38:8I am feeble and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.

Psa 38:9

Psa 38:9O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.

Psa 38:10

Psa 38:10My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.

Psa 38:11

Psa 38:11My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
and my nearest kin stand far off.

Psa 38:12

Psa 38:12Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek my hurt speak of ruin
and meditate treachery all day long.

Psa 38:13

Psa 38:13But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
like a mute man who does not open his mouth.

Psa 38:14

Psa 38:14I have become like a man who does not hear,
and in whose mouth are no rebukes.

Psa 38:15

Psa 38:15But for you, O LORD, do I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.

Psa 38:16

Psa 38:16For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,
who boast against me when my foot slips!”

Psa 38:17

Psa 38:17For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever before me.

Psa 38:18

Psa 38:18I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.

Psa 38:19

Psa 38:19But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
and many are those who hate me wrongfully.

Psa 38:20

Psa 38:20Those who render me evil for good
accuse me because I follow after good.

Psa 38:21

Psa 38:21Do not forsake me, O LORD!
O my God, be not far from me!

Psa 38:22

Psa 38:22Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!

See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.