Psalm 88 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

I Cry Out Day and Night Before You

Psa 88:1A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil[fn] of Heman the Ezrahite.
O LORD, God of my salvation,
I cry out day and night before you.

Psa 88:2

Psa 88:2Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry!

Psa 88:3

Psa 88:3For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.

Psa 88:4

Psa 88:4I am counted among those who go down to the pit;
I am a man who has no strength,

Psa 88:5

Psa 88:5like one set loose among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom you remember no more,
for they are cut off from your hand.

Psa 88:6

Psa 88:6You have put me in the depths of the pit,
in the regions dark and deep.

Psa 88:7

Psa 88:7Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah

Psa 88:8

Psa 88:8You have caused my companions to shun me;
you have made me a horror[fn] to them.
I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

Psa 88:9

Psa 88:9my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O LORD;
I spread out my hands to you.

Psa 88:10

Psa 88:10Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah

Psa 88:11

Psa 88:11Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

Psa 88:12

Psa 88:12Are your wonders known in the darkness,
or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?

Psa 88:13

Psa 88:13But I, O LORD, cry to you;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.

Psa 88:14

Psa 88:14O LORD, why do you cast my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me?

Psa 88:15

Psa 88:15Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.[fn]

Psa 88:16

Psa 88:16Your wrath has swept over me;
your dreadful assaults destroy me.

Psa 88:17

Psa 88:17They surround me like a flood all day long;
they close in on me together.

Psa 88:18

Psa 88:18You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness.[fn]

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

ESV Footnotes

(88:1)

Probably musical or liturgical terms

(88:8)

Or an abomination

(88:15)

The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

(88:18)

Or darkness has become my only companion

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