Psalms Chapter 22

For the Choir Director. A Psalm of David

Set to The Hind of the Dawn

¹ My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

         Why are you so far from helping me,

            so far from my groaning?

² I call out in the daytime, but you don’t answer;

      I don’t get any relief at night.

³ Yet you’re holy,

      enthroned on Israel’s praises.

⁴ Our ancestors trusted in you, and you delivered them.

         ⁵They called out to you, and you saved them;

      they relied on you, and you didn’t disappoint them.       

Ps 22:1-5

⁶ But I’m a worm, not a man;                                                 

                  people scorn me and despise me.

         ⁷Everybody that sees me makes fun of me;

            they make faces at me and shake their heads at me and say,

      ⁸ “Entrust yourself to Yahveh; let him deliver you;

            let him rescue you because he delights in you!”       

⁹ Yet you’re the One that delivered me from the womb

      and made me trust when I was on my mother’s breasts.

¹⁰ I’ve depended on you from birth;

      you’ve been my God from my mother’s womb.

Ps 22:6-10

¹¹ Don’t be distant because trouble’s near;

      there’s nobody else to help me.

¹² Many bulls have surrounded me;

      fierce bulls from Bashan have gathered around me.

¹³ They bellow at me

      like ravening, roaring lions.

¹⁴ I’m being poured out like water;

      all my bones are out of joint;

      my heart’s melting like wax.

¹⁵ My strength has dried up like a potsherd,

         my tongue is sticking to my jaws,

      and you’ve laid me down dead in the dust.

¹⁶ Dogs have surrounded me;

      an crowd has ganged up on me;

      they’ve pierced my hands and feet.

¹⁷ I can count all my bones;

            people are staring at me;

         ¹⁸they’re dividing up my clothes

            and gambling for my garments.

Ps 22:11-18

¹⁹ Don’t be distant, Yahveh;

      you’re my only help; hurry and help me.

²⁰ Deliver me from the sword;

         rescue me from the dog’s paws;

         ²¹save me from the lion’s mouth

      and the wild ox’s horns.

Ps 22:19-21

²² I’ll tell my brothers about you

      and praise you when your people gather.

²³ You that respect Yahveh, praise him;

      stand in awe of him, descendants of Israel,

²⁴ because he hasn’t looked down on the oppressed

            or ignored them;

      when they’ve appealed to him for help, he’s listened.    

Ps 22:22-24

²⁵ The theme of my praise in the great assembly comes from you;

      I’ll fulfill my vows in front of people that respect you.

²⁶ The poverty-stricken will eat and be satisfied;

      those who rely on Yahveh will praise him.

      May their hearts live forever!                                          

Ps 22:25-26

²⁷ The most distant places will remember and turn to Yahveh;

            all the families in the nations will worship him

                           ²⁸because the kingdom belongs to him;

            he rules the nations.

²⁹ Prosperous people will eat and worship;

      everyone that goes down to dust will bow to him,

      all those who can’t keep themselves alive.

³⁰ Posterity will serve him;

      one generation will tell the next one about him.

³¹ To people not yet born,

      they’ll come to declare his goodness,

      that he’s the One that’s done all of this.

Ps 22:27-31