| 1 | A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. O LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you. | |
| 2 | May my prayer come before you; turn your ear to my cry. | |
| 3 | For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave. | |
| 4 | I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am like a man without strength. | |
| 5 | I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more, who are cut off from your care. | |
| 6 | You have put me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. | |
| 7 | Your wrath lies heavily upon me; you have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Selah | |
| 8 | You have taken from me my closest friends and have made me repulsive to them. I am confined and cannot escape; | |
| 9 | my eyes are dim with grief. I call to you, O LORD, every day; I spread out my hands to you. | |
| 10 | Do you show your wonders to the dead? Do those who are dead rise up and praise you? Selah | |
| 11 | Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in Destruction? | |
| 12 | Are your wonders known in the place of darkness, or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion? | |
| 13 | But I cry to you for help, O LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you. | |
| 14 | Why, O LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me? | |
| 15 | From my youth I have been afflicted and close to death; I have suffered your terrors and am in despair. | |
| 16 | Your wrath has swept over me; your terrors have destroyed me. | |
| 17 | All day long they surround me like a flood; they have completely engulfed me. | |
| 18 | You have taken my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend. | |