Psalm 22

¹My God! My God,

why have you left me all alone?

Why are you so far from saving me—

²My God, I cry out during the day,

but you don’t answer;

even at nighttime I don’t stop.

³You are the holy one, enthroned.

You are Israel’s praise.

⁴Our ancestors trusted you—

they trusted you and you rescued them;

⁵they cried out to you and they were saved;

they trusted you and they weren’t ashamed.

⁶But I’m just a worm, less than human;

insulted by one person, despised by another.

⁷All who see me make fun of me—

they gape, shaking their heads:

⁸“He committed himself to the LORD ,

⁹But you are the one who pulled me from the womb,

placing me safely at my mother’s breasts.

¹⁰I was thrown on you from birth;

you’ve been my God

since I was in my mother’s womb.

¹¹Please don’t be far from me,

because trouble is near

¹²Many bulls surround me;

mighty bulls from Bashan encircle me.

¹³They open their mouths at me

like a lion ripping and roaring!

¹⁴I’m poured out like water.

All my bones have fallen apart.

¹⁵My strength is dried up

like a piece of broken pottery.

My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;

you’ve set me down in the dirt of death.

¹⁶Dogs surround me;

a pack of evil people circle me like a lion—

oh, my poor hands and feet!

¹⁷I can count all my bones!

Meanwhile, they just stare at me, watching me.

¹⁸They divvy up my garments among themselves;

they cast lots for my clothes.

¹⁹But you, LORD ! Don’t be far away!

You are my strength!

Come quick and help me!

²⁰Deliver me from the sword.[#22.20 Or my soul ; also in 22:29]

Deliver my life from the power of the dog.

²¹Save me from the mouth of the lion.

From the horns of the wild oxen

you have answered me!

²²I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;

I will praise you in the very center of the congregation!

²³All of you who revere the LORD —praise him!

All of you who are Jacob’s descendants—honor him!

All of you who are all Israel’s offspring—

²⁴Because he didn’t despise or detest

the suffering of the one who suffered—

he didn’t hide his face from me.

No, he listened when I cried out to him for help.

²⁵I offer praise in the great congregation

because of you;

I will fulfill my promises

in the presence of those who honor God.

²⁶Let all those who are suffering eat and be full!

Let all who seek the LORD praise him!

²⁷Every part of the earth

will remember and come back to the LORD ;

every family among all the nations will worship you.

²⁸Because the right to rule belongs to the LORD ,

he rules all nations.

²⁹Indeed, all the earth’s powerful

will worship him;

all who are descending to the dust

will kneel before him;

my being also lives for him.

³⁰Future descendants will serve him;

generations to come will be told about my Lord.

³¹They will proclaim God’s righteousness