To the chief Musician upon Ayyelet-hashshaĥar, A Psalm of David.

For the conductor, on ayeleth hashachar [a type of instrument], a psalm of David.

My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? why art Thou so far from helping me, from the words of my loud complaint?

[(On Israel's destined exile:)] My G d, my G d, why have You forsaken me [(Israel)]! You are far from my salvation [and from] the words of my outcry.

O my God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou hearest not; and in the night season, and I have no rest.

My G d, I call from day to day, and You do not answer; and at night, and there is no silence [from prayer] for me.

But Thou art holy, O Thou That art enthroned upon the praises of Yisra᾽el.

And You are holy, [ever] sitting [to hear] the prayers of Israel.

Our fathers trusted in Thee: they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them.

In You did our forefathers trust; they trusted, and You delivered them.

They cried to Thee, and were delivered: they trusted in Thee, and were not confounded.

To You did they cry out, and they escaped; in You did they trust, and they were not put to shame.

But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

And I [(Israel)] am a worm and not a man, the shame of man and the despised of the people.

All that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head,

All who behold, mock me. They open their lips and nod their heads [in mockery].

saying, He trusts in the Lord that he will deliver him! Let him deliver him, seeing he delights in him.

[One should] "roll" his burden onto the L rd, so that He deliver him; He will save him, for He desires him.

But Thou art he that took me out of the womb: Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts.

For You are my deliverer from the womb, my trust on the breasts of my mother.

I was cast upon Thee from the womb: Thou art my God from my mother’s belly.

Upon You was I cast from the womb. From my mother's belly, You are my G d. [(From the very birth of the tribes, He has sustained them.)]

Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

Do not go far from me, for trouble is near; for there is no help [other than You].

Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

Many bullocks [(mighty kingdoms)] have surrounded me. The mighty bulls of Bashan have encircled me.

They gape upon me with their mouths, like a ravening and a roaring lion.

They have opened their mouths against me, as a lion [(Nevuchadnezzar)], who tears [his prey] and roars [in triumph].

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is become like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

I have been poured out as water and all my bones have been scattered. My heart has become as wax, melted within my reins.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; and Thou layest me down in the dust of death.

My strength is dried up as a shard. My tongue cleaves to my palate, and You have set me down to the dust of death.

For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they seize my hands and my feet like a lion.

For dogs have surrounded me; the league of the wicked have encircled me. As [if I were being crushed in the mouth of] a lion, [they crush] my hands and feet.

I can count all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

I tell [the pain of] all my bones, they look on and stare at me [in derision].

They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

They divide my clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for my raiment [(i.e., they despoil our possessions)].

But be not Thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste Thee to help me.

And You, O L rd, do not go far! My strength, hasten to my help!

Deliver my life from the sword; my only one from the power of the dog.

Save my soul from the sword, my soul from the hand of the dog.

Save me from the lion’s mouth: for Thou hast answered me from the horns of the wild oxen.

Save me from the mouth of the lion [(Nevuchadnezzar)], [as] You answered me [and saved me] from the horns of the wild oxen [(the Emori, the thirty-one kings)].

I will declare Thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the congregation I will praise Thee.

[Then] I shall speak Your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I shall praise You.

You who fear the Lord, praise him; all you the seed of Ya῾aqov, glorify him; and fear him, all the seed of Yisra᾽el.

[Thus shall I say:] You who fear the L rd [i.e., the proselytes], praise Him. All the seed of Jacob, honor Him; and fear Him all the seed of Israel.

For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has he hid his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.

For He has not despised and not reviled the cry of the poor one, and He has not hid His face from Him; and in his outcry to Him, He has heard Him.

My praise shall be of Thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before those who fear him.

From You [(i.e., it is owing to the salvation that proceeds from You that)] I praise [You] in a vast congregation; and my vows [to Him] shall I pay in the presence of those who fear Him.

The meek shall eat and be satisfied: those who seek him shall praise the Lord: may your heart forever revive!

The humble will eat and be sated [(at the time of the redemption, in the days of the Messiah)]. His seekers will praise the L rd. Your hearts will live forever. [(All this is what I will say to them [see verse 24])].

All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord: and all the families of the nations shall worship before Thee.

All the ends of the earth will remember [the evil that had befallen us (when they see our good)], and all the families of the nations will bow down before You.

For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is ruler over the nations.

For [they will see that] the kingdom is the L rd's, and the rule over nations.

All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust, and he that cannot keep alive his own soul, shall bow before him.

[They will see that] they [the humble] have eaten all the fats of the land, and they ["all the families of the nations"] will bow down [to You]. [Then] there will bow down before Him [in Gehinnom] all [the wicked] who descend to the dust, but He will not revive his [(the wicked one's)] soul [to deliver him from Gehinnom].

Their seed shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation.

[What he wrought for] the seed who served Him will be related [in praise of] the L rd to the [last] generation.

They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, that he has done this.

They [(the early generations)] will come and relate to the people born [after them] that He wrought [salvation for them].