Psalm 39
1 I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
1 I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I of- | fend not • in my | tongue. ||
2 I will keep my mouth as it were with a bridle, * while the un- | 3 godly is | in my | sight. ||
2 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred.
3 My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue,
3 I held my | tongue, and • spake | nothing: ||
I kept silence, yea, even from good words; * 3 but | it was | pain and | grief • to me. ||
4 Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.
4 My heart was hot within me: and while I was thus | musing the • fire | kindled, ||
and at the | last I | spake • with my | tongue: ||
5 Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.
5 Lord, let me know mine end, and the | number • of my | days; ||
that I may be certified how | long I | have to | live. ||
6 Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
6 Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span long, * and mine age is even as nothing in re- | spect of | thee; ||
and verily every man | living • is | alto•gether | vani•ty. ||
7 And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.
7 For man walketh in a vain shadow, and dis- | quieteth him•self in | vain; ||
he heapeth up riches, and | cannot • tell | who shall | gather • them. ||
8 Deliver me from all my transgressions: make me not the reproach of the foolish.
8 And now, Lord, 3 what | is my | hope? ||
truly my | hope is | 3 even in | thee. ||
9 I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it.
9 Deliver me from | all • mine of- | fences; ||
and make me | 3 not a re- | buke un•to the | foolish. ||
10 Remove thy stroke away from me: I am consumed by the blow of thine hand.
† 10 I became | dumb, and | opened ||
not my | mouth; * for | it was • thy | doing. ||
11 When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.
11 Take thy | plague a- | way • from me: ||
I am even consumed by the | 3 means of thy | heavy | hand. ||
12 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.
12 When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty to consume away, * like as it were a moth | 3 fretting a | garment: ||
every man | therefore | is but | vani•ty. ||
13 O spare me, that I may recover strength, before I go hence, and be no more.
13 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and with thine ears con- | 3 sider my | calling; ||
3 hold | not thy | peace • at my | tears; ||
14 For I am a | 3 stranger with | thee, ||
and a | sojourn•er, as | all my | fathers • were. ||
15 O spare me a little, that I may re- | 3 cover my | strength, ||
before I go | hence, • and be | no more | seen. ||
About the Pointing
The text of the Coverdale Psalter follows the 1928 American Book of Common Prayer. The pointing, suitably adapted, is taken from Charles Macpherson, Edward C. Bairstow, and Percy C. Buck, The English Psalter (Novello & Co., 1925).