ר (Resh) O Lord, ¹  you championed ²  my cause, ³  you redeemed my life.

For too long I have had to reside with those who hate ¹  peace.

We have had our fill ¹  of the taunts of the self-assured, of the contempt of the proud.

A song of ascents. ²  “Since my youth they have often attacked me,” let Israel say.

“Since my youth they have often attacked me, but they have not defeated me.

“You who live along the rivers of Babylon, ¹  the time of your end has come. You who are rich in plundered treasure, it is time for your lives to be cut off. ² 

Those both near and far from you will mock you, you with your bad reputation, ¹  full of turmoil.

It has tried my patience; ¹  yet its thick rot is not removed ²  from it. Subject its rot to the fire! ³ 

Because many in the assembly had not consecrated themselves, the Levites slaughtered ¹  the Passover lambs of all who were ceremonially unclean and could not consecrate their sacrifice to the Lord. ² 

You visit the earth and give it rain; ¹  you make it rich and fertile ²  with overflowing streams full of water. ³  You provide grain for them, ⁴  for you prepare the earth to yield its crops. ⁵ 

Mark out the routes for the sword to take: “Rabbah of the Ammonites” and “Judah with Jerusalem in it.” ¹ 

it is you, ¹  O king! For you have become great and strong. Your greatness is such that it reaches to heaven, and your authority to the ends of the earth.

The majority of the many people from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun were ceremonially unclean, yet they ate the Passover in violation of what is prescribed in the law. ¹  For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: “May the Lord, who is good, forgive ² 

Because you did that, I, the Lord, affirm that ¹  a time is coming when I will make Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon, hear the sound of the battle cry. It will become a mound covered with ruins. ²  Its villages will be burned to the ground. ³  Then Israel will take back its land from those who took their land from them. I, the Lord, affirm it! ⁴