<p class="poetry">As for me, I said:<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;O <sc>Lordsc>, have mercy on me!p> <p class="poetry">Heal me, for I have sinned against you!p>

<p class="poetry">I will express my thanks to you with a stringed instrument,p> <p class="poetry">praising<n id="1" /> your faithfulness, O my God!p> <p class="poetry">I will sing praises to you accompanied by a harp,p> <p class="poetry">O Holy One of Israel!<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="psasuper">A prayer of David.p> <p class="poetry">Listen<n id="2" /> O <sc>Lordsc>! Answer me!p> <p class="poetry">For I am oppressed and needy.p>

<p class="poetry">Protect me,<n id="1" /> for I am loyal!p> <p class="poetry">O my God, deliver your servant, who trusts in you!p>

<p class="poetry">Take note of my brief lifespan!<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Why do you make all people so mortal?<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">Arrogant people smear my reputation with lies,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but I observe your precepts with all my heart.p>

<p class="poetry">Yes,<n id="1" /> I know the <sc>Lordsc> is great,p> <p class="poetry">and our Lord is superior to all gods.p>

<p class="poetry">As a demonstration of your loyal love,<n id="1" /> destroy my enemies!p> <p class="poetry">Annihilate<n id="2" /> all who threaten my life,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">for I am your servant.p>

<p class="poetry">When he established the heavens, I was there;p> <p class="poetry">when he marked out the horizon<n id="1" /> over the face of the deep,p>

<p class="poetry">so is a person<n id="1" /> who deceives his neighbor,p> <p class="poetry">and says, &#8220;Was I not only joking?&#8221;<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I realized that wisdom is preferable to folly,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">just as light is preferable to darkness:p>

<p class="poetry">So I began to despair<n id="1" /> about all the fruit of<n id="2" /> my labor<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">for which I worked so hard<n id="4" /> on earth.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">So I considered<n id="1" /> those who are dead and gone<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">more fortunate than those who are still alive.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">So I concluded that wisdom is better than might,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but a poor man&#8217;s wisdom is despised; no one ever listens<n id="2" /> to his advice.<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Beloved to the Maidens:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">I am dark but lovely, O maidens<n id="1" /> of Jerusalem,p> <p class="poetry">dark<n id="2" /> like the tents of Qedar,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">lovely<n id="4" /> like the tent curtains<n id="5" /> of Salmah.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="sosspeaker"><b><i>The Beloved:i>b>p> <p class="poetry">I was a wall,p> <p class="poetry">and my breasts were like fortress towers.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Then I found favor<n id="2" /> in his eyes.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I have given orders to my chosen soldiers;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I have summoned the warriors through whom I will vent my anger,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">my boasting, arrogant ones.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, protect it;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I water it regularly.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I guard it night and day,p> <p class="poetry">so no one can harm it.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">I dug wellsp> <p class="poetry">and drank water.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">With the soles of my feet I dried upp> <p class="poetry">all the rivers of Egypt.&#8217;p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I thought,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;In the middle of my life<n id="2" /> I must walk through the gates of Sheol,p> <p class="poetry">I am deprived<n id="3" /> of the rest of my years.&#8217;p>