O Lord, you pulled me ¹  up from Sheol; you rescued me from among those descending into the grave. ² 

“What ¹  profit is there in taking my life, ²  in my descending into the Pit? ³  Can the dust of the grave ⁴  praise you? Can it declare your loyalty? ⁵ 

O Lord, do not let me be humiliated, for I call out to you! May evil men be humiliated! May they go wailing to the grave! ¹ 

May death destroy them! ¹  May they go down alive into Sheol! ²  For evil is in their dwelling place and in their midst.

But you, O God, will bring them ¹  down to the deep Pit. ²  Violent and deceitful people ³  will not live even half a normal lifespan. ⁴  But as for me, I trust in you.

Don’t let the current overpower me! Don’t let the deep swallow me up! Don’t let the pit ¹  devour me! ² 

Though you have allowed me to experience much trouble and distress, ¹  revive me once again! ²  Bring me up once again ³  from the depths of the earth!

adrift ¹  among the dead, like corpses lying in the grave, whom you remember no more, and who are cut off from your power. ² 

The ropes of death tightened around me, ¹  the snares ²  of Sheol confronted me. I was confronted ³  with trouble and sorrow.

Answer me quickly, Lord! My strength is fading. ¹  Do not reject me, ²  or I will join ³  those descending into the grave. ⁴ 

“Ask for a confirming sign from the Lord your God. You can even ask for something miraculous.” ¹ 

¹ They will say to you, “Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. ²  Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?” ³ 

Look how you have fallen from the sky, O shining one, son of the dawn! ¹  You have been cut down to the ground, O conqueror ²  of the nations! ³ 

The Egyptians will panic, ¹  and I will confuse their strategy. ²  They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead, from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. ³ 

Your treaty with death will be dissolved; ¹  your agreement ²  with Sheol will not last. ³  When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, ⁴  you will be overrun by it. ⁵ 

“I thought, ¹  ‘In the middle of my life ²  I must walk through the gates of Sheol, I am deprived ³  of the rest of my years.’

The one who suffers ¹  will soon be released; he will not die in prison, ²  he will not go hungry. ³ 

You take olive oil as tribute ¹  to your king, ²  along with many perfumes. ³  You send your messengers to a distant place; you go all the way to Sheol. ⁴ 

The bravest of the warriors will speak to him from the midst of Sheol along with his allies, saying: ‘The uncircumcised have come down; they lie still, killed by the sword.’

“Edom is there with her kings and all her princes. Despite their might they are laid with those killed by the sword; they lie with the uncircumcised and those who descend to the pit.