The LORD reached down from above and took hold of me; he pulled me out of the deep waters.

He rescued me from my powerful enemies and from all those who hate me--- they were too strong for me.

You have sent troubles and suffering on me, but you will restore my strength; you will keep me from the grave.

How great is your constant love for me! You have saved me from the grave itself.

The danger of death was all around me; the horrors of the grave closed in on me; I was filled with fear and anxiety.

Listen to my cry for help, for I am sunk in despair. Save me from my enemies; they are too strong for me.

Set me free from my distress; then in the assembly of your people I will praise you because of your goodness to me.

My enemies have hunted me down and completely defeated me. They have put me in a dark prison, and I am like those who died long ago.

God will crowd kings together like prisoners in a pit. He will shut them in prison until the time of their punishment comes.

The water came over me and choked me; the sea covered me completely, and seaweed wrapped around my head.

I went down to the very roots of the mountains, into the land whose gates lock shut forever. But you, O LORD my God, brought me back from the depths alive.

The LORD says, "Because of my covenant with you that was sealed by the blood of sacrifices, I will set your people free--- free from the waterless pit of exile.

But God raised him from death, setting him free from its power, because it was impossible that death should hold him prisoner.

because you will not abandon me in the world of the dead; you will not allow your faithful servant to rot in the grave.

"My friends, I must speak to you plainly about our famous ancestor King David. He died and was buried, and his grave is here with us to this very day.

David saw what God was going to do in the future, and so he spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah when he said, 'He was not abandoned in the world of the dead; his body did not rot in the grave.'

and will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.

I am sinking in deep mud, and there is no solid ground; I am out in deep water, and the waves are about to drown me.

Save me from sinking in the mud; keep me safe from my enemies, safe from the deep water.

Don't let the flood come over me; don't let me drown in the depths or sink into the grave.

So they took me and let me down by ropes into Prince Malchiah's well, which was in the palace courtyard. There was no water in the well, only mud, and I sank down in it.

So Ebedmelech went there and said to the king,

Then the king ordered Ebedmelech to take with him three men and to pull me out of the well before I died.

He told me to put the rags under my arms, so that the ropes wouldn't hurt me. I did this,

They threw me alive into a pit and closed the opening with a stone.

"From the bottom of the pit, O LORD, I cried out to you,

In times of trouble he will shelter me; he will keep me safe in his Temple and make me secure on a high rock.

In despair and far from home I call to you! Take me to a safe refuge,

"So then, anyone who hears these words of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock.

The rain poured down, the rivers flooded over, and the wind blew hard against that house. But it did not fall, because it was built on rock.

I have always walked in your way and have never strayed from it.

You have kept me from being captured, and I have never fallen.

The LORD guides us in the way we should go and protects those who please him.

As you have promised, keep me from falling; don't let me be overcome by evil.