A psalm written by David for the choir director, concerning the time when the prophet Nathan rebuked David after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba

51 O God, be merciful to me,

because you love me faithfully;

because you are very merciful,

erase the record of the ways that I disobeyed you!

2 Make me pure from the wrong things that I have done;

make me clean from the guilt of my sin.

3 I say that because I know the ways that I have disobeyed you;

I cannot forget them.

4 You, you only, are the one that I have really sinned against,

and you have seen the evil things that I have done.

When you say that I am guilty, you are right/correct,

and when you judge me, you justly say that I deserve to be punished.

5 I have been a sinner since the day that I was born;

truly, I have been like that since my mother conceived me.

6 What you desire is that I desire what is true

in order that you can teach me how to act wisely.

7 Purify me from the guilt of my sins, and after that happens, I will be clean in my inner being;

cleanse me, and then in my inner being I will be ◄whiter than snow/very clean►.

8 Allow/Cause me to be joyful [DOU] again;

you have ◄crushed my spirit/completely discouraged me► [MTY];

but now let me rejoice again.

9 Do not continue to look at the sins [IDM] that I have committed;

erase the record of the evil things that I have done.

10 O God, cause my inner being to be pure.

Put new thoughts within me and make me faithful again.

11 Do not send me away from you because of my sin,

and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Cause/Allow me to be happy again because of knowing that you have freed me from the guilt of my sin,

and make me willing to obey you.

13 If you do that, I will be able to teach other sinners what you want them to do,

and they will repent and begin to obey you.

14 O God, you are the one who saves me;

forgive me for being guilty of causing someone who was not my enemy to die.

When you do that, I will sing joyfully about your being very good and righteous.

15 O Yahweh, help me to speak

in order that I may praise you.

16 You are not pleased only with the sacrifices that people bring to you.

If that were enough to please you, I would bring you sacrifices.

You are not pleased with burnt offerings alone.

17 The sacrifice that you really want is for people to be truly humble and sorry for having sinned;

O God, you will not refuse that kind of sacrifice.

18 O God, be good to the people who live in Jerusalem [MTY],

and help them to rebuild the city walls.

19 When that happens, they will bring you the proper sacrifices,

animals that they will completely burn,

young bulls that they will burn on your altar,

and you will be pleased.