Psalm 51

1. God, hear my plea, be merciful to me; / Treat me according to Thy loving-kindness. / Blot out my misdeeds, done in sinful blindness, / So that again Thy mercy I may see. / All my offences in Thy grace forgive, / And wash away the guilt of my transgression, / That I may free from taint of evil live; / LORD, from my sin cleanse me in Thy / compassion.

2. All my transgressions do I know within, / And all my sin is constantly before me. / Let Thy abundant mercy then restore me; / Against Thee, LORD, Thee only, did I sin. / I have committed evil in Thy sight; / I know that Thou art righteous in Thy dealings. / Thy sentence, LORD, is wholly justified, / Thy judgment blameless, righteousness revealing.

3. Behold, I was in sinfulness conceived, / And in iniquity my mother bore me. / Thou dost desire that I should walk before Thee / And in my inmost heart Thy truth receive. / Purge me with hyssop: clean shall I then be; / Wash me to whiteness snow can never capture. / Grant joy and gladness so that unto Thee / Bones Thou hast broken shout again with rapture. / W. W. J. VanOene, 1972; rev.

Genevan Psalter