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Psalms · Bible in Basic English

Psalm 143 Bible in Basic English

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About BBE
  • Scholarly edition
  • OT: Masoretic Hebrew (not verified)
  • NT: Critical text (not verified)
  • Protestant (66 books)
  • Simplified language
  • 1965
  • Public domain

Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings

Notes on this text (1)
BBE Bible in Basic English
WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)
1 A Psalm. Of David. Let my prayer come to you, O Lord; give ear to my requests for your grace; keep faith with me, and give me an answer in your righteousness;
1 A Psalm by David. Hear my prayer, Yahweh. Listen to my petitions. In your faithfulness and righteousness, relieve me.
2 Let not your servant come before you to be judged; for no man living is upright in your eyes.
2 Don’t enter into judgment with your servant, for in your sight no man living is righteous.
3 The evil man has gone after my soul; my life is crushed down to the earth: he has put me in the dark, like those who have long been dead.
3 For the enemy pursues my soul. He has struck my life down to the ground. He has made me live in dark places, as those who have been long dead.
4 Because of this my spirit is overcome; and my heart is full of fear.
4 Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me. My heart within me is desolate.
5 I keep in mind the early days of the past, giving thought to all your acts, even to the work of your hands.
5 I remember the days of old. I meditate on all your doings. I contemplate the work of your hands.
6 My hands are stretched out to you: my soul is turned to you, like a land in need of water. (Selah.)
6 I spread out my hands to you. My soul thirsts for you, like a parched land. Selah.
7 Be quick in answering me, O Lord, for the strength of my spirit is gone: let me see your face, so that I may not be like those who go down into the underworld.
7 Hurry to answer me, Yahweh. My spirit fails. Don’t hide your face from me, so that I don’t become like those who go down into the pit.
8 Let the story of your mercy come to me in the morning, for my hope is in you: give me knowledge of the way in which I am to go; for my soul is lifted up to you.
8 Cause me to hear your loving kindness in the morning, for I trust in you. Cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to you.
9 O Lord, take me out of the hands of my haters; my soul is waiting for you.
9 Deliver me, Yahweh, from my enemies. I flee to you to hide me.
10 Give me teaching so that I may do your pleasure; for you are my God: let your good Spirit be my guide into the land of righteousness.
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness.
11 Give me life, O Lord, because of your name; in your righteousness take my soul out of trouble.
11 Revive me, Yahweh, for your name’s sake. In your righteousness, bring my soul out of trouble.
12 And in your mercy put an end to my haters, and send destruction on all those who are against my soul; for I am your servant.
12 In your loving kindness, cut off my enemies, and destroy all those who afflict my soul, for I am your servant.
Cross references (12)

Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.

  1. 1 Psalm 71:2; Psalm 31:1; Psalm 140:6; Daniel 9:16; 1 John 1:9
  2. 2 Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:20; Job 25:4; Psalm 130:3; 1 John 1:10
  3. 3 Lamentations 3:6; Psalm 7:5; Psalm 7:1–2; Psalm 88:4–6; Psalm 142:6
  4. 4 Psalm 142:3; Psalm 77:3; Psalm 102:3–4; Psalm 55:5; Luke 22:44
  5. 5 Psalm 77:10–12; Psalm 77:5–6; Micah 6:5; Psalm 111:4; 1 Samuel 17:45–50
  6. 6 Job 11:13; Psalm 63:1; Psalm 88:9; Psalm 84:2; Psalm 42:1–2
  7. 7 Psalm 69:17; Psalm 28:1; Psalm 27:9; Psalm 71:12; Isaiah 38:18
  8. 8 Psalm 25:4–5; Proverbs 3:5–6; Psalm 32:8; Isaiah 48:17; Isaiah 30:21
  9. 9 Proverbs 18:10; Psalm 61:3–4; Psalm 59:1; Psalm 142:5; Psalm 31:15
  10. 10 Psalm 25:4–5; John 14:26; Hebrews 13:21; Psalm 23:3; Psalm 119:12
  11. 11 Psalm 31:1; Ephesians 2:4–5; Psalm 119:25; Psalm 71:2; Psalm 138:7
  12. 12 Psalm 54:5; Psalm 116:16; Psalm 119:94; Psalm 52:5; Psalm 136:15–20

Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences

What the Fathers said

Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).

How these were chosen

“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).

  1. Commentary Augustine of Hippo, Expositions on the Psalms (Psalm CXLII)

    "With my voice have I cried unto the Lord" (ver. 1). It were enough to say, "with voice:" not for nothing perhaps has "my" been added. For many cry unto the Lord, not with their own voice, but with the voice of their body.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)

  2. Quotes verse 143:2 Augustine of Hippo, Confessions (Book IX, Chapter XIII)

    Forgive her, O Lord, forgive her, I beseech Thee; "enter not into judgment" with her. Let Thy mercy be exalted above Thy justice, because Thy words are true, and Thou hast promised mercy unto "the merciful;" which Thou gavest them to be who wilt "have mercy" on whom Thou wilt "have mercy," and wilt "have compassion" on whom Thou hast …

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)

  3. Quotes verse 143:10 Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures (Lecture XVI)

    … of the prophets;--and Samuel was called the Seer; and David says distinctly, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and in the Psalms, And take not thy Holy Spirit from me, and again, Thy good Spirit shall lead me in the land of righteousness.

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)

  4. Quotes verse 143:10 Basil of Caesarea, On the Holy Spirit (Chapter XIX)

    … the Son is holy, for to the creature holiness was brought in from without, but to the Spirit holiness is the fulfilment of nature, and it is for this reason that He is described not as being sanctified, but as sanctifying. He is called good, as the Father is good, and He who was begotten of the Good is good, …

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)

  5. Quotes verse 143:10 Augustine of Hippo, Confessions (Book XII, Chapters XXXI–XXXII)

    Finally, O Lord, who art God, and not flesh and blood, if man doth see anything less, can anything lie hid from "Thy good Spirit," who shall "lead me into the land of uprightness," which Thou Thyself, by those words, wert about to reveal to future readers, although he through whom they were spoken, amid the many interpretations that might …

    Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)