1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
2Â Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.
3Â For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
4Â Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
5Â Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6Â Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7Â Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Â Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9Â Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.
10Â Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11Â Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12Â Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13Â Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    so that sinners will turn back to you.
14Â Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
    you who are God my Saviour,
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15Â Open my lips, Lord,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
16Â You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17Â My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.
18Â May it please you to prosper Zion,
    to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19Â Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
    in burnt offerings offered whole;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.
1 What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? 2Â Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God.
3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written:
‘So that you may be proved right when you speak
    and prevail when you judge.’
5 But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.) 6 Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? 7 Someone might argue, ‘If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?’ 8 Why not say – as some slanderously claim that we say – ‘Let us do evil that good may result’? Their condemnation is just!
9Â What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10Â As it is written:
‘There is no one righteous, not even one;
11Â Â Â Â Â there is n o one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
12Â All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one.’
13 ‘Their throats are open graves;
    their tongues practise deceit.’
‘The poison of vipers is on their lips.’
14     ‘Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.’
15 ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16Â Â Â Â Â ruin and misery mark their ways,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.’
18     ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
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