Psalm 51 — the Miserere

Original Version

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness
In your compassion blot out my offense.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.

My offenses--truly I know them;
my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
What is evil in your sight I have done.

That you may be justified when you give sentence
and be without reproach when you judge:
O see, in guilt I was born,
a sinner was I conceived.

Indeed, you love truth in the heart;
then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.
O purify me, then I shall be clean;
O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me hear rejoicing and gladness,
that the bones you have crushed may revive.
From my sins turn away your face
and blot out all my guilt.

A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
Nor deprive me of your holy spirit.

Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervor sustain me,
that I may teach transgressors your ways
and sinners may return to you.

O rescue me, God, my helper,
and my tongue shall ring out your goodness.
O Lord, open my lips
And my mouth shall declare your praise.

For in sacrifice you take no delight,
burnt offering from me you would refuse,
my sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn.

In your goodness, show favor to Zion:
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,
holocausts offered on your altar.

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This is the version of Psalm 51 used in the Liturgy of the Hours. NAB version.

Plural Version: for our nation

Have mercy on us, O God, in Your kindness
In Your compassion blot out our offense.
O wash us more and more from our guilt
and cleanse us from our sin.

Our offenses--truly we know them;
our sin is always before us.
Against You, You alone, have we sinned;
What is evil in Your sight we have done.

That You may be justified when You give sentence
and be without reproach when You judge:
O see, in guilt we were born,
as sinners were we conceived.

Indeed, You love truth in the heart;
then in the secret of our heart teach us wisdom.
O purify us, then we shall be clean;
O wash us, we shall be whiter than snow.

Make us hear rejoicing and gladness,
that the bones You have crushed may revive.
From our sins turn away Your face
and blot out all our guilt.

A pure heart create for us, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within us.
Do not cast us away from Your presence,
Nor deprive us of Your Holy Spirit.

Give us again the joy of Your help;
with a spirit of fervor sustain us,
that we may teach transgressors Your ways
and sinners may return to You.

O rescue us, God, our helper,
and our tongues shall ring out Your goodness.
O Lord, open our lips
And our mouths shall declare Your praise.

For in sacrifice You take no delight,
burnt offering from us You would refuse,
our sacrifice, a contrite spirit.
A humbled, contrite heart You will not spurn.

In Your goodness, show favor to Zion:
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then You will be pleased with lawful sacrifice,
holocausts offered on Your altar.