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Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am in distress. My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief.
Psalms 31:9 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: mine eye is consumed with grief, yea, my soul and my belly.
  • BSB Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes fail from sorrow, my soul and body as well.
  • NKJV Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; My eye wastes away with grief, Yes, my soul and my body!
  • NASB ¶Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am in distress; My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body too.
  • NLT Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress. Tears blur my eyes. My body and soul are withering away.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 16

  • Ps 6:7My eye wastes away because of grief. It grows old because of all my adversaries.
  • Ps 88:9My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, Yahweh. I have spread out my hands to you.
  • Ps 73:26My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
  • Ps 107:10Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,
  • Ps 73:14For all day long I have been plagued, and punished every morning.
  • Ps 38:1–10A Psalm by David, for a memorial. Yahweh, don’t rebuke me in your wrath, neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.
  • Job 33:19–22He is chastened also with pain on his bed, with continual strife in his bones;
  • Ps 22:14–15I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.
  • Ps 102:3–5For my days consume away like smoke. My bones are burned as a torch.
  • Ps 6:1–2For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments, upon the eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm by David. Yahweh, don’t rebuke me in your anger, neither discipline me in your wrath.
  • Ps 44:25For our soul is bowed down to the dust. Our body clings to the earth.
  • Ps 88:3–5For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol.
  • Lam 4:17Our eyes still fail, looking in vain for our help: In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.
  • Ps 66:14which my lips promised, and my mouth spoke, when I was in distress.
  • Job 17:7My eye also is dim by reason of sorrow. All my members are as a shadow.
  • Lam 5:17For this our heart is faint; For these things our eyes are dim;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 31:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 31:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.