Psalm 130


Psalm 130 is the 130th psalm of the Book of Psalms, one of the Penitential psalms. The first verse is a call to God in deep sorrow, from "out of the depths" or "out of the deep", as it is translated in the King James Version of the Bible and the Coverdale translation respectively. It is one of 15 psalms that begin with the words "A song of ascents". The Book of Psalms is the third section of the Hebrew Bible and a book of the Christian Old Testament. In the Greek Septuagint version of the Bible, and in the Latin Vulgate, this psalm is Psalm 129 in a slightly different numbering system. In Latin, it is known as De profundis.
The psalm is a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Anglican and Protestant liturgies. It was paraphrased in hymns. The psalm has been set to music often, by composers such as Orlando di Lasso, Heinrich Schütz and John Rutter.

Text

Hebrew Bible version

Following is the Hebrew text of Psalm 130:
VerseHebrew
1שִׁ֥יר הַֽמַּֽעֲל֑וֹת מִמַּֽעֲמַקִּ֖ים קְרָאתִ֣יךָ יְהֹוָֽה
2אֲדֹנָי֘ שִׁמְעָ֪ה בְק֫וֹלִ֥י תִּֽהְיֶ֣ינָה אָ֖זְנֶיךָ קַשֻּׁב֑וֹת לְ֜ק֗וֹל תַּֽחֲנוּנָֽי
3אִם־עֲו‍ֹנ֥וֹת תִּשְׁמָר־יָ֑הּ אֲ֜דֹנָ֗י מִ֣י יַֽעֲמֹֽד
4כִּֽי־עִמְּךָ֥ הַסְּלִיחָ֑ה לְ֜מַעַ֗ן תִּוָּרֵֽא
5קִוִּ֣יתִי יְ֖הֹוָה קִוְּתָ֣ה נַפְשִׁ֑י וְלִדְבָ֘ר֥וֹ הוֹחָֽלְתִּי
6נַפְשִׁ֥י לַֽאדֹנָ֑י מִשֹּֽׁמְרִ֥ים לַ֜בֹּ֗קֶר שֹֽׁמְרִ֥ים לַבֹּֽקֶר
7יַחֵ֥ל יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל אֶל־יְהֹ֫וָה כִּֽי־עִם־יְהֹוָ֥ה הַחֶ֑סֶד וְהַרְבֵּ֖ה עִמּ֣וֹ פְדֽוּת
8וְהוּא יִפְדֶּ֣ה אֶת־יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל מִ֜כֹּ֗ל עֲוֹֽנוֹתָֽיו

A marginal note in the Masoretic Text tradition indicates that Psalm 130:2 is the middle of the whole Ketuvim section in Hebrew.

King James Version

  1. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD.
  2. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
  3. If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?
  4. But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
  5. I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
  6. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
  7. Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
  8. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

    Uses

Judaism

Psalm 130 is recited as part of the liturgy for the High Holidays, sung responsively before the open Torah ark during the morning service from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur. The custom of reciting this psalm during these times had long lain dormant until it was revived in the Birnbaum and Artscroll siddurim in the 20th century.
Psalm 130 is one of the 15 Songs of Ascents recited after the Shabbat afternoon prayer in the period between Sukkot and Shabbat HaGadol. In some congregations, it is said on every weekday. In Hebrew, it is often referred to as "Shir HaMa'alot MiMa'amakim" after its opening words.
It is recited during the Tashlikh prayer.
It is one of the psalms traditionally recited "in times of communal distress".
Verses 3-4 are part of the opening paragraph of the long Tachanun recited on Mondays and Thursdays.

Catholic Church

According to the Rule of Saint Benedict established around 530, the psalm was used at the beginning of the vespers service on Tuesday, followed by Psalm 131.
In the current Liturgy of the Hours, the psalm is recited or sung at vespers on the Saturday of the fourth week, and on Wednesday evenings. In the Liturgy of the Mass, Psalm 130 is read on the 10th Sunday of Ordinary Time in Year B, on the 5th Sunday of Lent in Year A, and on the Tuesday in the 27th Week in Ordinary Time on weekday cycle I. It is also used as the entrance antiphon on the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Literature

"De Profundis" was used as the title of a poem by Spanish author Federico García Lorca in Poema del cante jondo.
A long letter by Oscar Wilde, written to his former lover Lord Alfred Douglas near the end of Wilde's life while he was in prison, also bears the title "De Profundis", although it was given the title after Wilde's death. Poems by Alfred Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Charles Baudelaire, Christina Rossetti, C. S. Lewis, Georg Trakl, Dorothy Parker and José Cardoso Pires bear the same title.
In the novel Fires on the Plain by Shōhei Ōoka, the character Tamura makes reference to the psalm's first line "De profundis clamavi" in a dream sequence.

Hymns

paraphrased Psalm 130 as the hymn "Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir", which has inspired several composers, including Bach, Mendelssohn and Reger.

Musical settings

This psalm has been frequently set to music. It was sometimes used for funeral services, especially under its Latin incipit "De profundis":

Psalm 130

Latin

Some other works named De profundis but with texts not derived from the psalm are:

French

German

Other