Salmo 51

Create a pure heart in me

¹For the music director. A psalm of David, ²when the prophet Nathan came to him after he had slept with Bathsheba. ³God, be gracious to me in keeping with your loyal love; \q in the fullness of your compassion, \q wipe away my rebellious acts. ⁴Scrub me completely clean of my guilt, \q and purify me from my sin. ⁵I myself know my rebellious acts, \q and my sin is never out of my sight. ⁶I have sinned against you, against you alone, \q and done what you see as evil. \q So you are shown to be right in your sentence \q and pure in your judgment. ⁷Indeed, guilt was with me when I was born; \q sin was there when my mother conceived me. ⁸Yet you long for truth deep within, \q and in my secret self you make wisdom known to me. ⁹Take away my sin with hyssop, and I will be pure; \q when you wash me, I will be whiter than snow. ¹⁰Fill my ears with gladness and joy; \q let the bones you crushed dance. ¹¹Turn your face away from my sins, \q and erase all my guilt. ¹²God, create a pure heart for me, \q and make my spirit new and steady inside me. ¹³Do not drive me away from your presence, \q and do not withdraw your Holy Spirit from me. ¹⁴Give back to me the gladness of your salvation, \q and keep me steady with a willing spirit. ¹⁵I will teach rebels your paths, \q and sinners will come home to you. ¹⁶Rescue me, God, from the guilt of the blood I have shed, \q God who saves me; \q then my tongue will ring out with your righteousness.^{a 17}Lord, open my lips to speak, \q and I will make your praise known. ¹⁸Sacrifice is not what you desire, or I would offer it; \q a burnt offering does not please you. ¹⁹The sacrifices that God accepts are a broken spirit. \q A heart that is broken and crushed, \q God, you will never reject.^{b 20}In your goodwill be kind to Zion, \q and raise up Jerusalem’s walls. ²¹Then you will welcome sacrifices offered in righteousness, burnt offerings and whole offerings; \q then young bulls will be brought up onto your altar.