“You shall have no other gods before Me.
Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, favored by God] is he whose transgression is forgiven, And whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute wickedness, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all the day long.
For day and night Your hand [of displeasure] was heavy upon me; My energy (vitality, strength) was drained away as with the burning heat of summer. Selah.
I acknowledged my sin to You, And I did not hide my wickedness; I said, “I will confess [all] my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.
Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You [for forgiveness] in a time when You [are near and] may be found; Surely when the great waters [of trial and distressing times] overflow they will not reach [the spirit in] him.
Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and guilt And cleanse me from my sin.
For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; My sin is always before me.
Against You, You only, have I sinned And done that which is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak [Your sentence] And faultless in Your judgment.
My [only] sacrifice [acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart [broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.
All of us like sheep have gone astray, We have turned, each one, to his own way; But the Lord has caused the wickedness of us all [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing] To fall on Him [instead of us].
And He said, “Whatever comes from [the heart of] a man, that is what defiles and dishonors him.
For from within, [that is] out the heart of men, come base and malevolent thoughts and schemes, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, adulteries,
acts of greed and covetousness, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained conduct, envy and jealousy, slander and profanity, arrogance and self-righteousness and foolishness (poor judgment).
All these evil things [schemes and desires] come from within and defile and dishonor the man.”
since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God,
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude ourselves and the truth is not in us. [His word does not live in our hearts.]
If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose].
Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness [ignoring God’s law by action or neglect or by tolerating wrongdoing—being unrestrained by His commands and His will].
All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death [one can repent of it and be forgiven].