The penitential Psalm 50 part 1
The Latin:
Miserere mei, Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam ;
et secundum multitudinem miserationum tuarum, dele iniquitatem meam.
Amplius lava me ab iniquitate mea,
et a peccato meo munda me.
Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego cognosco,
et peccatum meum contra me est semper.
The English:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy.
And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my iniquity.
Wash me yet more from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my iniquity,
and my sin is always before me.
[A good commentary on psalm 50 is presented by Thomas Aquinas, here translated and available online: The Aquinas translation project. A small sample:
"Now the manner of speaking in the title, When Nathan came, must be noted: where it designates pardon about which he is moved in the Psalm because through it the Lord heard him and bore away his sin; but when he says, When he sinned with Bersabee, guilt is designated. Whence two things have been shown. The first which he calls guilt when he says, And he sinned. Psalm 11 "The words of the Lord are pure words." "]
