I have made permissible what I have known not to be ...

Woe to me, O my soul,

For in my presumption,

I am left without a desire to repent,

I know not if my sorrow is godly or self-pity.

Surely I have wearied myself,

By my constant presumption upon the Lord’s mercy,

I have made permissible what I have known not to be,

Leaving my conscience seared 

and me unsure of what is truth and what is not,

And I am in anguish of heart and bitterness of soul.

Have mercy, O Lord, have mercy on me!

Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean,

Wash me, wash all of me and I shall be clean.

Surely I am a great and grievous sinner,

My origin defiled the moment of my conception,

My birth stained,

My youth ensnared,

My adulthood corrupted,

My age bespotted.

My imaginations vain,

My thoughts sinful,

My words wicked,

My actions abominable,

My life and my all surely a sink of sin and all uncleanliness.

I desire You, O Lord,

I desire Your mercies O Lord,

Not that I may presume upon them,

But that I may confess myself and my sins 

for what I am and what I have done,

And here You speak to me the words of eternal life.

O Lord, merciful Lord,

Create in me a clean heart,

Renew a right understanding of You,

Of Your mercies

And of my life in them.

Have mercy, O Christ,

Have mercy and be gracious to me,

Good Lord. Amen.

pmwl