¹A Prayer of David.

Hear, O Lord, in righteousness,

Hearken to my cry;

Listen to my prayer,

Which is not with deceitful lips.

²May my justice come from your presence;

May your eyes see things that are upright.

³You have tested my heart,

You have paid a visit by night;

You have refined me and found no dross.

I have resolved that my mouth shall not transgress.

⁴As for the works of man,

By the word of your lips

I have been on guard

Against the ways of the violent man.

⁵Keep my steps on your paths,

So my steps do not falter.

⁶I have called on you,

For you answer me, O God.

Turn your ear to me;

Hear my oration.

⁷Show your wondrous kindness,

You who by your right hand save

Those who put their trust in you,

From those who rise up against them.

⁸Keep me as the apple of your eye;

Hide me in the shadow of your wings,

⁹From the wicked ones who treat me with violence

– From my mortal enemies who surround me.

¹⁰With their fatness they have closed themselves off;

With their mouth they speak haughtily.

¹¹Having followed our steps,

They have surrounded me now;

They have set their eyes

Ready to be devious on the ground.

¹²Here is a simile for this:

Like a lion that is eager to tear in pieces,

Like a young lion that crouches in hiding places.

¹³Arise, O Lord,

Confront him,

Bring him low;

Deliver my life from the wicked one

With your sword.

¹⁴Deliver me from men by your power, O Lord,

From men of the world,

Whose portion in life

Is that you fill their belly with your hidden treasure,

And their sons are satisfied,

And they leave their surplus to their children.

¹⁵As for me, I will see your face in righteousness;

I will be satisfied when I awake in your likeness.