^1aTo the choirmaster in singing set to stringed music.↑

An Instructive Psalm of David.

^1bListen, O God, to my prayer,

And do not hide from my supplication.

²Hearken to me, and answer me.

I wander in my speech,

And I am in turmoil,

³At the sound of the enemy

– In the face of oppression of the wicked –

For they cause havoc to rain down on me,

And they beleaguer me in anger.

⁴My heart reels inside me,

And the dread of death has fallen on me.

⁵Fear and trembling come upon me,

And fright has enveloped me.

⁶Then I said,

“If only I had flight feathers like a dove,

I would fly away and come to rest.

⁷Behold, I would fly far away;

I would lodge in the desert.

Selah.

⁸I would be quick with my escape,

From the sweeping wind

– From the storm.”

⁹O Lord^*, swallow them up;

Divide their tongue,

For I have seen violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they go around it on its walls,

Whilst iniquity and vice are inside it.

¹¹Inside it are perversities,

Whilst violence and deceit do not depart from its streets.

¹²For it is not an enemy that reproaches me,

Which I could have borne;

It is not one who hates me who defies me,

From whom I could have hidden,

¹³But you – a man of my own standing –

My friend and my acquaintance,

¹⁴With whom we sweetly took joint counsel.

We went to the house of God in a bustling crowd.

¹⁵May death suddenly come upon them;

May they go down to the grave alive,

For there are wicked things in their dwellings,

And in their midst.

¹⁶As for me, I will call to God

That the Lord may save me.

¹⁷Evening and morning, and at noon,

I will lament and sigh,

And he will hear my voice.

¹⁸He has redeemed my life in peace,

From my battle,

For there were many of them in conflict with me.

¹⁹God will hear them and answer them,

For he has been abiding from ancient time.

Selah.

Since they have no change of mind,

They do not fear God.

²⁰He shot out his hands

Against those at peace with him;

He violated his covenant.

²¹The buttered words of his mouth were flattery,

Whilst battle was in his heart.

His words were softer than oil,

Whilst they were with daggers drawn.

²²Cast your burden on the Lord,

And he will sustain you.

He will not allow the righteous to totter for ever.

²³But you, O God, will bring them down to the pit of decay;

Men of blood and deceit will not have half their days.

But I will trust in you.