56  Be gracious to me, O God, for man ^ktramples on me;

all day long an attacker oppresses me;

2  my enemies trample on me all day long,

for many attack me proudly.

3  When I am afraid,

I put my ^ltrust in you.

4  In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; ^mI shall not be afraid.

What can flesh do to me?

5  All day long they injure my cause;²

all their thoughts are against me for evil.

6  They ⁿstir up strife, they lurk;

they ^owatch my steps,

as they have waited for my life.

7  For their crime will they escape?

In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!

8  You have kept count of my tossings;³

put my tears in your bottle.

Are they not in ^pyour book?

9  Then my enemies will turn back

in the day when I call.

This I know, that^{4 q}God is for me.

10  In God, whose word I praise,

in the Lord, whose word I praise,

11  in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

12  I must perform my vows to you, O God;

I will render thank offerings to you.

13  For you have ^rdelivered my soul from death,

yes, my feet from falling,

that I may ^swalk before God

in the ^tlight of life.

57  Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

for in you my soul takes refuge;

^win the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

till the storms of destruction pass by.

2  I cry out to God Most High,

to God who ^xfulfills his purpose for me.

3  He will send from heaven and save me;

he will put to shame him who ^ytramples on me. Selah

God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

4  My soul is in the midst of ^zlions;

I lie down amid fiery beasts—

the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,

whose tongues are sharp swords.

5  ^aBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

6  They set a net for my steps;

my soul was bowed down.

They ^bdug a pit in my way,

but they have ^cfallen into it themselves. Selah

7  ^dMy heart is steadfast, O God,

my heart is steadfast!

^eI will sing and make melody!

8  Awake, my glory!²

Awake, O harp and lyre!

I will awake the dawn!

9  ^fI will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to you among the nations.

10  For your steadfast love is great ^gto the heavens,

your faithfulness to the clouds.

11  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

58  Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?²

Do you judge the children of man uprightly?

2  No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

your hands deal out violence on earth.

3  The wicked are ^hestranged from the womb;

they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

4  They have venom like the ⁱvenom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

5  so that it does not hear the voice of ^jcharmers

or of the cunning enchanter.

6  O God, ^kbreak the teeth in their mouths;

tear out the fangs of the young ^llions, O Lord!

7  Let them vanish like water that runs away;

when he ^maims his arrows, let them be blunted.

8  Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,

like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.

9  Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,

whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!³

10  ⁿThe righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

he will bathe his ^ofeet in the blood of the wicked.

11  Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;

surely there is a ^pGod who judges on earth.”

59  ^rDeliver me from my enemies, O my God;

protect me from those who rise up against me;

2  deliver me from those who work evil,

and save me from bloodthirsty men.

3  For behold, they lie in wait for my life;

fierce men ^sstir up strife against me.

For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,

4  for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.

^tAwake, come to meet me, and see!

5  You, Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.

^uRouse yourself to punish all the nations;

spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

6  Each evening they come back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

7  There they are, bellowing with their mouths

with swords in their lips—

for “Who,” they think,² “will hear us?”

8  But you, O Lord, ^vlaugh at them;

you hold all the nations in derision.

9  O my Strength, I will watch for you,

for you, O God, are my fortress.

10  My God in his steadfast love³ will ^wmeet me;

God will let me ^xlook in triumph on my enemies.

11  Kill them not, lest my people forget;

make them totter⁴ by your power and bring them down,

O Lord, our ^yshield!

12  For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,

let them be trapped in their pride.

For the cursing and lies that they utter,

13  consume them in wrath;

consume them till they are no more,

^zthat they may know that God rules over Jacob

to the ends of the earth. Selah

14  Each evening they come back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

15  They wander about for food

and growl if they do not get their fill.

16  But I will sing of your strength;

I will sing aloud of your steadfast love ^ain the morning.

For you have been to me a fortress

and a refuge in the day of my distress.

17  O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,

for you, O God, are my fortress,

the God who shows me steadfast love.

60  O God, you have ^crejected us, broken our defenses;

you have been angry; oh, restore us.

2  You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;

repair its breaches, for it totters.

3  ^dYou have made your people see hard things;

you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.

4  You have set up a ^ebanner for those who fear you,

that they may flee to it from the bow.² Selah

5  ^fThat your beloved ones may be delivered,

give salvation by your right hand and answer us!

6  God has spoken in his holiness:³

“With exultation I will divide up Shechem

and portion out the Vale of Succoth.

7  Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;

Ephraim is my helmet;

Judah is my ^gscepter.

8  Moab is my washbasin;

upon Edom I cast my shoe;

over Philistia I shout in triumph.”⁴

9  Who will bring me to the fortified city?

Who will lead me to Edom?

10  Have you not ^hrejected us, O God?

ⁱYou do not go forth, O God, with our armies.

11  Oh, grant us help against the foe,

for vain is the salvation of man!

12  With God we shall do valiantly;

it is he who will tread down our foes.