1  Give ear to my prayer, O God,

and ^zhide not yourself from my plea for mercy!

2  Attend to me, and answer me;

I am restless in my complaint and I moan,

3  because of the noise of the enemy,

because of the oppression of the wicked.

For they drop trouble upon me,

and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

4  My heart is in anguish within me;

the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

5  Fear and trembling come upon me,

and horror overwhelms me.

6  And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest;

7  yes, I would wander far away;

I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah

8  I would hurry to find a shelter

from the raging wind and tempest.”

9  Destroy, O Lord, ^adivide their tongues;

for I see violence and strife in the city.

10  Day and night they go around it

on its walls,

and iniquity and trouble are within it;

11  ruin is in its midst;

oppression and fraud

do not depart from its marketplace.

12  For it is not an enemy who taunts me—

then I could bear it;

it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—

then I could hide from him.

13  But it is you, a man, my equal,

my companion, my ^bfamiliar friend.

14  We used to take sweet counsel together;

within God’s house we walked ^cin the throng.

15  Let death steal over them;

let them go down to Sheol ^dalive;

for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

16  But I call to God,

and the Lord will save me.

17  Evening and ^emorning and at noon

I utter my complaint and moan,

and he hears my voice.

18  He redeems my soul in safety

from the battle that I wage,

for many are arrayed against me.

19  God will give ear and humble them,

he who is enthroned from of old, Selah

because they do not change

and do not fear God.

20  My companion² stretched out his hand against his friends;

he violated his covenant.

21  His speech was smooth as butter,

^fyet war was in his heart;

^ghis words were softer than oil,

yet they were drawn swords.

22  ^hCast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

ⁱhe will never permit

the righteous to be moved.

23  But you, O God, will cast them down

into the pit of destruction;

men of blood and treachery

shall not live out half their days.

But I will trust in you.

1  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.”

1  Hear my cry, O God,

listen to my prayer;

2  from the end of the earth I call to you

^jwhen my heart is faint.

Lead me to the rock

that is higher than I,

3  for you have been my refuge,

a ^kstrong tower against the enemy.

4  Let me ^ldwell in your tent forever!

Let me take refuge ^munder the shelter of your wings! Selah

5  For you, O God, have heard my vows;

you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

6  Prolong the life of the king;

ⁿmay his years endure to all generations!

7  May he be enthroned forever before God;

appoint ^osteadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!

8  So will I ever sing praises to your name,

as I perform my vows day after day.

1  ^qFor God alone my soul waits ^rin silence;

from him comes my salvation.

2  He alone is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

3  How long will all of you attack a man

to batter him,

like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?

4  They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.

They take pleasure in falsehood.

They bless with their mouths,

^sbut inwardly they curse. Selah

5  ^tFor God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,

for my hope is from him.

6  He only is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

7  On God rests my salvation and my glory;

my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

8  ^uTrust in him at all times, O people;

^vpour out your heart before him;

God is a refuge for us. Selah

9  Those of ^wlow estate are but a breath;

those of high estate are a delusion;

in the balances they go up;

they are together lighter than a breath.

10  Put no ^xtrust in extortion;

set no vain hopes on robbery;

^yif riches increase, set not your heart on them.

11  Once God has spoken;

twice have I heard this:

that power belongs to God,

12  and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.

For you will render to a man

^zaccording to his work.

1  Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;

preserve my life from dread of the enemy.

2  Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,

from the throng of evildoers,

3  who whet their tongues like swords,

who ^gaim bitter words like arrows,

4  shooting ^hfrom ambush at the blameless,

shooting at him suddenly and without fear.

5  They hold fast to their evil purpose;

they talk of laying snares secretly,

thinking, “Who can see them?”

6  They search out injustice,

saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”

For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.

7  But God shoots his arrow at them;

they are wounded suddenly.

8  They are brought to ruin, ⁱwith their own tongues turned against them;

all who see them will ^jwag their heads.

9  Then all mankind fears;

they tell what God has brought about

and ponder what he has done.

10  Let the righteous one rejoice in the Lord

and take refuge in him!

Let all the ^kupright in heart exult!

1  Praise is due to you,¹ O God, in Zion,

and to you shall vows be performed.

2  O you who hear prayer,

^lto you shall all flesh come.

3  When iniquities prevail against me,

you ^matone for our transgressions.

4  ⁿBlessed is the one you choose and bring near,

^oto dwell in your courts!

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,

the holiness of your temple!

5  By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,

O God of our salvation,

the hope of all the ends of the earth

and of the farthest seas;

6  the one who by his strength established the mountains,

being ^pgirded with might;

7  who ^qstills the roaring of the seas,

the roaring of their waves,

the ^rtumult of the peoples,

8  so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.

You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

9  You visit the earth and ^swater it;²

you greatly enrich it;

the river of God is full of water;

you provide their grain,

for so you have prepared it.

10  You water its furrows abundantly,

settling its ridges,

softening it with showers,

and blessing its growth.

11  You crown the year with your bounty;

your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.

12  The ^tpastures of the wilderness overflow,

the hills gird themselves with joy,

13  the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,

the valleys deck themselves with grain,

^uthey shout and sing together for joy.