55  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.

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.