1  ^aDeliver me from my enemies, O my God;

^bprotect me from those who ^crise up against me;

2  deliver me from ^dthose who work evil,

and save me from ^ebloodthirsty men.

3  For behold, they ^flie in wait for my life;

fierce men ^gstir up strife against me.

^hFor no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,

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

ⁱAwake, come to meet me, and see!

5  You, ^jLord God of hosts, are God of Israel.

Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;

spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah

6  Each evening they ^kcome back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

7  There they are, ^lbellowing with their mouths

with ^mswords in their lips—

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

8  But you, O Lord, ^olaugh at them;

you hold all the nations in derision.

9  O my Strength, I will watch for you,

for you, O God, are ^pmy fortress.

10  ^qMy God in his steadfast love^{3 r}will meet me;

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

11  Kill them not, lest my people forget;

make them totter⁴ by your power and ^tbring them down,

O Lord, our ^ushield!

12  For ^vthe 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  ^wconsume them in wrath;

consume them till they are no more,

that they may ^xknow that God rules over Jacob

to ^ythe ends of the earth. Selah

14  ^zEach evening they come back,

howling like dogs

and prowling about the city.

15  They ^awander 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 in the morning.

For you have been to me ^ba fortress

and ^ca refuge in ^dthe day of my distress.

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

for you, O God, ^bare my fortress,

^ethe God who shows me steadfast love.

Behold, the Lord ^cis riding on a swift cloud

and comes to Egypt;

and ^dthe idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,

and the heart of the Egyptians will ^emelt within them.

2  And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,

^fand they will fight, each against another

and each against his neighbor,

city against city, kingdom against kingdom;

3  and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,

and I will confound¹ their ^gcounsel;

and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,

and ^hthe mediums and the necromancers;

4  and I will give over the Egyptians

into the hand of ⁱa hard master,

and a fierce king will rule over them,

declares the Lord God of hosts.

5  And the waters of the sea will be dried up,

and the river will be dry and parched,

6  and its canals will become foul,

and the branches of Egypt’s Nile will diminish and dry up,

reeds and rushes will rot away.

7  There will be bare places by the Nile,

on the brink of the Nile,

and all that is sown by the Nile will be parched,

will be driven away, and will be no more.

8  The ^jfishermen will mourn and lament,

all who cast a hook in the Nile;

and they will languish

who spread nets on the water.

9  The workers in ^kcombed flax will be in despair,

and the weavers of white cotton.

10  Those who are the ^lpillars of the land will be crushed,

and all who ^mwork for pay will be grieved.

11  The princes of ⁿZoan are utterly foolish;

the wisest counselors of Pharaoh give stupid counsel.

How can you say to Pharaoh,

“I am a son of the wise,

a son of ancient kings”?

12  Where then are your ^owise men?

Let them tell you

that they might know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.

13  The princes of ⁿZoan have become fools,

and the princes of ^pMemphis are deluded;

those who are the ^qcornerstones of her tribes

have made Egypt stagger.

14  The Lord has mingled within her ^ra spirit of confusion,

and they will make Egypt stagger in all its deeds,

^sas a drunken man staggers in his vomit.

15  And there will be nothing for Egypt

that ^thead or tail, palm branch or reed, may do.