| 1 | {To the chief Musician. On stringed instruments: an instruction. Of David.} Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. |
| 2 | Attend unto me, and answer me: I wander about in my plaint, and I moan aloud, |
| 3 | Because of the voice of the enemy; because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in anger they persecute me. |
| 4 | My heart is writhing within me, and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. |
| 5 | Fear and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. |
| 6 | And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away, and be at rest; |
| 7 | Behold, I would flee afar off, I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah; |
| 8 | I would hasten my escape from the stormy wind, from the tempest. |
| 9 | Swallow [them] up, Lord; divide their tongue: for I have seen violence and strife in the city. |
| 10 | Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof; and iniquity and mischief are in the midst of it. |
| 11 | Perversities are in the midst thereof; and oppression and deceit depart not from its streets. |
| 12 | For it is not an enemy that hath reproached me -- then could I have borne it; neither is it he that hateth me that hath magnified [himself] against me -- then would I have hidden myself from him; |
| 13 | But it was thou, a man mine equal, mine intimate, my familiar friend. ... |
| 14 | We who held sweet intercourse together. To the house of God we walked amid the throng. |
| 15 | Let death seize upon them, let them go down alive into Sheol. For wickedness is in their dwellings, in their midst. |
| 16 | As for me, unto God will I call; and Jehovah will save me. |
| 17 | Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray and moan aloud; and he will hear my voice. |
| 18 | He hath redeemed my soul in peace from the battle against me: for there were many about me. |
| 19 | uGod will hear, and afflict them: he that is seated of old, (Selah) ... because there is no change in them, and they fear not God. |
| 20 | He hath put forth his hands against such as are at peace with him; he hath profaned his covenant. |
| 21 | Smooth were the milky [words] of his mouth, but his heart was war; his words were softer than oil, yet are they drawn swords. |
| 22 | Cast thy burden upon Jehovah, and *he* will sustain thee: he will never suffer the righteous to be moved. |
| 23 | And thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. But as for me, I will confide in thee. |
