137  By the waters of Babylon,

there we sat down and wept,

when we remembered Zion.

2  On the willows¹ there

we hung up our lyres.

3  For there our captors

required of us songs,

and our tormentors, mirth, saying,

“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

4  ^sHow shall we sing the Lord’s song

in a foreign land?

5  If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

^tlet my right hand forget its skill!

6  Let my ^utongue stick to the roof of my mouth,

if I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem

above my highest joy!

7  Remember, O Lord, against the ^vEdomites

^wthe day of Jerusalem,

how they said, ^x“Lay it bare, lay it bare,

down to its foundations!”

8  O daughter of Babylon, ^ydoomed to be destroyed,

blessed shall he be who ^zrepays you

with what you have done to us!

9  Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones

and ^adashes them against the rock!

138  ^bI give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;

before ^cthe gods I sing your praise;

2  I bow down ^dtoward your ^eholy temple

and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

for you have exalted above all things

your name and your word.¹

3  On the day I called, you answered me;

my strength of soul you increased.²

4  ^fAll the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord,

for they have heard the words of your mouth,

5  and they shall sing of ^gthe ways of the Lord,

for great is the glory of the Lord.

6  ^hFor though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,

but the haughty he knows from afar.

7  ⁱThough I walk in the midst of trouble,

you ^jpreserve my life;

you ^kstretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,

and your ^lright hand delivers me.

8  The Lord will ^mfulfill his purpose for me;

ⁿyour steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not forsake ^othe work of your hands.

139  O Lord, you have ^psearched me and known me!

2  You ^qknow when I sit down and when I rise up;

you ^rdiscern my thoughts from afar.

3  You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

4  Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, ^syou know it altogether.

5  You ^them me in, behind and before,

and ^ulay your hand upon me.

6  ^vSuch knowledge is ^wtoo wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.

7  ^xWhere shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where ^yshall I flee from your presence?

8  ^zIf I ascend to heaven, you are there!

^aIf I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

9  If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10  even there your hand shall ^blead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

11  If I say, ^c“Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

12  ^deven the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

13  For you ^eformed my inward parts;

you ^fknitted me together in my mother’s womb.

14  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.¹

^gWonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

15  ^hMy frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in ⁱthe depths of the earth.

16  Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your ^jbook were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

17  How precious to me are your ^kthoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

18  ^lIf I would count them, they are more than ^mthe sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

19  Oh that you would ⁿslay the wicked, O God!

O ^omen of blood, ^pdepart from me!

20  They ^qspeak against you with malicious intent;

your enemies ^rtake your name in vain.²

21  ^sDo I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

And do I not ^tloathe those who ^urise up against you?

22  I hate them with complete hatred;

I count them my enemies.

23  Search me, O God, and know my heart!

^vTry me and know my thoughts!³

24  And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and ^wlead me in ^xthe way everlasting!⁴

140  ^yDeliver me, O Lord, from evil men;

preserve me from ^zviolent men,

2  who plan evil things in their heart

and ^astir up wars continually.

3  They make ^btheir tongue sharp as ^ca serpent’s,

and ^dunder their lips is the ^evenom of asps. Selah

4  Guard me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;

preserve me from ^zviolent men,

who have planned to trip up my feet.

5  The arrogant have ^fhidden a trap for me,

and with cords they have spread ^ga net;¹

beside the way they have set ^hsnares for me. Selah

6  ⁱI say to the Lord, You are my God;

give ear to ^jthe voice of my pleas for mercy, O Lord!

7  O Lord, my Lord, ^kthe strength of my salvation,

you have covered my head in the day of battle.

8  ^lGrant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked;

do not further their² evil plot, or ^mthey will be exalted! Selah

9  As for the head of those who surround me,

let ⁿthe mischief of their lips overwhelm them!

10  Let ^oburning coals fall upon them!

Let them be cast into fire,

into miry pits, no more to rise!

11  Let not the slanderer be established in the land;

let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!

12  I know that the Lord will ^pmaintain the cause of the afflicted,

and ^qwill execute justice for the needy.

13  Surely ^rthe righteous shall give thanks to your name;

^sthe upright shall dwell in your presence.

141  O Lord, I call upon you; ^thasten to me!

Give ear to my voice when I call to you!

2  Let ^umy prayer be counted as incense before you,

and ^vthe lifting up of my hands as ^wthe evening sacrifice!

3  ^xSet a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

^ykeep watch over the door of my lips!

4  ^zDo not let my heart incline to any evil,

to busy myself with wicked deeds

in company with men who ^awork iniquity,

and ^blet me not eat of their delicacies!

5  ^cLet a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;

let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head;

let my head not refuse it.

Yet ^dmy prayer is continually against their evil deeds.

6  When their judges are ^ethrown over the cliff,¹

then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant.

7  As when one plows and breaks up the earth,

so shall our bones ^fbe scattered at the mouth of Sheol.²

8  But ^gmy eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord;

^hin you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless!³

9  Keep me from ⁱthe trap that they have laid for me

and from the snares of evildoers!

10  Let the wicked ^jfall into their own nets,

while I pass by safely.