55  ^gGive ear to my prayer, O God,

and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!

2  Attend to me, and answer me;

I am restless ^hin my complaint and I ⁱmoan,

3  because of the noise of the enemy,

because of the oppression of the wicked.

For they ^jdrop trouble upon me,

and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

4  My heart is in anguish within me;

^kthe terrors of death have fallen upon me.

5  Fear and trembling come upon me,

and ^lhorror ^moverwhelms me.

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

I would fly away and be at rest;

7  ⁿyes, I would wander far away;

I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah

8  I would hurry to find a shelter

from ^othe raging wind and tempest.”

9  Destroy, O Lord, ^pdivide their tongues;

for I see ^qviolence and strife in the city.

10  Day and night they go around it

on its walls,

and ^riniquity and trouble are within it;

11  ruin is in its midst;

^soppression 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 ^tdeals insolently with me—

then I could hide from him.

13  ^uBut it is you, a man, my equal,

my companion, my familiar friend.

14  We used to take sweet counsel together;

within God’s house we walked in ^vthe throng.

15  Let death steal over them;

let them go down to Sheol ^walive;

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

16  But I call to God,

and the Lord will save me.

17  ^xEvening and ^ymorning and at ^znoon

I ^autter my complaint and moan,

and he hears my voice.

18  He redeems my soul in safety

from the battle that I wage,

for ^bmany are arrayed against me.

19  God will give ear and humble them,

he who is ^centhroned from of old, Selah

because they do not ^dchange

and do not fear God.

20  My companion^{2 e}stretched out his hand against his friends;

he violated his covenant.

21  His ^fspeech was ^gsmooth as butter,

yet war was in his heart;

his words were softer than oil,

yet they were ^hdrawn swords.

22  ⁱCast your burden on the Lord,

and he will sustain you;

^jhe will never permit

the righteous to be moved.

23  But you, O God, ^kwill cast them down

into ^lthe pit of destruction;

men of ^mblood and treachery

shall not ⁿlive out half their days.

But I will ^otrust in you.

56  ^rBe gracious to me, O God, for man ^stramples 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 ^tput my trust in you.

4  In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; ^uI 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 ^vstir up strife, they ^wlurk;

they ^xwatch my steps,

as they have waited for my life.

7  For their crime will they escape?

^yIn wrath ^zcast down the peoples, O God!

8  You have kept count of my tossings;³

^aput my tears in your bottle.

^bAre they not in your book?

9  Then my enemies will turn back

^cin the day when I call.

This I know, that^{4 d}God is for me.

10  In God, whose word I praise,

in the Lord, whose word I praise,

11  in God I trust; ^uI shall not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

12  I must perform my ^evows to you, O God;

I will ^erender thank offerings to you.

13  ^fFor you have delivered my soul from death,

yes, my feet from falling,

^gthat I may walk before God

^hin the light of life.

57  ^lBe merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,

for in you my soul ^mtakes refuge;

in ⁿthe shadow of your wings I will take refuge,

^otill the storms of destruction pass by.

2  I cry out to God Most High,

to God who ^pfulfills his purpose for me.

3  ^qHe will send from heaven and save me;

he will put to shame ^rhim who tramples on me. Selah

^sGod will send out ^this steadfast love and his faithfulness!

4  My soul is in the midst of ^ulions;

I lie down amid fiery beasts—

the children of man, whose ^vteeth are spears and arrows,

whose ^wtongues are sharp swords.

5  ^xBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

6  They set ^ya net for my steps;

my soul was ^zbowed down.

They ^adug a pit in my way,

but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah

7  ^bMy heart is ^csteadfast, O God,

my heart is steadfast!

I will sing and make melody!

8  ^dAwake, ^emy glory!²

Awake, ^fO harp and lyre!

I will awake the dawn!

9  I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;

I will sing praises to you among the nations.

10  For your ^gsteadfast love is great to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the clouds.

11  ^xBe 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 ^jdeal out violence on earth.

3  The wicked are ^kestranged from the womb;

they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

4  ^lThey have venom like the venom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

5  so that it ^mdoes not hear the voice of charmers

or of the cunning enchanter.

6  O God, ⁿbreak the teeth in their mouths;

tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!

7  Let them ^ovanish like water that runs away;

when he ^paims his arrows, let them be blunted.

8  Let them be like the snail ^othat dissolves into slime,

like ^qthe stillborn child who never sees the sun.

9  Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of ^rthorns,

whether green or ablaze, may he ^ssweep them away!³

10  ^tThe righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

he will ^ubathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.

11  Mankind will say, “Surely there is ^va reward for the righteous;

surely there is a God who ^wjudges on earth.”

59  ^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.