1 Hear my prayer, O God; ♦︎
hide not yourself from my petition.
2 Give heed to me and answer me; ♦︎
I am restless in my complaining.
3 I am alarmed at the voice of the enemy ♦︎
and at the clamour of the wicked;
4 For they would bring down evil upon me ♦︎
and are set against me in fury.
5 My heart is disquieted within me, ♦︎
and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
6 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, ♦︎
and a horrible dread has overwhelmed me.
7 And I said: O that I had wings like a dove, ♦︎
for then would I fly away and be at rest.
8 Then would I flee far away ♦︎
and make my lodging in the wilderness.
9 I would make haste to escape ♦︎
from the stormy wind and tempest.
10 Confuse their tongues, O Lord, and divide them, ♦︎
for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
11 Day and night they go about on her walls; ♦︎
mischief and trouble are in her midst.
12 Wickedness walks in her streets; ♦︎
oppression and guile never leave her squares.
13 For it was not an open enemy that reviled me, ♦︎
for then I could have borne it;
14 Nor was it my adversary that puffed himself up against me, ♦︎
for then I would have hid myself from him.
15 But it was even you, one like myself, ♦︎
my companion and my own familiar friend.
16 We took sweet counsel together ♦︎
and walked with the multitude in the house of God.
17 Let death come suddenly upon them;
let them go down alive to the Pit; ♦︎
for wickedness inhabits their dwellings, their very hearts.
18 As for me, I will call upon God ♦︎
and the Lord will deliver me.
19 In the evening and morning and at noonday
I will pray and make my supplication, ♦︎
and he shall hear my voice.
20 He shall redeem my soul in peace
from the battle waged against me, ♦︎
for many have come upon me.
21 God, who is enthroned of old,
will hear and bring them down; ♦︎
they will not repent, for they have no fear of God.
22 My companion stretched out his hands against his friend ♦︎
and has broken his covenant;
23 His speech was softer than butter, though war was in his heart; ♦︎
his words were smoother than oil, yet are they naked swords.
24 Cast your burden upon the Lord and he will sustain you, ♦︎
and will not let the righteous fall for ever.
25 But those that are bloodthirsty and deceitful, O God, ♦︎
you will bring down to the pit of destruction.
26 They shall not live out half their days, ♦︎
but my trust shall be in you, O Lord.
1 If the Lord himself had not been on our side, ♦︎
now may Israel say;
2 If the Lord had not been on our side, ♦︎
when enemies rose up against us;
3 Then would they have swallowed us alive ♦︎
when their anger burned against us;
4 Then would the waters have overwhelmed us
and the torrent gone over our soul; ♦︎
over our soul would have swept the raging waters.
5 But blessed be the Lord ♦︎
who has not given us over to be a prey for their teeth.
6 Our soul has escaped
as a bird from the snare of the fowler; ♦︎
the snare is broken and we are delivered.
7 Our help is in the name of the Lord, ♦︎
who has made heaven and earth.