Psalms55

¹To the choirmaster : with stringed instruments . A Maskil of David . Give ear to my prayer , O God , and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy !

²Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan ,

³because of the noise of the enemy , because of the oppression of the wicked . For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

⁴My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

⁵Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.

⁶And I say , Oh , that I had wings like a dove ! I would fly away and be at rest ;

⁷yes , I would wander far away ; I would lodge in the wilderness ; Selah

⁸I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest .

⁹Destroy , O Lord , divide their tongues ; for I see violence and strife in the city .

¹⁰Day and night they go around it on its walls , and iniquity and trouble are within it;

¹¹ruin is in its midst ; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace .

¹²For it is not an enemy who taunts me— then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me— then I could hide from him.

¹³But it is you, a man , my equal , my companion , my familiar friend .

¹⁴We used to take sweet counsel together ; within God’s house we walked in the throng .

¹⁵Let death steal over them; let them go down to Sheol alive ; for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart .

¹⁶But I call to God , and the Lord will save me.

¹⁷Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan , and he hears my voice .

¹⁸He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage , for many are arrayed against me .

¹⁹God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old , Selah because they do not change and do not fear God .

²⁰My companion stretched out his hand against his friends ; he violated his covenant .

²¹His speech was smooth as butter , yet war was in his heart ; his words were softer than oil , yet they were drawn swords .

²²Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved .

²³But you, O God , will cast them down into the pit of destruction ; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days . But I will trust in you.