⁰To the choirmaster, with stringed instruments. A poem of David.

¹Give ear, O God, to my prayer; and do not hide yourself from my plea.

²Pay close attention to me and answer me; I roam restlessly in my complaint, and I am in an uproar,

³from the sound of the enemy, because of the pressure of the wicked; for they let fall trouble on me, and in anger they hold a grudge against me.

⁴My heart writhes within me, and the terrors of death have fallen on me.

⁵Fear and trembling come upon me, and shuddering has covered me.

⁶And I said, "Who will give me wings like a dove? I would fly away and settle down.

⁷Behold, I would go far away in flight; I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah

⁸Let me hasten to a place of escape for myself from the rushing wind, from the storm."

⁹Swallow them down, O Lord; split their language; for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they circle it on its walls; iniquity and toil are in her midst.

¹¹Ruin is in her midst; oppression and deceit do not depart from her broad place.

¹²For it is not an enemy who taunts me, or I could bear it; it is not one who hates me who has made himself great over me, or I would hide from him.

¹³But you are a man reckoned as my equal, my close friend and my acquaintance;

¹⁴we who together made our counsel sweet; in the house of God we walked about in the throng.

¹⁵May death deceive them; may they go down to Sheol alive, for evils are in their dwelling places, in their midst.

¹⁶As for me, I will call out to God, and Yahweh will save me.

¹⁷Evening and morning and noon I complain and murmur, and he hears my voice.

¹⁸He has ransomed my being in wholeness from the battle against me, for they were many against me.

¹⁹God will hear and afflict them, the one who sits from of old, Selah, those who have no changes and do not fear God.

²⁰He stretched out his hands against those in wholeness with him; he violated his covenant.

²¹The buttery things of his mouth were smooth, but battle was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.

²²Throw your burden on Yahweh, and he will provide for you; he will not let the righteous be shaken forever.

²³But you, God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not halve their days; but I will trust in you.