Psalm - The Old Testament

¹ [For the choirmaster Psalm Of David] Rescue me, Yahweh, from evil men, protect me from violent men,

² whose heart is bent on malice, day after day they harbour strife;

³ their tongues as barbed as a serpent's, viper's venom behind their lips.Pause

⁴ Keep me, Yahweh, from the clutches of the wicked, protect me from violent men, who are bent on making me stumble,laying out snares where I walk,

⁵ in their arrogance hiding pitfall and nooseto trap me as I pass.Pause

⁶ I said to Yahweh, 'You are my God.' Listen, Yahweh, to the sound of my prayer.

⁷ Yahweh my Lord, my saving strength, you shield my head when battle comes.

⁸ Yahweh, do not grant the wicked their wishes, do not let their plots succeed.Pause Do not let my attackers

⁹ prevail, but let them be overwhelmed by their own malice.

¹⁰ May red-hot embers rain down on them, may they be flung into the mire once and for all.

¹¹ May the slanderer find no rest anywhere, may evil hunt down violent men implacably.

¹² I know that Yahweh will give judgement for the wretched, justice for the needy.

¹³ The upright shall praise your name, the honest dwell in your presence.