Psalm 53-55

New American Standard Bible

Foolishness and Wickedness of People.

For the music director; according to ^[a]Mahalath. A ^[b]Maskil of David.

53 ^(A)The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
^(B)There is no one who does good.
²God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of mankind
To see if there is ^(C)anyone who ^[c]understands,
Who ^(D)seeks after God.
³^(E)Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.

⁴Have the workers of injustice ^(F)no knowledge,
Who eat up My people like they ate bread,
And have not called upon God?
⁵They were in great ^[d]fear there, ^(G)where no ^[e]fear had been;
For God ^(H)scattered the bones of ^[f]him who encamped against you;
You ^(I)put them to shame, because ^(J)God had rejected them.
⁶Oh, that ^(K)the salvation of Israel would come from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob shall rejoice, Israel shall be glad.

Prayer for Defense against Enemies.

For the music director; on stringed instruments. A ^[g]Maskil of David, ^[h]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is David not keeping himself hidden among us?”

54 Save me, God, by ^(L)Your name,
And ^[i]vindicate me by ^(M)Your power.
²^(N)Hear my prayer, God;
^(O)Listen to the words of my mouth.
³For strangers have ^(P)risen against me
And ^(Q)violent men have ^(R)sought my ^[j]life;
They have ^(S)not set God before them. Selah

⁴Behold, ^(T)God is my helper;
The Lord is ^[k]the ^(U)sustainer of my soul.
⁵^[l]He will ^(V)pay back the evil to my enemies;
^[m]^(W)Destroy them ^(X)in Your ^[n]faithfulness.

⁶^[o]^(Y)Willingly I will sacrifice to You;
I will ^(Z)praise Your name, Lord, for it is good.
⁷For ^[p]He has ^(AA)saved me from all ^[q]trouble,
And my eye has ^(AB)looked with satisfaction upon my enemies.

Prayer for the Destruction of the Treacherous.

For the music director; on stringed instruments. A ^[r]Maskil of David.

55 ^(AC)Listen to my prayer, God;
And ^(AD)do not hide Yourself from my pleading.
²Give Your ^(AE)attention to me and answer me;
I am restless in my ^(AF)complaint and ^[s]^(AG)severely distracted,
³Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the ^(AH)pressure of the wicked;
For they ^(AI)bring down ^[t]trouble upon me
And in anger they ^(AJ)hold a grudge against me.

⁴My ^(AK)heart is in anguish within me,
And the terrors of ^(AL)death have fallen upon me.
⁵Fear and ^(AM)trembling come upon me,
And ^[u]^(AN)horror has ^[v]overwhelmed me.
⁶I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and ^[w]^(AO)be at rest.
⁷Behold, I would flee far away,
I would ^(AP)spend my nights in the wilderness. Selah
⁸I would hurry to my place of refuge
From the ^(AQ)stormy wind and heavy gale.”

⁹Confuse them, Lord, ^(AR)divide their tongues,
For I have seen ^(AS)violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰Day and night they go around her upon her walls,
And evil and harm are in her midst.
¹¹^(AT)Destruction is in her midst;
^(AU)Oppression and deceit do not depart from her ^[x]streets.

¹²For it is ^(AV)not an enemy who taunts me,
Then I could endure it;
Nor is it one who hates me who ^(AW)has exalted himself against me,
Then I could hide myself from him.
¹³But it is you, a man ^[y]my equal,
My ^(AX)companion and my ^(AY)confidant;
¹⁴We who had sweet ^[z]fellowship together,
^(AZ)Walked in the house of God among the commotion.
¹⁵May ^[aa]death come ^(BA)deceitfully upon them;
May they ^(BB)go down alive to ^[ab]Sheol,
For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.

¹⁶As for me, I shall ^(BC)call upon God,
And the Lord will save me.
¹⁷^(BD)Evening and ^(BE)morning and at ^(BF)noon, I will complain and moan,
And He will hear my voice.
¹⁸He will ^(BG)redeem my soul in peace ^[ac]from the battle which is against me,
For they are ^(BH)many who are aggressive toward me.
¹⁹God will ^(BI)hear and humiliate them—
Even the one ^(BJ)who ^[ad]sits enthroned from ancient times— Selah
With whom there ^[ae]is no change,
And who ^(BK)do not fear God.
²⁰He has put forth his hands against ^(BL)those who were at peace with him;
He has ^[af]^(BM)violated his covenant.
²¹His ^[ag]speech was ^(BN)smoother than butter,
But his heart was war;
His words were ^(BO)softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn ^(BP)swords.

²²^(BQ)Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you;
^(BR)He will never allow the righteous to ^[ah]^(BS)be shaken.
²³But You, God, will bring them down to the ^(BT)pit of destruction;
^(BU)Men of bloodshed and deceit will ^(BV)not live out half their days.
But I will ^(BW)trust in You.