Psalm 55

New American Standard Bible

Prayer for the Destruction of the Treacherous.

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

55 ^(A)Listen to my prayer, God;
And ^(B)do not hide Yourself from my pleading.
²Give Your ^(C)attention to me and answer me;
I am restless in my ^(D)complaint and ^[b]^(E)severely distracted,
³Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the ^(F)pressure of the wicked;
For they ^(G)bring down ^[c]trouble upon me
And in anger they ^(H)hold a grudge against me.

⁴My ^(I)heart is in anguish within me,
And the terrors of ^(J)death have fallen upon me.
⁵Fear and ^(K)trembling come upon me,
And ^[d]^(L)horror has ^[e]overwhelmed me.
⁶I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and ^[f]^(M)be at rest.
⁷Behold, I would flee far away,
I would ^(N)spend my nights in the wilderness. Selah
⁸I would hurry to my place of refuge
From the ^(O)stormy wind and heavy gale.”

⁹Confuse them, Lord, ^(P)divide their tongues,
For I have seen ^(Q)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^(R)Destruction is in her midst;
^(S)Oppression and deceit do not depart from her ^[g]streets.

¹²For it is ^(T)not an enemy who taunts me,
Then I could endure it;
Nor is it one who hates me who ^(U)has exalted himself against me,
Then I could hide myself from him.
¹³But it is you, a man ^[h]my equal,
My ^(V)companion and my ^(W)confidant;
¹⁴We who had sweet ^[i]fellowship together,
^(X)Walked in the house of God among the commotion.
¹⁵May ^[j]death come ^(Y)deceitfully upon them;
May they ^(Z)go down alive to ^[k]Sheol,
For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.

¹⁶As for me, I shall ^(AA)call upon God,
And the Lord will save me.
¹⁷^(AB)Evening and ^(AC)morning and at ^(AD)noon, I will complain and moan,
And He will hear my voice.
¹⁸He will ^(AE)redeem my soul in peace ^[l]from the battle which is against me,
For they are ^(AF)many who are aggressive toward me.
¹⁹God will ^(AG)hear and humiliate them—
Even the one ^(AH)who ^[m]sits enthroned from ancient times— Selah
With whom there ^[n]is no change,
And who ^(AI)do not fear God.
²⁰He has put forth his hands against ^(AJ)those who were at peace with him;
He has ^[o]^(AK)violated his covenant.
²¹His ^[p]speech was ^(AL)smoother than butter,
But his heart was war;
His words were ^(AM)softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn ^(AN)swords.

²²^(AO)Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you;
^(AP)He will never allow the righteous to ^[q]^(AQ)be shaken.
²³But You, God, will bring them down to the ^(AR)pit of destruction;
^(AS)Men of bloodshed and deceit will ^(AT)not live out half their days.
But I will ^(AU)trust in You.