Psalm 141
The Voice
Psalm 141
A song of David.
1 O Eternal One, I call upon You.
Come quickly!
Listen to my voice as I call upon You!
2 Consider my prayer as an offering of incense that rises before You;
when I stand with my hands outstretched pleading toward the heavens,
consider it as an evening offering.
3 Guard my mouth, O Eternal One;
control what I say.
Keep a careful watch on every word I speak.
4 Don’t allow my deepest desires to steer me toward doing what is wrong
or associating with wicked people
Or joining in their wicked works
or tasting any of their pleasures.
5 Let those who do right strike me down in kindness
and correct me in love.
Their kind correction washes over my head like pure oil;
do not let me be foolish and refuse such compassion.
Still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked:
6 Their judges will be thrown from the edges of cliffs and crushed upon the rocks below,
and the wicked will hear my words and realize that what I said was pleasing.
7 Just as when a farmer plows and breaks open the earth, leaving clumps of dirt scattered along the rows,
our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave.
8 My gaze is fixed upon You, Eternal One, my Lord;
in You I find safety and protection.
Do not abandon me and leave me defenseless.
9 Protect me from the jaws of the trap my enemies have set for me
and from the snares of those who work evil.
10 May the wicked be caught in their own nets
while I alone escape unharmed.
Psalm 141
English Standard Version
Give Ear to My Voice
A Psalm of David.
141 O Lord, I call upon you; (A)hasten to me!
Give ear to my voice when I call to you!
2 Let (B)my prayer be counted as incense before you,
and (C)the lifting up of my hands as (D)the evening sacrifice!
3 (E)Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
(F)keep watch over the door of my lips!
4 (G)Do not let my heart incline to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with men who (H)work iniquity,
and (I)let me not eat of their delicacies!
5 (J)Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;
let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head;
let my head not refuse it.
Yet (K)my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.
6 When their judges are (L)thrown over the cliff,[a]
then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant.
7 As when one plows and breaks up the earth,
so shall our bones (M)be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.[b]
8 But (N)my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord;
(O)in you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless![c]
9 Keep me from (P)the trap that they have laid for me
and from the snares of evildoers!
10 Let the wicked (Q)fall into their own nets,
while I pass by safely.
Footnotes
- Psalm 141:6 Or When their judges fall into the hands of the Rock
- Psalm 141:7 The meaning of the Hebrew in verses 6, 7 is uncertain
- Psalm 141:8 Hebrew refuge; do not pour out my life!
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
