Psalm 52-57

English Standard Version

⁵ But God will break you down forever;
    he will snatch and ^(F)tear you from your tent;
    he will uproot you from ^(G)the land of the living. Selah
⁶ The righteous shall ^(H)see and fear,
    and shall ^(I)laugh at him, saying,
⁷ “See the man who would not make
    God his refuge,
but ^(J)trusted in the abundance of his riches
    and sought refuge in his own destruction!”^[b]

⁸ But I am like ^(K)a green olive tree
    in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
    forever and ever.
⁹ I will thank you forever,
    because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, ^(L)for it is good,
    in the presence of the ^(M)godly.

² God looks down from heaven
    on the children of man
to see if there are any who understand,^[d]
    who seek after God.

³ They have all fallen away;
    together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
    not even one.

⁴ Have those who work evil no knowledge,
    who eat up my people as they eat bread,
    and do not call upon God?

⁵ There they are, in great terror,
    ^(P)where there is no terror!
For God ^(Q)scatters the bones of him who encamps against you;
    you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

⁶ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When God restores the fortunes of his people,
    let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

^3 (V)For ^(W)strangers^[f] have risen against me;
    ruthless men ^(X)seek my life;
    they do not set God before themselves. Selah

⁴ Behold, ^(Y)God is my helper;
    the Lord is the upholder of my life.
⁵ He will return the evil to my enemies;
    in your ^(Z)faithfulness ^(AA)put an end to them.

⁶ With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
    I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, ^(AB)for it is good.
⁷ For he has delivered me from every trouble,
    and my eye has ^(AC)looked in triumph on my enemies.

⁴ My heart is in anguish within me;
    ^(AI)the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
⁵ Fear and trembling come upon me,
    and ^(AJ)horror ^(AK)overwhelms me.
⁶ And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest;
^7 (AL)yes, I would wander far away;
    I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
⁸ I would hurry to find a shelter
    from ^(AM)the raging wind and tempest.”

⁹ Destroy, O Lord, ^(AN)divide their tongues;
    for I see ^(AO)violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰ Day and night they go around it
    on its walls,
and ^(AP)iniquity and trouble are within it;
¹¹     ruin is in its midst;
^(AQ)oppression and fraud
    do not depart from its marketplace.

¹² For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
    then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who ^(AR)deals insolently with me—
    then I could hide from him.
^13 (AS)But it is you, a man, my equal,
    my companion, my familiar friend.
¹⁴ We used to take sweet counsel together;
    within God's house we walked in ^(AT)the throng.
¹⁵ Let death steal over them;
    let them go down to Sheol ^(AU)alive;
    for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

¹⁶ But I call to God,
    and the Lord will save me.
^17 (AV)Evening and ^(AW)morning and at ^(AX)noon
    I ^(AY)utter my complaint and moan,
    and he hears my voice.
¹⁸ He redeems my soul in safety
    from the battle that I wage,
    for ^(AZ)many are arrayed against me.
¹⁹ God will give ear and humble them,
    he who is ^(BA)enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not ^(BB)change
    and do not fear God.

²⁰ My companion^{[h] (BC)}stretched out his hand against his friends;
    he violated his covenant.
²¹ His ^(BD)speech was ^(BE)smooth as butter,
    yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
    yet they were ^(BF)drawn swords.

^22 (BG)Cast your burden on the Lord,
    and he will sustain you;
^(BH)he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved.

²³ But you, O God, ^(BI)will cast them down
    into ^(BJ)the pit of destruction;
men of ^(BK)blood and treachery
    shall not ^(BL)live out half their days.
But I will ^(BM)trust in you.

⁵ All day long they injure my cause;^[j]
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.
⁶ They ^(BT)stir up strife, they ^(BU)lurk;
    they ^(BV)watch my steps,
    as they have waited for my life.
⁷ For their crime will they escape?
    ^(BW)In wrath ^(BX)cast down the peoples, O God!

⁸ You have kept count of my tossings;^{[k]
    (BY)}put my tears in your bottle.
    ^(BZ)Are they not in your book?
⁹ Then my enemies will turn back
    ^(CA)in the day when I call.
    This I know, that^{[l] (CB)}God is for me.
¹⁰ In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise,
¹¹ in God I trust; ^(CC)I shall not be afraid.
    What can man do to me?

¹² I must perform my ^(CD)vows to you, O God;
    I will ^(CE)render thank offerings to you.
^13 (CF)For you have delivered my soul from death,
    yes, my feet from falling,
^(CG)that I may walk before God
    ^(CH)in the light of life.

⁴ My soul is in the midst of ^(CU)lions;
    I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose ^(CV)teeth are spears and arrows,
    whose ^(CW)tongues are sharp swords.

^5 (CX)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!

⁶ They set ^(CY)a net for my steps;
    my soul was ^(CZ)bowed down.
They ^(DA)dug a pit in my way,
    but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
^7 (DB)My heart is ^(DC)steadfast, O God,
    my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
^{8     (DD)}Awake, ^(DE)my glory!^[n]
Awake, ^(DF)O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
⁹ I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.
¹⁰ For your ^(DG)steadfast love is great to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.

^11 (DH)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let your glory be over all the earth!