⁴ Let them be put to shame and dishonour
    who seek after my life.
Let them be turned back and confounded
    who devise evil against me.
⁵ Let them be like chaff before the wind,
    with the angel of the Lord driving them on.
⁶ Let their way be dark and slippery,
    with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

⁷ For without cause they hid their net^[a] for me;
    without cause they dug a pit^[b] for my life.
⁸ Let ruin come on them unawares.
And let the net that they hid ensnare them;
    let them fall in it—to their ruin.

⁹ Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord,
    exulting in his deliverance.
¹⁰ All my bones shall say,
    ‘O Lord, who is like you?
You deliver the weak
    from those too strong for them,
    the weak and needy from those who despoil them.’

¹¹ Malicious witnesses rise up;
    they ask me about things I do not know.
¹² They repay me evil for good;
    my soul is forlorn.
¹³ But as for me, when they were sick,
    I wore sackcloth;
    I afflicted myself with fasting.
I prayed with head bowed^[c] on my bosom,
¹⁴     as though I grieved for a friend or a brother;
I went about as one who laments for a mother,
    bowed down and in mourning.

¹⁵ But at my stumbling they gathered in glee,
    they gathered together against me;
ruffians whom I did not know
    tore at me without ceasing;
¹⁶ they impiously mocked more and more,^[d]
    gnashing at me with their teeth.

¹⁷ How long, O Lord, will you look on?
    Rescue me from their ravages,
    my life from the lions!
¹⁸ Then I will thank you in the great congregation;
    in the mighty throng I will praise you.

¹⁹ Do not let my treacherous enemies rejoice over me,
    or those who hate me without cause wink the eye.
²⁰ For they do not speak peace,
    but they conceive deceitful words
    against those who are quiet in the land.
²¹ They open wide their mouths against me;
    they say, ‘Aha, Aha,
    our eyes have seen it.’

²² You have seen, O Lord; do not be silent!
    O Lord, do not be far from me!
²³ Wake up! Bestir yourself for my defence,
    for my cause, my God and my Lord!
²⁴ Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,
    according to your righteousness,
    and do not let them rejoice over me.
²⁵ Do not let them say to themselves,
    ‘Aha, we have our heart’s desire.’
Do not let them say, ‘We have swallowed you^[e] up.’

²⁶ Let all those who rejoice at my calamity
    be put to shame and confusion;
let those who exalt themselves against me
    be clothed with shame and dishonour.

²⁷ Let those who desire my vindication
    shout for joy and be glad,
    and say evermore,
‘Great is the Lord,
    who delights in the welfare of his servant.’
²⁸ Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness
    and of your praise all day long.

⁴ Your foes have roared within your holy place;
    they set up their emblems there.
⁵ At the upper entrance they hacked
    the wooden trellis with axes.^[a]
6 And then, with hatchets and hammers,
    they smashed all its carved work.
⁷ They set your sanctuary on fire;
    they desecrated the dwelling-place of your name,
    bringing it to the ground.
⁸ They said to themselves, ‘We will utterly subdue them’;
    they burned all the meeting-places of God in the land.

⁹ We do not see our emblems;
    there is no longer any prophet,
    and there is no one among us who knows how long.
¹⁰ How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?
    Is the enemy to revile your name for ever?
¹¹ Why do you hold back your hand;
    why do you keep your hand in^[b] your bosom?

¹² Yet God my King is from of old,
    working salvation in the earth.
¹³ You divided the sea by your might;
    you broke the heads of the dragons in the waters.
¹⁴ You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
    you gave him as food^[c] for the creatures of the wilderness.
¹⁵ You cut openings for springs and torrents;
    you dried up ever-flowing streams.
¹⁶ Yours is the day, yours also the night;
    you established the luminaries^[d] and the sun.
¹⁷ You have fixed all the bounds of the earth;
    you made summer and winter.

¹⁸ Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
    and an impious people reviles your name.
¹⁹ Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild animals;
    do not forget the life of your poor for ever.

²⁰ Have regard for your^[e] covenant,
    for the dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence.
²¹ Do not let the downtrodden be put to shame;
    let the poor and needy praise your name.
²² Rise up, O God, plead your cause;
    remember how the impious scoff at you all day long.
²³ Do not forget the clamour of your foes,
    the uproar of your adversaries that goes up continually.

⁸ There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
    nor are there any works like yours.
⁹ All the nations you have made shall come
    and bow down before you, O Lord,
    and shall glorify your name.
¹⁰ For you are great and do wondrous things;
    you alone are God.
¹¹ Teach me your way, O Lord,
    that I may walk in your truth;
    give me an undivided heart to revere your name.
¹² I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name for ever.
¹³ For great is your steadfast love towards me;
    you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

¹⁴ O God, the insolent rise up against me;
    a band of ruffians seeks my life,
    and they do not set you before them.
¹⁵ But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
¹⁶ Turn to me and be gracious to me;
    give your strength to your servant;
    save the child of your serving-maid.
¹⁷ Show me a sign of your favour,
    so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame,
    because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.