Psalms 55
1 “To the chief musician on Neginoth, a Maskil of David.” Give ear, O God, to my prayer, and hide not thyself from my supplication.
God, listen to my prayer, and do not turn away from me while I am pleading with you.
2 Listen unto me, and answer me: I mourn in my grief, and moan;
Listen to me, and answer me, because I am overwhelmed by [all] my troubles.
3 Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked; for they cast wrong upon me, and in wrath they attack me.
My enemies cause me to be terrified; wicked people oppress me. They cause me to have great troubles; they are angry with me, and they hate me.
4 My heart is sorely pained within me, and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
I am terrified, and I am very much afraid that I will die.
5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and shuddering hath covered me.
I am very fearful and I tremble/shake, and I am completely terrified.
6 And I said, Oh that some one would give me wings like a dove! I would fly away and dwell [quietly].
I said, “I wish that I had wings like a dove! If I had wings, I would fly away and find a place to rest.
7 Lo, I would flee far away, I would spend my night in the wilderness. (Selah)
I would fly far away and live in the desert.
8 I would prepare hastily a refuge for me from the sweeping wind [and] from storm.
I would quickly find a shelter from [my enemies] [who are like] [MET] a strong wind and rainstorm.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongue; for I have seen violence and strife in the city;
Lord, confuse my enemies, and cause their plans to fail, because I see them acting violently and causing strife in the city [of Jerusalem].
10 Day and night do these encompass it upon her walls: and wrong and trouble are in her midst.
During [each] day and night they march around on top of its walls, committing crimes and causing trouble.
11 Mischief is in her midst: guile and deceit depart not from her streets.
They destroy [things] everywhere. They oppress and defraud [people] in the (marketplaces/public squares).
12 For it is not an enemy that reproached me; then I could bear it: not he that hateth me hath magnified himself against me; then I would have hidden myself from him;
If it were an enemy who was making fun of me, I could endure it. If it were someone who hates me, who despises me, I could hide from him.
13 But it is thou, a man my equal, my guide, and my acquaintance;
But it is someone who is just like me, my companion, someone who was my friend [who is doing this to me].
14 So that we took sweet secret counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in tumultuous company.
We previously had many good talks together; we walked around together in God’s temple.
15 Let him dispense death over them; let them go down alive into the nether world; for evil is in their dwelling, in the midst of them. (Sheol h7585)
I desire/hope that my enemies will die suddenly; while they are still young, cause them to go down to the place where the dead people are. They they think evil things. (Sheol h7585)
16 I, however, will call on God: and the Lord will save me.
But I [will] ask Yahweh, [my] God, to help me, and he will save me.
17 At evening and morning and noon will I make my complaint and moan: and he heareth my voice.—
[Each] morning and [each] noontime and [each] evening I tell him what I am concerned about, and I moan, and he hears my voice.
18 He delivereth my soul in peace from the battle against me; for in multitudes are they [contending] with me.
I have [very] many enemies, but he will rescue me and bring me back safely from the battles that I fight.
19 God will hear, and humble them—yea, he that sitteth enthroned from the oldest time Selah—those who dread no changes, and fear not God.
God is the one who has ruled everything forever, and he will listen to me. He will cause my enemies to be [defeated and] disgraced, because they do not change their evil behavior and they do not revere God.
20 He stretcheth out his hands against those at peace with him: he violateth his covenant.
My companion, [whom I mentioned previously], betrayed his friends and broke the agreement that he made with them.
21 The creamy words of his mouth are smooth, yet there is war [in] his heart; his words are softer than oil, yet are they drawn swords.
What he said was [easy to listen to, like] butter [is easy to swallow] [MET], but in his inner being he hated people; his words were [soothing] like [olive] oil, [but they hurt people like] sharp swords do [MET].
22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain thee: he will never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Put your troubles in Yahweh’s hands, and he will take care of you; he will never allow righteous [people] to experience disasters.
23 But thou, O God, thou wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction: let not the men of blood and deceit live out half their days; but I will indeed trust in thee.
God, you will cause murderers [MTY] and liars to die before they have lived half as long as they expect to live; but [as for me], I will trust in you.
