Psalms 55
1 TO THE OVERSEER. WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS. AN INSTRUCTION OF DAVID. Give ear, O God, [to] my prayer, And do not hide from my supplication.
Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David. Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my supplication:
2 Attend to me, and answer me, I mourn in my (meditation) and make a noise,
Be attentive to me and hear me. I am grieved in my exercise; and am troubled,
3 Because of the voice of an enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked, For they cause sorrow to move against me, And in anger they hate me.
At the voice of the enemy, and at the tribulation of the sinner. For they have cast iniquities upon me: and in wrath they were troublesome to me.
4 My heart is pained within me, And terrors of death have fallen on me.
My heart is troubled within me: and the fear of death is fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come to me, And horror covers me.
Fear and trembling are come upon me: and darkness hath covered me.
6 And I say, “Who gives to me a pinion as a dove?” I fly away and rest,
And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest?
7 Behold, I move far off, I lodge in a wilderness. (Selah)
Lo, I have gone far off flying away; and I abode in the wilderness.
8 I hurry escape for myself, From a rushing wind, from a whirlwind.
I waited for him that hath saved me from pusillanimity of spirit, and a storm.
9 Swallow up, O Lord, divide their tongue, For I saw violence and strife in a city.
Cast down, O Lord, and divide their tongues; for I have seen iniquity and contradiction in the city.
10 By day and by night they go around it, on its walls. Both iniquity and perverseness [are] in its midst,
Day and night shall iniquity surround it upon its walls: and in the midst thereof are labour,
11 Mischiefs [are] in its midst. Fraud and deceit do not depart from its street.
And injustice. And usury and deceit have not departed from its streets.
12 For an enemy does not reproach me, or I bear [it], He who is hating me Has not magnified himself against me, Or I hide from him.
For if my enemy had reviled me, I would verily have borne with it. And if he that hated me had spoken great things against me, I would perhaps have hidden myself from him.
13 But you, a man—as my equal, My familiar friend, and my acquaintance.
But thou a man of one mind, my guide, and my familiar,
14 When together we sweeten counsel, We walk into the house of God in company.
Who didst take sweetmeats together with me: in the house of God we walked with consent.
15 Desolations [are] on them, They go down [to] Sheol—alive, For wickedness [is] in their dwelling, in their midst. (Sheol h7585)
Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into hell. For there is wickedness in their dwellings: in the midst of them. (Sheol h7585)
16 I call to God, and YHWH saves me.
But I have cried to God: and the Lord will save me.
17 Evening, and morning, and noon, I meditate, and make a noise, and He hears my voice,
Evening and morning, and at noon I will speak and declare: and he shall hear my voice.
18 He has ransomed my soul in peace From him who is near to me, For with the multitude they were with me.
He shall redeem my soul in peace from them that draw near to me: for among many they were with me.
19 God hears and afflicts them, And He sits of old. (Selah) Because they have no changes, and do not fear God,
God shall hear, and the Eternal shall humble them. For there is no change with them, and they have not feared God:
20 He has sent forth his hands against his well-wishers, He has defiled his covenant.
He hath stretched forth his hand to repay. They have defiled his covenant,
21 His mouth has been sweeter than honey, And his heart [is] war! His words have been softer than oil, And they [are] drawn [swords].
They are divided by the wrath Of his countenance, and his heart hath drawn near. His words are smoother than oil, and the same are darts.
22 Cast on YHWH that which He has given you, And He sustains you, He does not permit the moving of the righteous forever.
Cast thy care upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall not suffer the just to waver for ever.
23 And You, O God, bring them down To a pit of destruction, Men of blood and deceit do not reach to half their days, And I trust in You!
But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee, O Lord.
