Psalms 55
1 God, listen to my prayer, and do not turn away from me while I am pleading with you.
To the chief music-maker, on Neginoth. Maschil. Of David. Give hearing to my prayer, O God; and let not your ear be shut against my request.
2 Listen to me, and answer me, because I am overwhelmed by [all] my troubles.
Give thought to me, and let my prayer be answered: I have been made low in sorrow;
3 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.
I am troubled because of the voice of the cruel ones, because of the loud cry of the evil-doers; for they put a weight of evil on me, and they are cruel in their hate for me.
4 I am terrified, and I am very much afraid that I will die.
My heart is deeply wounded, and the fear of death has come on me.
5 I am very fearful and I tremble/shake, and I am completely terrified.
Fear and shaking have come over me, with deep fear I am covered.
6 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.
And I said, If only I had wings like a dove! for then I would go in flight from here and be at rest.
7 I would fly far away and live in the desert.
I would go wandering far away, living in the waste land. (Selah)
8 I would quickly find a shelter from [my enemies] [who are like] [MET] a strong wind and rainstorm.”
I would quickly take cover from the driving storm and from the violent wind.
9 Lord, confuse my enemies, and cause their plans to fail, because I see them acting violently and causing strife in the city [of Jerusalem].
Send destruction on them, O Lord, make a division of tongues among them: for I have seen fighting and violent acts in the town.
10 During [each] day and night they march around on top of its walls, committing crimes and causing trouble.
By day and night they go round the town, on the walls; trouble and sorrow are in the heart of it.
11 They destroy [things] everywhere. They oppress and defraud [people] in the (marketplaces/public squares).
Evil is there; cruel rule and deceit are ever in the streets.
12 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.
For it was not my hater who said evil of me; that would have been no grief to me; it was not one outside the number of my friends who made himself strong against me, or I would have kept myself from him in a secret place;
13 But it is someone who is just like me, my companion, someone who was my friend [who is doing this to me].
But it was you, my equal, my guide, my well-loved friend.
14 We previously had many good talks together; we walked around together in God’s temple.
We had loving talk together, and went to the house of God in company.
15 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)
Let the hand of death come on them suddenly, and let them go down living into the underworld; because evil is in their houses and in their hearts. (Sheol h7585)
16 But I [will] ask Yahweh, [my] God, to help me, and he will save me.
As for me, I will make my prayer to God, and he will be my saviour.
17 [Each] morning and [each] noontime and [each] evening I tell him what I am concerned about, and I moan, and he hears my voice.
In the evening and in the morning and in the middle of the day I will make my prayer with sounds of grief; and my voice will come to his ears.
18 I have [very] many enemies, but he will rescue me and bring me back safely from the battles that I fight.
He has taken my soul away from the attack which was made against me, and given it peace; for great numbers were against me.
19 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.
God will give thought to me; he who from early times is strong will send pain and trouble on them. (Selah) Because they are unchanged, they have no fear of God.
20 My companion, [whom I mentioned previously], betrayed his friends and broke the agreement that he made with them.
He has put out his hand against those who were at peace with him; he has not kept his agreement.
21 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].
The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, but they were sharp swords.
22 Put your troubles in Yahweh’s hands, and he will take care of you; he will never allow righteous [people] to experience disasters.
Put your cares on the Lord, and he will be your support; he will not let the upright man be moved.
23 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.
But you, O God, will send them down into the underworld; the cruel and the false will be cut off before half their days are ended; but I will have faith in you.
