Psalms 7
1 Yahweh my God, I come to you to protect me. Rescue me, save me from all those who are pursuing me [in order to harm me].
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite. O LORD my God, I take refuge in You; save me and deliver me from all my pursuers,
2 If you do not do that, they will tear me into pieces like a lion does [when it attacks the animals it wants to kill], and no one will save me [from them].
or they will shred my soul like a lion and tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.
3 Yahweh my God, if I have done anything that is wrong,
O LORD my God, if I have done this, if injustice is on my hands,
4 if I have done evil to some friend who did good things to me, or if, for no good reason, I have spared (OR, acted violently toward) those who were my enemies,
if I have rewarded my ally with evil, if I have plundered my foe without cause,
5 allow my enemies to pursue me and capture me. Allow them to trample me into the ground and leave me [SYN] [lying dead] in the dirt.
then may my enemy pursue me and overtake me; may he trample me to the ground and leave my honor in the dust.
6 But Yahweh, because you are [very] angry [with those who pursue me], arise and attack/defeat my enemies who are furiously/angrily [attacking me] Do to them what is just!
Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.
7 Gather around you the people of [all] nations, and rule them from where you are in heaven [MTY].
Let the assembled peoples gather around You; take Your seat over them on high.
8 Yahweh, judge the people of [all] nations! And, Yahweh, show that I have done nothing that is wrong.
The LORD judges the peoples; vindicate me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and integrity.
9 God, you know what every person is thinking, and because you are righteous, you [always] do what is just/right. [So now] stop evil people from doing wicked [deeds], and defend [all of us who are] righteous!
Put an end to the evil of the wicked, but establish the righteous, O righteous God who searches hearts and minds.
10 God, you protect me like a shield [protects soldiers] [MET]; you protect all those who are righteous in their inner being.
My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.
11 You judge [everyone] correctly, and every day you punish [wicked people].
God is a righteous judge and a God who feels indignation each day.
12 Whenever your enemies do not (repent/change their behavior), [it is as though] [MET] you sharpen your sword and put a string on your bow [to get ready to kill them].
If one does not repent, God will sharpen His sword; He has bent and strung His bow.
13 You are preparing your weapons that kill those whom they strike; the arrows that you will shoot have flaming tips.
He has prepared His deadly weapons; He ordains His arrows with fire.
14 Wicked people tell lies, and they think that they surely will be able to do [MET] the evil things that they are planning to do [just as surely as] a pregnant woman [knows that she is going to give birth to a child] [MET].
Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.
15 But when they dig a deep pit [to trap others], they themselves will fall into it.
He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.
16 They themselves will experience the trouble that they want to cause others to have; they will hurt themselves by the violent things that they want to do to others.
His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.
17 I praise Yahweh because he [always acts] righteously/justly; I sing to praise Yahweh, the one who is much greater than any other god.
I will thank the LORD for His righteousness and sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.
