⁵ They encourage themselves in an evil matter;
They talk of laying snares secretly;
^(B)They say, “Who will see them?”
⁶ They devise iniquities:
“We have perfected a shrewd scheme.”
Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.

⁷ But God shall shoot at them with an arrow;
Suddenly they shall be wounded.
⁸ So He will make them stumble over their own tongue;
^(C)All who see them shall flee away.
⁹ All men shall fear,
And shall ^(D)declare the work of God;
For they shall wisely consider His doing.

^10 (E)The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him.
And all the upright in heart shall glory.

⁵ Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens;
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
⁶ Your righteousness is like the ^[b]great mountains;
^(F)Your judgments are a great deep;
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.

⁷ How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
Therefore the children of men ^(G)put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.
^8 (H)They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house,
And You give them drink from ^(I)the river of Your pleasures.
^9 (J)For with You is the fountain of life;
^(K)In Your light we see light.

¹⁰ Oh, continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
And Your righteousness to the upright in heart.
¹¹ Let not the foot of pride come against me,
And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.
¹² There the workers of iniquity have fallen;
They have been cast down and are not able to rise.

^4 (A)Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor
Who seek after my life;
Let those be ^(B)turned back and brought to confusion
Who plot my hurt.
^5 (C)Let them be like chaff before the wind,
And let the ^[c]angel of the Lord chase them.
⁶ Let their way be ^(D)dark and slippery,
And let the angel of the Lord pursue them.
⁷ For without cause they have ^(E)hidden their net for me in a pit,
Which they have dug without cause for my life.
^8 [d]Let ^(F)destruction come upon him unexpectedly,
And let his net that he has hidden catch himself;
Into that very destruction let him fall.

⁹ And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.
^10 (G)All my bones shall say,
“Lord, ^(H)who is like You,
Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him,
Yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?”

¹¹ Fierce witnesses rise up;
They ask me things that I do not know.
^12 (I)They reward me evil for good,
To the sorrow of my soul.
¹³ But as for me, ^(J)when they were sick,
My clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting;
And my prayer would return to my own ^[e]heart.
¹⁴ I paced about as though he were my friend or brother;
I bowed down ^[f]heavily, as one who mourns for his mother.

¹⁵ But in my ^[g]adversity they rejoiced
And gathered together;
Attackers gathered against me,
And I did not know it;
They tore at me and did not cease;
¹⁶ With ungodly mockers at feasts
They gnashed at me with their teeth.

¹⁷ Lord, how long will You ^(K)look on?
Rescue me from their destructions,
My precious life from the lions.
¹⁸ I will give You thanks in the great assembly;
I will praise You among ^[h]many people.

^19 (L)Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies;
Nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause.
²⁰ For they do not speak peace,
But they devise deceitful matters
Against the quiet ones in the land.
²¹ They also opened their mouth wide against me,
And said, “Aha, aha!
Our eyes have seen it.”

²² This You have seen, O Lord;
Do not keep silence.
O Lord, do not be far from me.
²³ Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication,
To my cause, my God and my Lord.
²⁴ Vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness;
And let them not rejoice over me.
²⁵ Let them not say in their hearts, “Ah, so we would have it!”
Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”

²⁶ Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
Who rejoice at my hurt;
Let them be ^(M)clothed with shame and dishonor
Who exalt themselves against me.

^27 (N)Let them shout for joy and be glad,
Who favor my righteous cause;
And let them say continually,
“Let the Lord be magnified,
Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
²⁸ And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness
And of Your praise all the day long.

³ For look, they lie in wait for my life;
^(B)The mighty gather against me,
Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord.
⁴ They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine.

^(C)Awake to help me, and behold!
⁵ You therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to punish all the ^[c]nations;
Do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah

^6 (D)At evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
⁷ Indeed, they belch with their mouth;
^(E)Swords are in their lips;
For they say, ^(F)“Who hears?”

⁸ But ^(G)You, O Lord, shall laugh at them;
You shall have all the ^[d]nations in derision.
⁹ I will wait for You, O You ^[e]his Strength;
^(H)For God is my ^[f]defense.
^10 [g]My God of mercy shall ^(I)come to meet me;
God shall let ^(J)me see my desire on my enemies.

¹¹ Do not slay them, lest my people forget;
Scatter them by Your power,
And bring them down,
O Lord our shield.
^12 (K)For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips,
Let them even be taken in their pride,
And for the cursing and lying which they speak.
^13 (L)Consume them in wrath, consume them,
That they may not be;
And ^(M)let them know that God rules in Jacob
To the ends of the earth. Selah

¹⁴ And ^(N)at evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
¹⁵ They ^(O)wander up and down for food,
And ^[h]howl if they are not satisfied.

¹⁶ But I will sing of Your power;
Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning;
For You have been my defense
And refuge in the day of my trouble.
¹⁷ To You, ^(P)O my Strength, I will sing praises;
For God is my defense,
My God of mercy.