² God looks down from heaven^(D)
    on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,^(E)
    any who seek God.^(F)
3 Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.^(G)

⁴ Do all these evildoers know nothing?

They devour my people as though eating bread;
    they never call on God.
⁵ But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
    where there was nothing to dread.^(H)
God scattered the bones^(I) of those who attacked you;^(J)
    you put them to shame,^(K) for God despised them.^(L)

⁶ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When God restores his people,
    let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

⁴ My heart is in anguish^(G) within me;
    the terrors^(H) of death have fallen on me.
⁵ Fear and trembling^(I) have beset me;
    horror^(J) has overwhelmed me.
⁶ I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest.
⁷ I would flee far away
    and stay in the desert;^[c](K)
8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,^(L)
    far from the tempest and storm.^(M)”

⁹ Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,^(N)
    for I see violence and strife^(O) in the city.^(P)
10 Day and night they prowl^(Q) about on its walls;
    malice and abuse are within it.
¹¹ Destructive forces^(R) are at work in the city;
    threats and lies^(S) never leave its streets.

¹² If an enemy were insulting me,
    I could endure it;
if a foe were rising against me,
    I could hide.
¹³ But it is you, a man like myself,
    my companion, my close friend,^(T)
14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship^(U)
    at the house of God,^(V)
as we walked about
    among the worshipers.

¹⁵ Let death take my enemies by surprise;^(W)
    let them go down alive to the realm of the dead,^(X)
    for evil finds lodging among them.

¹⁶ As for me, I call to God,
    and the Lord saves me.
¹⁷ Evening,^(Y) morning^(Z) and noon^(AA)
    I cry out in distress,
    and he hears my voice.
¹⁸ He rescues me unharmed
    from the battle waged against me,
    even though many oppose me.
¹⁹ God, who is enthroned from of old,^(AB)
    who does not change—
he will hear^(AC) them and humble them,
    because they have no fear of God.^(AD)

²⁰ My companion attacks his friends;^(AE)
    he violates his covenant.^(AF)
21 His talk is smooth as butter,^(AG)
    yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,^(AH)
    yet they are drawn swords.^(AI)

²² Cast your cares on the Lord
    and he will sustain you;^(AJ)
he will never let
    the righteous be shaken.^(AK)
23 But you, God, will bring down the wicked
    into the pit^(AL) of decay;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful^(AM)
    will not live out half their days.^(AN)

But as for me, I trust in you.^(AO)

³ Even from birth the wicked go astray;
    from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.
⁴ Their venom is like the venom of a snake,^(D)
    like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
⁵ that will not heed^(E) the tune of the charmer,^(F)
    however skillful the enchanter may be.

⁶ Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;^(G)
    Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!^(H)
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away;^(I)
    when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.^(J)
8 May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,^(K)
    like a stillborn child^(L) that never sees the sun.

⁹ Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns^(M)—
    whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.^[c](N)
10 The righteous will be glad^(O) when they are avenged,^(P)
    when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.^(Q)
11 Then people will say,
    “Surely the righteous still are rewarded;^(R)
    surely there is a God who judges the earth.”^(S)