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)

¹⁸ Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?^(A)
    Tell me, if you know all this.^(B)

¹⁹ “What is the way to the abode of light?
    And where does darkness reside?^(C)
20 Can you take them to their places?
    Do you know the paths^(D) to their dwellings?
²¹ Surely you know, for you were already born!^(E)
    You have lived so many years!

²² “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow^(F)
    or seen the storehouses^(G) of the hail,^(H)
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,^(I)
    for days of war and battle?^(J)
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,^(K)
    or the place where the east winds^(L) are scattered over the earth?^(M)
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
    and a path for the thunderstorm,^(N)
26 to water^(O) a land where no one lives,
    an uninhabited desert,^(P)
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
    and make it sprout with grass?^(Q)
28 Does the rain have a father?^(R)
    Who fathers the drops of dew?
²⁹ From whose womb comes the ice?
    Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens^(S)
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
    when the surface of the deep is frozen?^(T)

³¹ “Can you bind the chains^[a] of the Pleiades?
    Can you loosen Orion’s belt?^(U)
32 Can you bring forth the constellations^(V) in their seasons^[b]
    or lead out the Bear^[c] with its cubs?^(W)
33 Do you know the laws^(X) of the heavens?^(Y)
    Can you set up God’s^[d] dominion over the earth?

³⁴ “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
    and cover yourself with a flood of water?^(Z)
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?^(AA)
    Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
³⁶ Who gives the ibis wisdom^[e](AB)
    or gives the rooster understanding?^[f](AC)
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
    Who can tip over the water jars^(AD) of the heavens^(AE)
38 when the dust becomes hard^(AF)
    and the clods of earth stick together?^(AG)

³⁹ “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
    and satisfy the hunger of the lions^(AH)
40 when they crouch in their dens^(AI)
    or lie in wait in a thicket?^(AJ)
41 Who provides food^(AK) for the raven^(AL)
    when its young cry out to God
    and wander about for lack of food?^(AM)