Psalm 54-56

English Standard Version

^3 (E)For ^(F)strangers^[b] have risen against me;
    ruthless men ^(G)seek my life;
    they do not set God before themselves. Selah

⁴ Behold, ^(H)God is my helper;
    the Lord is the upholder of my life.
⁵ He will return the evil to my enemies;
    in your ^(I)faithfulness ^(J)put an end to them.

⁶ With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
    I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, ^(K)for it is good.
⁷ For he has delivered me from every trouble,
    and my eye has ^(L)looked in triumph on my enemies.

⁴ My heart is in anguish within me;
    ^(R)the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
⁵ Fear and trembling come upon me,
    and ^(S)horror ^(T)overwhelms me.
⁶ And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest;
^7 (U)yes, I would wander far away;
    I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
⁸ I would hurry to find a shelter
    from ^(V)the raging wind and tempest.”

⁹ Destroy, O Lord, ^(W)divide their tongues;
    for I see ^(X)violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰ Day and night they go around it
    on its walls,
and ^(Y)iniquity and trouble are within it;
¹¹     ruin is in its midst;
^(Z)oppression and fraud
    do not depart from its marketplace.

¹² For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
    then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who ^(AA)deals insolently with me—
    then I could hide from him.
^13 (AB)But it is you, a man, my equal,
    my companion, my familiar friend.
¹⁴ We used to take sweet counsel together;
    within God's house we walked in ^(AC)the throng.
¹⁵ Let death steal over them;
    let them go down to Sheol ^(AD)alive;
    for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

¹⁶ But I call to God,
    and the Lord will save me.
^17 (AE)Evening and ^(AF)morning and at ^(AG)noon
    I ^(AH)utter my complaint and moan,
    and he hears my voice.
¹⁸ He redeems my soul in safety
    from the battle that I wage,
    for ^(AI)many are arrayed against me.
¹⁹ God will give ear and humble them,
    he who is ^(AJ)enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not ^(AK)change
    and do not fear God.

²⁰ My companion^{[d] (AL)}stretched out his hand against his friends;
    he violated his covenant.
²¹ His ^(AM)speech was ^(AN)smooth as butter,
    yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
    yet they were ^(AO)drawn swords.

^22 (AP)Cast your burden on the Lord,
    and he will sustain you;
^(AQ)he will never permit
    the righteous to be moved.

²³ But you, O God, ^(AR)will cast them down
    into ^(AS)the pit of destruction;
men of ^(AT)blood and treachery
    shall not ^(AU)live out half their days.
But I will ^(AV)trust in you.

⁵ All day long they injure my cause;^[f]
    all their thoughts are against me for evil.
⁶ They ^(BC)stir up strife, they ^(BD)lurk;
    they ^(BE)watch my steps,
    as they have waited for my life.
⁷ For their crime will they escape?
    ^(BF)In wrath ^(BG)cast down the peoples, O God!

⁸ You have kept count of my tossings;^{[g]
    (BH)}put my tears in your bottle.
    ^(BI)Are they not in your book?
⁹ Then my enemies will turn back
    ^(BJ)in the day when I call.
    This I know, that^{[h] (BK)}God is for me.
¹⁰ In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise,
¹¹ in God I trust; ^(BL)I shall not be afraid.
    What can man do to me?

¹² I must perform my ^(BM)vows to you, O God;
    I will ^(BN)render thank offerings to you.
^13 (BO)For you have delivered my soul from death,
    yes, my feet from falling,
^(BP)that I may walk before God
    ^(BQ)in the light of life.