Psalm 55:1-15
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Psalm 55
Betrayal by a Friend
For the choir director: with stringed instruments. A Davidic Maskil.
1 God, listen to my prayer
and do not ignore[a] my plea for help.(A)
2 Pay attention to me and answer me.(B)
I am restless and in turmoil with my complaint,(C)
3 because of the enemy’s voice,
because of the pressure[b] of the wicked.
For they bring down disaster on me[c]
and harass me in anger.(D)
4 My heart shudders within me;(E)
terrors of death sweep over me.
5 Fear and trembling grip me;
horror has overwhelmed me.(F)
6 I said, “If only I had[d] wings like a dove!
I would fly away and find rest.(G)
7 How far away I would flee;
I would stay in the wilderness.(H)
8 I would hurry to my shelter
from the raging wind and the storm.”(I)
9 Lord, confuse[e] and confound their speech,[f](J)
for I see violence and strife in the city;
10 day and night they make the rounds on its walls.
Crime and trouble are within it;(K)
11 destruction is inside it;
oppression and deceit never leave its marketplace.(L)
12 Now it is not an enemy who insults me—
otherwise I could bear it;
it is not a foe who rises up against me—
otherwise I could hide from him.
13 But it is you, a man who is my peer,
my companion and good friend!(M)
14 We used to have close fellowship;
we walked with the crowd into the house of God.(N)
15 Let death take them by surprise;(O)
let them go down to Sheol alive,
because evil is in their homes and within them.(P)
Footnotes
- Psalm 55:1 Lit hide Yourself from
- Psalm 55:3 Or threat, or oppression
- Psalm 55:3 LXX, Syr, Sym; MT reads they cause me to totter
- Psalm 55:6 Lit “Who will give to me . . . dove?
- Psalm 55:9 Or destroy
- Psalm 55:9 Lit and divide their tongue
Psalm 55:1-15
King James Version
55 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.
2 Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;
3 Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.
4 My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.
6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
7 Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah.
8 I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.
9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.
11 Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets.
12 For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:
13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.
14 We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.
15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
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