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A Psalm by David.

141 Yahweh, I have called on you.
    Come to me quickly!
    Listen to my voice when I call to you.
Let my prayer be set before you like incense;
    the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice.
Set a watch, Yahweh, before my mouth.
    Keep the door of my lips.
Don’t incline my heart to any evil thing,
    to practice deeds of wickedness with men who work iniquity.
    Don’t let me eat of their delicacies.
Let the righteous strike me, it is kindness;
    let him reprove me, it is like oil on the head;
    don’t let my head refuse it;
    Yet my prayer is always against evil deeds.
Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock.
    They will hear my words, for they are well spoken.
“As when one plows and breaks up the earth,
    our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.”[a]
For my eyes are on you, Yahweh, the Lord.
    In you, I take refuge.
    Don’t leave my soul destitute.
Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me,
    from the traps of the workers of iniquity.
10 Let the wicked fall together into their own nets
    while I pass by.

Footnotes

  1. 141:7 Sheol is the place of the dead.

Psalm 141

A Psalm of David.

Lord, I call upon You; hasten to me. Give ear to my voice when I cry to You.

Let my prayer be set forth as incense before You, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.(A)

Set a guard, O Lord, before my mouth; keep watch at the door of my lips.

Incline my heart not to submit or consent to any evil thing or to be occupied in deeds of wickedness with men who work iniquity; and let me not eat of their dainties.

Let the righteous man smite and correct me—it is a kindness. Oil so choice let not my head refuse or discourage; for even in their evils or calamities shall my prayer continue.(B)

When their rulers are overthrown in stony places, [their followers] shall hear my words, that they are sweet (pleasant, mild, and just).

The unburied bones [of slaughtered rulers] shall lie scattered at the mouth of Sheol, [as unregarded] as the lumps of soil behind the plowman when he breaks open the ground.(C)

But my eyes are toward You, O God the Lord; in You do I trust and take refuge; pour not out my life nor leave it destitute and bare.

Keep me from the trap which they have laid for me, and the snares of evildoers.

10 Let the wicked fall together into their own nets, while I pass over them and escape.