55 Give ear, O God, to my prayer,
and do not hide yourself from my plea.
² Attend to me and answer me.
I am restless in my lamenting and I groan,
³ because of the voice of an enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked,
because they bring down evil on me,
and in anger they hold a grudge against me.
⁴ My heart trembles within me,
and deathly terrors fall on me.
⁵ Fear and trembling come on me,
and horror overwhelms me.
⁶ So I say, “Oh, that^[b] I had wings like a dove.
I would fly away and be at rest.
⁷ Look, I would flee far away.
I would dwell in the wilderness. Selah
⁸ I would hurry to my refuge
from the raging wind and storm.”
⁹ Confuse, O Lord; divide their speech,
because I see violence and strife in the city.
¹⁰ Day and night they go around it on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are in its midst.
¹¹ Destruction is within it,
and oppression and deceit
do not depart from its public square.
¹² For it is not an enemy that taunts me,
or I could bear it.
It is not one who hates me that magnifies himself over me,
or I could hide myself from him.
¹³ But it is you, a man my equal,
my friend and confidant.
¹⁴ We who would take sweet counsel together;
in the house^[c] of God
we would walk with the throng.
¹⁵ Let death deceive them. May they descend to Sheol alive,
because evil is in their home and heart.^[d]
16 As for me, I will call to God,
and Yahweh will save me.
¹⁷ Morning, noon and night^[e] I will lament and groan loudly,
and he will hear my voice.
¹⁸ He safely redeems my life from the battle against me,^[f]
because those standing against me are among many.
¹⁹ God will hear and answer them,^[g]
he who is enthroned from of old, Selah
Because they do not change,
and they do not fear God.
²⁰ He has put forth his hands against his friends;^[h]
he has defiled his covenant.
²¹ The buttery words^[i] of his mouth were smooth,
but there was battle in his heart.
His words were smoother than oil,
but they were drawn swords.
²² Cast your burden on Yahweh,
and he will sustain you.
He will never allow the righteous to be moved.^[j]
23 But you, O God, you will bring them down to the pit of corruption.
The men of bloodshed and deceit will not live half their days,
but I will trust you.