In You Do I Take Refuge

A (A)Shiggaion[a] of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

O Lord my God, in you do I (B)take refuge;
    (C)save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,
lest like (D)a lion they tear my soul apart,
    rending it in pieces, with (E)none to deliver.

O Lord my God, (F)if I have done this,
    if there is (G)wrong in my hands,
if I have repaid (H)my friend[b] with evil
    or (I)plundered my enemy without cause,
let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,
    and let him (J)trample my life to the ground
    and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

(K)Arise, O Lord, in your anger;
    (L)lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;
    (M)awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;
    over it return on high.

The Lord (N)judges the peoples;
    (O)judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness
    and according to the integrity that is in me.
Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
    and may you establish the righteous—
you who (P)test (Q)the minds and hearts,[c]
    O righteous God!
10 My shield is (R)with God,
    who saves (S)the upright in heart.
11 God is (T)a righteous judge,
    and a God who feels (U)indignation every day.

12 If a man[d] does not repent, God[e] will (V)whet his sword;
    he has (W)bent and (X)readied his bow;
13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,
    making his (Y)arrows (Z)fiery shafts.
14 Behold, the wicked man (AA)conceives evil
    and is (AB)pregnant with mischief
    and gives birth to lies.
15 He makes (AC)a pit, digging it out,
    and falls into the hole that he has made.
16 His (AD)mischief returns upon his own head,
    and on his own skull his violence descends.

17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,
    and I will (AE)sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 7:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
  2. Psalm 7:4 Hebrew the one at peace with me
  3. Psalm 7:9 Hebrew the hearts and kidneys
  4. Psalm 7:12 Hebrew he
  5. Psalm 7:12 Hebrew he

(Shiggayon of Dovid, which he sang unto Hashem, regarding Kush of Binyamin) Hashem Elohai, in Thee do I seek refuge; hoshieini (save me) from all them that persecute me, and deliver me;

(3) Lest he tear my nefesh like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to rescue.

(4) Hashem Elohai, if I have done this; if there be guilt in my hands;

(5) If I have recompensed with evil him that held out shalom unto me; or, without cause plundered my opposers,

(6) Then let the enemy persecute my nefesh, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life to the earth, and lay mine kavod to sleep in the dust. Selah.

(7) Arise, Hashem, in Thine anger, lift up Thyself because of the rage of mine enemies; awake, o my El, to the mishpat Thou hast decreed.

(8) So let the Adat l’Umim surround Thee; and over it return Thou on high [to judge].

(9) Hashem shall judge the people; judge me, Hashem, according to my tzedek, and according to mine integrity that is in me.

(10) Oh let the wickedness of the resha’im come to an end; but make the tzaddik secure; for the Elohim Tzaddik trieth the minds and hearts.

10 (11) My mogen (shield) is Elohim, Moshi’a of the upright in heart.

11 (12) Elohim is a Shofet Tzaddik, and El expresses wrath kol yom.

12 (13) If He relent not, He will sharpen His cherev; He hath bent His keshet (bow) and made it ready.

13 (14) He hath also prepared for Him the instruments of mavet; He ordaineth His flaming khitzim (arrows).

14 (15) Hinei, he [an evil person] travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived trouble, and brought forth falsehood.

15 (16) He makes a pit, and digs it, and is fallen into the shachat (pit) which he made.

16 (17) His trouble shall return upon his own rosh, and his chamas shall come down upon his own kodkod (crown of the head).

17 (18) I will give thanks to Hashem according to His tzedek; and will sing praise to the Shem of Hashem Elyon.