³ O Yahweh my Elohim,
    if I have done this—
        if my hands are stained with injustice,
⁴         if I have paid back my friend with evil
            or rescued someone who has no reason to attack me—^[b]

⁵ then let the enemy chase me and catch me.
    Let him trample my life into the ground.
        Let him lay my honor in the dust. Selah

⁶ Arise in anger, O Yahweh.
    Stand up against the fury of my attackers.
    Wake up, my God.^[c]
    You have already pronounced judgment.
⁷         Let an assembly of people gather around you.
            Take your seat high above them.
⁸ Yahweh judges the people of the world.
    Judge me, O Yahweh,
    according to my righteousness,
    according to my integrity.

⁹ Let the evil within wicked people come to an end,
    but make the righteous person secure,
        O righteous Elohim who examines thoughts and emotions.
¹⁰ My Magen is Elohim above,
    who saves those whose motives are decent.

¹¹ Elohim is a fair Shophet,
    an El who is angered by injustice every day.
¹² If a person does not change, Elohim sharpens his sword.
    By bending his bow, he makes it ready to shoot.
¹³ He prepares his deadly weapons
    and turns them into flaming arrows.
¹⁴ See how that person conceives evil,
    is pregnant with harm,
        and gives birth to lies.
¹⁵ He digs a pit and shovels it out.
    Then he falls into the hole that he made for others.
¹⁶ His mischief lands back on his own head.
    His violence comes down on top of him.

¹⁷ I will give thanks to Yahweh for his righteousness.
    I will make music to praise the name of Yahweh Elyon.

⁴ Let those who seek my life be put to shame and disgraced.
    Let those who plan my downfall be turned back in confusion.
⁵ Let them be like husks blown by the wind
    as the Messenger of Yahweh chases them.
⁶ Let their path be dark and slippery
    as the Messenger of Yahweh pursues them.
⁷ For no reason they hid their net in a pit.
    For no reason they dug the pit to trap me.
⁸ Let destruction surprise them.
    Let the net that they hid catch them.
    Let them fall into their own pit and be destroyed.
⁹ My soul will find joy in Yahweh
    and be joyful about his salvation.
¹⁰ All my bones will say, “O Yahweh, who can compare with you?
    You rescue the weak person from the one who is too strong for him
        and weak and needy people from the one who robs them.”

¹¹ Malicious people bring charges against me.
    They ask me things I know nothing about.
¹² I am devastated
    because they pay me back with evil instead of good.
¹³ But when they were sick, I wore sackcloth.
    I humbled myself with fasting.
    When my prayer returned unanswered,
¹⁴ I walked around as if I were mourning for my friend or my brother.
    I was bent over as if I were mourning for my mother.

¹⁵ Yet, when I stumbled,
    they rejoiced and gathered together.
    They gathered together against me.
        Unknown attackers tore me apart without stopping.
¹⁶ With crude and abusive mockers,
    they grit their teeth at me.
¹⁷ O Adonay, how long will you look on?
    Rescue me from their attacks.
    Rescue my precious life from the lions.
¹⁸ I will give you thanks in a large gathering.
    I will praise you in a crowd of worshipers.

¹⁹ Do not let my treacherous enemies gloat over me.
    Do not let those who hate me for no reason wink at me.
²⁰ They do not talk about peace.
    Instead, they scheme against the peaceful people in the land.
²¹ They open their big mouths and say about me,
    “Aha! Aha! Our own eyes have seen it.”
²² You have seen it, O Yahweh.
    Do not remain silent.
    O Adonay, do not be so far away from me.
²³ Wake up, and rise to my defense.
    Plead my case, O my Elohim and my Adonay.
²⁴ Judge me by your righteousness, O Yahweh my Elohim.
    Do not let them gloat over me
²⁵ or think, “Aha, just what we wanted!”
    Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up.”
²⁶ Let those who gloat over my downfall
    be thoroughly put to shame and confused.
    Let those who promote themselves at my expense
    be clothed with shame and disgrace.
²⁷ Let those who are happy when I am declared innocent
    joyfully sing and rejoice.
    Let them continually say, “Yahweh is great.
    He is happy when his servant has peace.”
²⁸ Then my tongue will tell about your righteousness,
    about your praise all day long.

⁶ My enemies spread out a net to catch me.
    (My soul is bowed down.)^[b]
    They dug a pit to trap me,
    but then they fell into it. Selah
⁷ My heart is confident, O Elohim.
    My heart is confident.
    I want to sing and make music.^[c]
8 Wake up, my soul!^[d]
    Wake up, harp and lyre!
    I want to wake up at dawn.
⁹ I want to give thanks to you among the people, O Adonay.
    I want to make music to praise you among the nations
¹⁰ because your mercy is as high as the heavens.
    Your truth reaches the skies.

¹¹ May you be honored above the heavens, O Elohim.
    Let your glory extend over the whole earth.

My enemies have hidden a trap for me on the path where I walk.
⁴ Look to my right and see that no one notices me.
    Escape is impossible for me.
        No one cares about me.

⁵ I call out to you, O Yahweh.
    I say, “You are my Machseh,
    my own inheritance in this world of the living.”
⁶ Pay attention to my cry for help
    because I am very weak.
    Rescue me from those who pursue me
    because they are too strong for me.
⁷ Release my soul from prison
    so that I may give thanks to your name.
        Righteous people will surround me
            because you are good to me.