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Psalm 141

A psalm of David.

O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry!
    Listen when I cry to you for help!
Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,
    and my upraised hands as an evening offering.

Take control of what I say, O Lord,
    and guard my lips.
Don’t let me drift toward evil
    or take part in acts of wickedness.
Don’t let me share in the delicacies
    of those who do wrong.

Let the godly strike me!
    It will be a kindness!
If they correct me, it is soothing medicine.
    Don’t let me refuse it.

But I pray constantly
    against the wicked and their deeds.
When their leaders are thrown down from a cliff,
    the wicked will listen to my words and find them true.
Like rocks brought up by a plow,
    the bones of the wicked will lie scattered without burial.[a]

I look to you for help, O Sovereign Lord.
    You are my refuge; don’t let them kill me.
Keep me from the traps they have set for me,
    from the snares of those who do wrong.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
    but let me escape.

Footnotes

  1. 141:7 Hebrew our bones will be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

An Evening Prayer for Sanctification and Protection.

A Psalm of David.

141 Lord, I call upon You; (A)hurry to me!
(B)Listen to my voice when I call to You!
May my prayer be [a]counted as (C)incense before You;
The (D)raising of my hands as the (E)evening offering.
Set a (F)guard, Lord, [b]over my mouth;
Keep watch over the (G)door of my lips.
(H)Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice deeds [c]of wickedness
With people who (I)do wrong;
And (J)may I not taste their delicacies.

May the (K)righteous strike me with mercy and discipline me;
It is (L)oil for the head;
My head shall not refuse it,
For my prayer (M)is still against their evil deeds.
Their judges are (N)thrown down by the sides of the rock,
And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.
As when one (O)plows and breaks open the earth,
Our (P)bones have been scattered at the (Q)mouth of [d]Sheol.

For my (R)eyes are toward You, [e]God, the Lord;
In You I (S)take refuge; (T)do not [f]leave me defenseless.
Keep me from the [g](U)jaws of the trap which they have set for me,
And from the (V)snares of those who do wrong.
10 May the wicked (W)fall into their own nets,
While I pass by [h](X)safely.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 141:2 Lit fixed
  2. Psalm 141:3 Lit to
  3. Psalm 141:4 Lit in
  4. Psalm 141:7 I.e., the netherworld
  5. Psalm 141:8 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
  6. Psalm 141:8 Lit pour out my soul
  7. Psalm 141:9 Lit hands of the trap
  8. Psalm 141:10 Lit altogether