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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

Protection from Sin and Sinners

A psalm of David.

Lord, I call on you; hurry to help me.
Listen to my voice when I call on you.(A)
May my prayer be set before you as incense,(B)
the raising of my hands as the evening offering.(C)

Lord, set up a guard for my mouth;
keep watch at the door of my lips.(D)
Do not let my heart turn to any evil thing
or perform wicked acts with evildoers.
Do not let me feast on their delicacies.(E)
Let the righteous one strike me—
it is an act of faithful love;
let him rebuke me—
it is oil for my head;
let me[a] not refuse it.(F)
Even now my prayer is against
the evil acts of the wicked.[b](G)
When their rulers[c] will be thrown off
the sides of a cliff,
the people[d] will listen to my words,
for they are pleasing.(H)

As when one plows and breaks up the soil,
turning up rocks,
so our[e] bones have been scattered
at the mouth of Sheol.(I)

But my eyes look to you, Lord, my Lord.
I seek refuge in you; do not let me die.[f](J)
Protect me from the trap they have set for me,
and from the snares of evildoers.(K)
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I pass by safely.(L)

Footnotes

  1. 141:5 Lit my head
  2. 141:5 Lit of them
  3. 141:6 Or judges
  4. 141:6 Lit cliff, and they
  5. 141:7 DSS reads my; some LXX mss, Syr read their
  6. 141:8 Or not pour out my life