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For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.

64 Hear my voice, God, in my complaint.
    Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
    from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil;
who sharpen their tongue like a sword,
    and aim their arrows, deadly words,
    to shoot innocent men from ambushes.
    They shoot at him suddenly and fearlessly.
They encourage themselves in evil plans.
    They talk about laying snares secretly.
    They say, “Who will see them?”
They plot injustice, saying, “We have made a perfect plan!”
    Surely man’s mind and heart are cunning.
But God will shoot at them.
    They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow.
Their own tongues shall ruin them.
    All who see them will shake their heads.
All mankind shall be afraid.
    They shall declare the work of God,
    and shall wisely ponder what he has done.
10 The righteous shall be glad in Yahweh,
    and shall take refuge in him.
    All the upright in heart shall praise him!

Psalm 64

Protection from Evildoers

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

God, hear my voice when I am in anguish.(A)
Protect my life from the terror of the enemy.(B)
Hide me from the scheming of wicked people,(C)
from the mob of evildoers,(D)
who sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim bitter words like arrows,(E)
shooting from concealed places at the blameless.
They shoot at him suddenly and are not afraid.(F)
They adopt[a] an evil plan;
they talk about hiding traps and say,
“Who will see them?” [b](G)
They devise crimes and say,
“We have perfected a secret plan.”(H)
The inner man and the heart are mysterious.(I)

But God will shoot them with arrows;
suddenly, they will be wounded.(J)
They will be made to stumble;
their own tongues work against them.
All who see them will shake their heads.(K)
Then everyone will fear
and will tell about God’s work,
for they will understand what he has done.(L)

10 The righteous one rejoices in the Lord
and takes refuge in him;
all those who are upright in heart
will offer praise.(M)

Footnotes

  1. 64:5 Or They strengthen themselves with
  2. 64:5 Or it