Psalm 55

Prayer for the Destruction of the Treacherous.

¹Listen to my prayer, God;

And do not hide Yourself from my pleading.

²Give Your attention to me and answer me;

I am restless in my complaint and severely distracted,

³Because of the voice of the enemy,

Because of the pressure of the wicked;

For they bring down trouble upon me

And in anger they hold a grudge against me.

⁴¶My heart is in anguish within me,

And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

⁵Fear and trembling come upon me,

And horror has overwhelmed me.

⁶I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!

I would fly away and be at rest.

⁷“Behold, I would flee far away,

I would spend my nights in the wilderness. Selah

⁸“I would hurry to my place of refuge

From the stormy wind and heavy gale.”

⁹¶Confuse them, Lord, divide their tongues,

For I have seen violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they go around her upon her walls,

And evil and harm are in her midst.

¹¹Destruction is in her midst;

Oppression and deceit do not depart from her streets.

¹²¶For it is not an enemy who taunts me,

Then I could endure it;

Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me,

Then I could hide myself from him.

¹³But it is you, a man my equal,[#55:13 Lit according to my valuation]

My companion and my confidant;

¹⁴We who had sweet fellowship together,[#55:14 Lit counsel; or intimacy]

Walked in the house of God among the commotion.

¹⁵May death come deceitfully upon them;[#55:15 Another reading is devastation be upon them]

May they go down alive to Sheol,

For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.

¹⁶¶As for me, I shall call upon God,

And the Lord will save me.

¹⁷Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and moan,

And He will hear my voice.

¹⁸He will redeem my soul in peace from the battle which is against me,[#55:18 Or so that none may approach me]

For they are many who are aggressive toward me.

¹⁹God will hear and humiliate them—

Even the One who sits enthroned from ancient times— Selah

With whom there is no change,

And who do not fear God.

²⁰He has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him;

He has violated his covenant.

²¹His speech was smoother than butter,[#55:21 Lit mouth]

But his heart was war;

His words were softer than oil,

Yet they were drawn swords.

²²¶Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you;

He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

²³But You, God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction;

Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days.

But I will trust in You.