Psalm 140
The full text of Psalm 140 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men;
preserve me from violent men,
2 who plan evil things in their heart
and stir up wars continually.
3 They make their tongue sharp as a serpent's,
and under their lips is the venom of asps. Selah
4 Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked;
preserve me from violent men,
who have planned to trip up my feet.
5 The arrogant have hidden a trap for me,
and with cords they have spread a net;
beside the way they have set snares for me. Selah
6 I say to the LORD, You are my God;
give ear to the voice of my pleas for mercy, O LORD!
7 O LORD, my Lord, the strength of my salvation,
you have covered my head in the day of battle.
8 Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked;
do not further their evil plot, or they will be exalted! Selah
9 As for the head of those who surround me,
let the mischief of their lips overwhelm them!
10 Let burning coals fall upon them!
Let them be cast into fire,
into miry pits, no more to rise!
11 Let not the slanderer be established in the land;
let evil hunt down the violent man speedily!
12 I know that the LORD will maintain
the cause of the afflicted,
and will execute justice for the needy.
13 Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name;
the upright shall dwell in your presence.
Translation notes (3)
- Psalm 140:3a Akshuv (עַכְשׁוּב), 'asp', occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible; the Septuagint renders it with aspis, a venomous cobra. Paul quotes this line in its Septuagint form in Romans 3:13, within a chain of citations on the universal corruption of human speech.
- Psalm 140:9a The Hebrew rosh mesibbai, literally 'the head of those who surround me', is syntactically abrupt; rosh may denote the ringleader of the assailants or, taken collectively, the heads upon which the curse recoils. Since rosh (רֹאשׁ) is also spelled identically to a noun meaning 'poison', some interpreters hear an echo of the serpents' venom of verse 3.
- Psalm 140:10a Mahamorot, 'miry pits', occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible; its sense is inferred from context and from cognate evidence for watery or muddy depths. The Septuagint instead reads en talaipōriais, 'into calamities', suggesting its translators either read a different text or found the rare word obscure. In the Masoretic Text this is verse 11.
About this translation
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