Psalm 55

¹ Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!

² Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint and I moan,

³ because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they drop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.

⁴ My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

⁵ Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.

⁶ And I say, 'Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;

⁷ yes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah

⁸ I would hurry to find a shelter
from the raging wind and tempest.'

⁹ Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues;
for I see violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰ Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;

¹¹ ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
do not depart from its marketplace.

¹² For it is not an enemy who taunts me—
then I could bear it;
it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me—
then I could hide from him.

¹³ But it is you, a man my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend.

¹⁴ We used to take sweet counsel together;
within God's house we walked in the throng.

¹⁵ Let death steal over them;
let them go down to Sheol alive;
for evil is in their dwelling place and in their hearts.

¹⁶ But I call to God,
and the LORD will save me.

¹⁷ Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he hears my voice.

¹⁸ He redeems my soul in safety
from the battle that I wage,
for many are arrayed against me.

¹⁹ God will give ear and humble them,
he who is enthroned from of old, Selah
because they do not change
and do not fear God.

²⁰ My companion stretched out his hand against his friends;
he violated his covenant.

²¹ His speech was smooth as butter,
yet war was in his heart;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were drawn swords.

²² Cast your burden on the LORD,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.

²³ But you, O God, will cast them down
into the pit of destruction;
men of blood and treachery
shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.