For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
Deliver me, O Jehovah, from the evil man;
Preserve me from the violent man:
Who devise mischiefs in their heart;
Continually do they {Or, stir up wars}gather themselves together for war.
They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent;
Adders' poison is under their lips.
[Selah
Keep me, O Jehovah, from the hands of the wicked;
Preserve me from the violent man:
Who have purposed to thrust aside my steps.
The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords;
They have spread a net by the wayside;
They have set gins for me.
[Selah
I said unto Jehovah, Thou art my God:
Give ear unto the voice of my supplications, O Jehovah.
O Jehovah the Lord, the strength of my salvation,
Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.
Grant not, O Jehovah, the desires of the wicked;
Further not his evil device, lest they exalt themselves. [Selah
As for the head of those that compass me about,
Let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
Let burning coals fall upon them:
Let them be cast into the fire,
Into {Or, floods}deep pits, whence they shall not rise.
{Hebrew: A man to tongue.}An evil speaker shall not be established in the earth:
Evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.
I know that Jehovah will maintain the cause of the afflicted,
And justice for the needy.
Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name:
The upright shall dwell in thy presence.
Querverweise zu Psalm 140,2 Ps 140,2
Why do the nations {Or, tumultuously assemble}rage,And the peoples meditate a vain thing?
They gather themselves together, they hide themselves,They mark my steps, {Or, Inasmuch as}Even as they have waited for my soul.
The kings of the earth set themselves,And the rulers take counsel together,Against Jehovah, and against his anointed, saying,
I am for peace:But when I speak, they are for war.
For they intended evil against thee;They conceived a device which they are not able to perform.
Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in the strongholds in {Or, Horesh}the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of {Or, Jeshimon}the desert?
Now therefore, O king, come down, according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him up into the king's hand.
And Saul said, Blessed be ye of Jehovah; for ye have had compassion on me.
Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his {Hebrew: foot.}haunt is, and who hath seen him there; for it is told me that he dealeth very subtly.
See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking-places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me {Or, with a certainty Or, to a set place}of a certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out among all the {Or, families}thousands of Judah.
And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah on the south of {Or, Jeshimon}the desert.
He deviseth iniquity upon his bed;He setteth himself in a way that is not good;He abhorreth not evil.
Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand; for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against thee, though thou {Or, layest wait for}huntest after my life to take it.
They also that seek after my life lay snares for me;And they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things,And meditate deceits all the day long.
Jehovah judge between me and thee, and Jehovah avenge me of thee; but my hand shall not be upon thee.
How long will ye set upon a man, {Or, as otherwise read. Ye shall be slain &c.}That ye may slay him, all of you,Like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
And the Ziphites came unto Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert?
Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.
And Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before {Or, Jeshiman See chapter 23:19}the desert, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.
David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come {Or, to a set place See chapter 23:23.}of a certainty.
And David arose, and came to the place where Saul had encamped; and David beheld the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his host: and Saul lay within {Or, barricade}the place of the wagons, and the people were encamped round about him.
Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? And Abishai said, I will go down with thee.
So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within {Or, barricade}the place of the wagons, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people lay round about him.
Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered up thine enemy into thy hand this day: now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not smite him the second time.
And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not; for who can put forth his hand against Jehovah's anointed, and be guiltless?
And David said, As Jehovah liveth, Jehovah will smite him; {Or, either}or his day shall come to die; or he shall go down into battle and perish.
Jehovah forbid that I should put forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed: but now take, I pray thee, the spear that is at his head, and the cruse of water, and let us go.
So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul's head; and they gat them away: and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither did any awake; for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from Jehovah was fallen upon them.
Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of the mountain afar off; a great space being between them;
and David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king?
And David said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept watch over thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord.
This thing is not good that thou hast done. As Jehovah liveth, ye are {Hebrew: sons of death.}worthy to die, because ye have not kept watch over your lord, Jehovah's anointed. And now see where the king's spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his head.
And Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king.
And he said, Wherefore doth my lord pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in my hand?
Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it be Jehovah that hath stirred thee up against me, let him {Hebrew: smell.}accept an offering: but if it be the children of men, cursed be they before Jehovah: for they have driven me out this day that I should {Or, have no share in}not cleave unto the inheritance of Jehovah, saying, Go, serve other gods.
Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of Jehovah: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.
Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David; for I will no more do thee harm, because my life was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.
And David answered and said, Behold {Another reading is, the king's spear.}the spear, O king! let then one of the young men come over and fetch it.
And Jehovah will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; forasmuch as Jehovah delivered thee into my hand to-day, and I would not put forth my hand against Jehovah's anointed.
And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of Jehovah, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.
Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do mightily, and shalt surely prevail. So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.
They encourage themselves in an evil purpose;They commune of laying snares privily;They say, Who will see them?
They search out iniquities; {Or, as otherwise read. They have accomplished (or, have hidden)}We have accomplished, say they, a diligent search:And the inward thought and the heart of every one is deep.
Deceit is in the heart of them that devise evil;But to the counsellors of peace is joy.
For they have {Hebrew: brought near.}made ready their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.
Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
And they covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away: and they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah: Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks, neither shall ye walk haughtily; for it is an evil time.
There is one gone forth out of thee, that deviseth evil against Jehovah, {Or, a wicked counsellor}that counselleth {Or, worthlessness Hebrew: Belial}wickedness.