American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of David. Michtam. {Or, Is the righteousness ye should speak dumb?}Do ye indeed {Or, as otherwise read, O ye gods Or, O ye mighty ones}in silence speak righteousness?Do ye {Or, judge uprightly the sons of men}judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
Nay, in heart ye work wickedness;Ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
The wicked are estranged from the womb:They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
Their poison is like the poison of a serpent:They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear,
Which hearkeneth not to the voice of {Or, enchanters}charmers,Charming never so wisely.
Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth:Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Jehovah.
Let them melt away as water that runneth apace:When he aimeth his arrows, let them be as though they were cut off.
Let them be as a snail which melteth and passeth away,Like the untimely birth of a woman, {Or, like them that have not seen the sun}that hath not seen the sun.
Before your pots can feel the thorns, {Or, Wrath shall take them away while living as with a whirlwind}He will take them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.
The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance:He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;
So that men shall say, Verily there is {Hebrew: fruit.}a reward for the righteous:Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.
Then shall mine enemies turn back in the day that I call:This I know, { Or, for}that God is for me.
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. Maschil of David.Give ear to my prayer, O God;And hide not thyself from my supplication.
Attend unto me, and answer me:I am restless in my complaint, and moan,
Because of the voice of the enemy,Because of the oppression of the wicked;For they cast iniquity upon me,And in anger they persecute me.
My heart is sore pained within me:And the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me,And horror hath overwhelmed me.
And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove!Then would I fly away, and be at rest.
Lo, then would I wander far off,I would lodge in the wilderness. [Selah
I would {Or, hasten my escape}haste me to a shelterFrom the stormy wind and tempest.
{Hebrew: Swallow up.}Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongue;For I have seen violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof:Iniquity also and mischief are in the midst of it.
Wickedness is in the midst thereof: {Or, Fraud}Oppression and guile depart not from its streets.
For it was not an enemy that reproached me;Then I could have borne it:Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me;Then I would have hid myself from him:
But it was thou, a man mine equal,My companion, and my familiar friend.
We took sweet counsel together;We walked in the house of God with the throng.
{Or, as otherwise read, Desolations be upon them!}Let death come suddenly upon them,Let them go down alive into Sheol;For wickedness is in their dwelling, in the {Or, their inward part}midst of them.
As for me, I will call upon God;And Jehovah will save me.
Evening, and morning, and at noonday, will I complain, and moan;And he will hear my voice.
He hath redeemed my soul in peace {Or, so that none came nigh me}from the battle that was against me;For they were many that strove with me.
God will hear, and {Or, afflict}answer them,Even he that abideth of old, [SelahThe men who have no changes,And who fear not God.
He hath put forth his hands against such as were at peace with him:He hath profaned his covenant.
His mouth was smooth as butter,But his heart was war:His words were softer than oil,Yet were they drawn swords.
Cast {Or, what he hath given thee}thy burden upon Jehovah, and he will sustain thee:He will never suffer the righteous to be moved.
But thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction:Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;But I will trust in thee.