Chapter 140

Rescue Me from Evil Men

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men.

Protect me from men of violence,

²who devise evil in their hearts

and stir up war all day long.

³They sharpen their tongues like snakes;

the venom of vipers is on their lips.^a

Selah

⁴Guard me, O LORD,

from the hands of the wicked.

Keep me safe from men of violence

who scheme to make me stumble.

⁵The proud hide a snare for me;

the cords of their net are spread along the path,

and lures are set out for me.

Selah

⁶I say to the LORD, “You are my God.”

Hear, O LORD, my cry for help.

⁷O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation,

You shield my head in the day of battle.

⁸Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked;

do not promote their evil plans,

lest they be exalted.

Selah

⁹May the heads of those who surround me

be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.

¹⁰May burning coals fall on them;

may they be thrown into the fire,

into the miry pits, never to rise again.

¹¹May no slanderer be established in the land;

may calamity hunt down the man of violence.

¹²I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor

and defends the cause of the needy.

¹³Surely the righteous will praise Your name;

the upright will dwell in Your presence.