Psalms 140

¹Psalm 140 For the director of music. A psalm of David. Rescue me, O Lord, from evil men; protect me from men of violence,

²who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day.

³They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s; the poison of vipers is on their lips. Selah

⁴Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from men of violence who plan to trip my feet.

⁵Proud men have hidden a snare for me; they have spread out the cords of their net and have set traps for me along my path. Selah

⁶O Lord, I say to you, “You are my God.” Hear, O Lord, my cry for mercy.

⁷O Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, who shields my head in the day of battle—

⁸do not grant the wicked their desires, O Lord; do not let their plans succeed, or they will become proud. Selah

⁹Let the heads of those who surround me be covered with the trouble their lips have caused.

¹⁰Let burning coals fall upon them; may they be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, never to rise.

¹¹Let slanderers not be established in the land; may disaster hunt down men of violence.

¹²I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.

¹³Surely the righteous will praise your name and the upright will live before you.