The Message Bible MSG
New International Version NIV
1 God, come close. Come quickly! Open your ears - it's my voice you're hearing!
1
I call to you, LORD, come quickly to me; hear me when I call to you.
2 Treat my prayer as sweet incense rising; my raised hands are my evening prayers.
2
May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
3 Post a guard at my mouth, God, set a watch at the door of my lips.
3
Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Don't let me so much as dream of evil or thoughtlessly fall into bad company. And these people who only do wrong - don't let them lure me with their sweet talk!
4
Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies.
5 May the Just One set me straight, may the Kind One correct me, Don't let sin anoint my head. I'm praying hard against their evil ways!
5
Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness; let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it, for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.
6 Oh, let their leaders be pushed off a high rock cliff; make them face the music.
6
Their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs, and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.
7 Like a rock pulverized by a maul, let their bones be scattered at the gates of hell.
7
They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.”
8 But God, dear Lord, I only have eyes for you. Since I've run for dear life to you, take good care of me.
8
But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.
9 Protect me from their evil scheming, from all their demonic subterfuge.
9
Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers, from the snares they have laid for me.
10 Let the wicked fall flat on their faces, while I walk off without a scratch. A David prayer - when he was in the cave.
10
Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.