New International Version NIV
New Century Version NCV
1 I call to you, LORD, come quickly to me; hear me when I call to you.
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Lord, I call to you. Come quickly. Listen to me when I call to you.
2 May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
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Let my prayer be like incense placed before you, and my praise like the evening sacrifice.
3 Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.
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Lord, help me control my tongue; help me be careful about what I say.
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.
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Take away my desire to do evil or to join others in doing wrong. Don't let me eat tasty food with those who do evil.
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.
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If a good person punished me, that would be kind. If he corrected me, that would be like perfumed oil on my head. I shouldn't refuse it. But I pray against those who do evil.
6 Their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs, and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.
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Let their leaders be thrown down the cliffs. Then people will know that I have spoken correctly:
7 They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth, so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.”
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"The ground is plowed and broken up. In the same way, our bones have been scattered at the grave."
8 But my eyes are fixed on you, Sovereign LORD; in you I take refuge—do not give me over to death.
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God, I look to you for help. I trust in you, Lord. Don't let me die.
9 Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers, from the snares they have laid for me.
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Protect me from the traps they set for me and from the net that evil people have spread.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.
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Let the wicked fall into their own nets, but let me pass by safely. A maskil of David when he was in the cave. A prayer.