The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 Open your ears, God, to my prayer; don't pretend you don't hear me knocking.
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Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 Come close and whisper your answer. I really need you.
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Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
3 at the mean voice, quail before the evil eye, As they pile on the guilt, stockpile angry slander.
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because of the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they drop trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4 My insides are turned inside out; specters of death have me down.
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My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 I shake with fear, I shudder from head to foot.
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Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.
6 "Who will give me wings," I ask - "wings like a dove?" Get me out of here on dove wings;
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And I say, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest;
7 I want some peace and quiet. I want a walk in the country,
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yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8 I want a cabin in the woods. I'm desperate for a change from rage and stormy weather.
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I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest."
9 Come down hard, Lord - slit their tongues. I'm appalled how they've split the city Into rival gangs prowling the alleys
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Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night spoiling for a fight, trash piled in the streets,
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Day and night they go around it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it;
11 Even shopkeepers gouging and cheating in broad daylight.
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ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace.
12 This isn't the neighborhood bully mocking me - I could take that. This isn't a foreign devil spitting invective - I could tune that out.
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For it is not an enemy who taunts me-- then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me-- then I could hide from him.
13 It's you! We grew up together! You! My best friend!
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But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend.
14 Those long hours of leisure as we walked arm in arm, God a third party to our conversation.
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We used to take sweet counsel together; within God's house we walked in the throng.
15 Haul my betrayers off alive to hell - let them experience the horror, let them feel every desolate detail of a damned life.
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Let death steal over them; let them go down to Sheol alive; for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
16 I call to God; God will help me.
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But I call to God, and the LORD will save me.
17 At dusk, dawn, and noon I sigh deep sighs - he hears, he rescues.
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Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.
18 My life is well and whole, secure in the middle of danger Even while thousands are lined up against me.
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He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.
19 God hears it all, and from his judge's bench puts them in their place. But, set in their ways, they won't change; they pay him no mind.
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God will give ear and humble them, he who is enthroned from of old, Selah because they do not change and do not fear God.
20 And this, my best friend, betrayed his best friends; his life betrayed his word.
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My companion stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant.
21 All my life I've been charmed by his speech, never dreaming he'd turn on me. His words, which were music to my ears, turned to daggers in my heart.
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His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.
22 Pile your troubles on God's shoulders - he'll carry your load, he'll help you out. He'll never let good people topple into ruin.
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Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
23 But you, God, will throw the others into a muddy bog, Cut the lifespan of assassins and traitors in half. And I trust in you.
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But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.
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.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.