New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 Give ear to my prayer, O God; do not hide yourself from my supplication.
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<To the chief music-maker, on Neginoth. Maschil. Of David.> Give hearing to my prayer, O God; and let not your ear be shut against my request.
2 Attend to me, and answer me; I am troubled in my complaint. I am distraught
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Give thought to me, and let my prayer be answered: I have been made low in sorrow;
3 by the noise of the enemy, because of the clamor of the wicked. For they bring trouble upon me, and in anger they cherish enmity against me.
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I am troubled because of the voice of the cruel ones, because of the loud cry of the evil-doers; for they put a weight of evil on me, and they are cruel in their hate for me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me, the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
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My heart is deeply wounded, and the fear of death has come on me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.
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Fear and shaking have come over me, with deep fear I am covered.
6 And I say, "O that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest;
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And I said, If only I had wings like a dove! for then I would go in flight from here and be at rest.
7 truly, I would flee far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; (Selah)
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I would go wandering far away, living in the waste land. (Selah.)
8 I would hurry to find a shelter for myself from the raging wind and tempest."
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I would quickly take cover from the driving storm and from the violent wind.
9 Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech; for I see violence and strife in the city.
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Send destruction on them, O Lord, make a division of tongues among them: for I have seen fighting and violent acts in the town.
10 Day and night they go around it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it;
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By day and night they go round the town, on the walls; trouble and sorrow are in the heart of it.
11 ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace.
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Evil is there; cruel rule and deceit are ever in the streets.
12 It is not enemies who taunt me— I could bear that; it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me— I could hide from them.
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For it was not my hater who said evil of me; that would have been no grief to me; it was not one outside the number of my friends who made himself strong against me, or I would have kept myself from him in a secret place;
13 But it is you, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend,
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But it was you, my equal, my guide, my well-loved friend.
14 with whom I kept pleasant company; we walked in the house of God with the throng.
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We had loving talk together, and went to the house of God in company.
15 Let death come upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol; for evil is in their homes and in their hearts.
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Let the hand of death come on them suddenly, and let them go down living into the underworld; because evil is in their houses and in their hearts.
16 But I call upon God, and the Lord will save me.
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As for me, I will make my prayer to God, and he will be my saviour.
17 Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he will hear my voice.
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In the evening and in the morning and in the middle of the day I will make my prayer with sounds of grief; and my voice will come to his ears.
18 He will redeem me unharmed from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.
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He has taken my soul away from the attack which was made against me, and given it peace; for great numbers were against me.
19 God, who is enthroned from of old, (Selah) will hear, and will humble them— because they do not change, and do not fear God.
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God will give thought to me; he who from early times is strong will send pain and trouble on them. (Selah.) Because they are unchanged, they have no fear of God.
20 My companion laid hands on a friend and violated a covenant with me
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He has put out his hand against those who were at peace with him; he has not kept his agreement.
21 with speech smoother than butter, but with a heart set on war; with words that were softer than oil, but in fact were drawn swords.
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The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, but they were sharp swords.
22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
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Put your cares on the Lord, and he will be your support; he will not let the upright man be moved.
23 But you, O God, will cast them down into the lowest pit; the bloodthirsty and treacherous shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.
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But you, O God, will send them down into the underworld; the cruel and the false will be cut off before half their days are ended; but I will have faith in you.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.