Psalm 140
Literal Standard Version
Chapter overview
Psalm 140 asks rescue from violent schemers whose speech, traps, and plans endanger the vulnerable. The prayer trusts that malicious strategies will recoil and that justice will defend poor and needy people.
ProtectionViolenceJusticePoor
1TO THE OVERSEER. A PSALM OF DAVID. Deliver me, O YHWH, from an evil man, || Keep me from one of violence.
2Who have devised evils in the heart, || All the day they assemble [for] wars.
3They sharpened their tongue as a serpent, || Poison of a viper [is] under their lips. Selah.
4Preserve me, YHWH, from the hands of the wicked, || Keep me from one of violence, || Who have devised to overthrow my steps.
5The proud hid a snare for me—and cords, || They spread a net by the side of the path, || They have set snares for me. Selah.
6I have said to YHWH, “You [are] my God, || Hear, YHWH, the voice of my supplications.”
7O YHWH, my Lord, strength of my salvation, || You have covered my head in the day of armor.
8Do not grant, O YHWH, the desires of the wicked, || Do not bring forth his wicked scheme, || They are high. Selah.
9The chief of my surrounders, || The perverseness of their lips covers them.
10They cause burning coals to fall on themselves, || He casts them into fire, || Into deep pits—they do not arise.
11A talkative man is not established in the earth, || One of violence—evil hunts to overflowing.
12I have known that YHWH executes || The judgment of the afflicted, || The judgment of the needy.
13Surely the righteous give thanks to Your Name, || The upright dwell with Your presence!
Literal Standard Version — CC BY-SA 4.0. Where these translations come from.
Copyright © 2020 Covenant Press. Supplied unaltered through eBible.org. Text unchanged, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.