55:1 [To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.] Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy! 55:2 Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan, 55:3 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. 55:4 My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. 55:5 Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me. 55:6 And I say, "Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; 55:7 yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah 55:8 I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest." 55:9 Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues; for I see violence and strife in the city. 55:10 Day and night they go around it on its walls, and iniquity and trouble are within it; 55:11 ruin is in its midst; oppression and fraud do not depart from its marketplace. 55:12 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. 55:13 But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. 55:14 We used to take sweet counsel together; within God's house we walked in the throng. 55:15 Let death steal over them; let them go down to Sheol alive; for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart. 55:16 But I call to God, and the LORD will save me. 55:17 Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. 55:18 He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me. 55:19 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. 55:20 My companion stretched out his hand against his friends; he violated his covenant. 55:21 His speech was smooth as butter, yet war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. 55:22 Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved. 55:23 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.