55:1 LISTEN TO my prayer, O God, and hide not Yourself from my supplication! |
55:2 Attend to me and answer me; I am restless {and} distraught in my complaint and must moan |
55:3 [And I am distracted] at the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression {and} threats of the wicked; for they would cast trouble upon me, and in wrath they persecute me. |
55:4 My heart is grievously pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. |
55:5 Fear and trembling have come upon me; horror {and} fright have overwhelmed 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 [pause, and calmly think of that]! |
55:8 I would hasten to escape {and} to find a shelter from the stormy wind and tempest. |
55:9 Destroy [their schemes], O Lord, confuse their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city. |
55:10 Day and night they go about on its walls; iniquity and mischief are in its midst. |
55:11 Violence {and} ruin are within it; fraud and guile do not depart from its streets {and} marketplaces. |
55:12 For it is not an enemy who reproaches {and} taunts me--then I might bear it; nor is it one who has hated me who insolently vaunts himself against me--then I might hide from him. |
55:13 But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my familiar friend. |
55:14 We had sweet fellowship together and used to walk to the house of God in company. |
55:15 Let desolations {and} death come suddenly upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol (the place of the dead), for evils are in their habitations, in their hearts, {and} their inmost part. |
55:16 As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me. |
55:17 Evening and morning and at noon will I utter my complaint and moan {and} sigh, and He will hear my voice. |
55:18 He has redeemed my life in peace from the battle that was against me [so that none came near me], for they were many who strove with me. |
55:19 God will hear and humble them, even He Who abides of old--Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!--because in them there has been no change [of heart], and they do not fear, revere, {and} worship God. |
55:20 [My companion] has put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him; he has broken {and} profaned his agreement [of friendship and loyalty]. |
55:21 The words of his mouth were smoother than cream {or} butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. |
55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail). |
55:23 But You, O God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in, lean on, {and} confidently rely on You. |