7:1  O LORD my God, in You I take refuge {and} put my trust; save me from all those who pursue {and} persecute me, and deliver me,

7:2  Lest my foe tear my life [from my body] like a lion, dragging {me} away while there is none to deliver.

7:3  O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,

7:4  If I have paid back with evil him who was at peace with me or without cause have robbed him who was my enemy,

7:5  Let the enemy pursue my life and take it; yes, let him trample my life to the ground and lay my honor in the dust. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

7:6  Arise, O Lord, in Your anger; lift up Yourself against the rage of my enemies; and awake [and stir up] for me the justice {and} vindication [that] You have commanded.

7:7  Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about You, and return on high over them.

7:8  The Lord judges the people; judge me, O Lord, {and} do me justice according to my righteousness [my rightness, justice, and right standing with You] and according to the integrity that is in me.

7:9  Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the [uncompromisingly] righteous [those upright and in harmony with You]; for You, Who try the hearts and emotions {and} thinking powers, are a righteous God.

7:10  My defense {and} shield depend on God, Who saves the upright in heart.

7:11  God is a righteous Judge, yes, a God Who is indignant every day.

7:12  If a man does not turn {and} repent, [God] will whet His sword; He has strung {and} bent His [huge] bow and made it ready [by treading it with His foot].

7:13  He has also prepared for him deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts.

7:14  Behold, [the wicked man] conceives iniquity and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.

7:15  He made a pit and hollowed it out and has fallen into the hole which he made [before the trap was completed].

7:16  His mischief shall fall back in return upon his own head, and his violence come down [with the loose dirt] upon his own scalp.

7:17  I will give to the Lord the thanks due to His rightness {and} justice, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.