1. Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea;
2. hear me and answer me. My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
3. because of what my enemy is saying, because of the threats of the wicked; for they bring down suffering on me and assail me in their anger.
4. My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me.
5. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.
6. I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.
7. I would flee far away and stay in the desert;
8. I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.”
9. Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words, for I see violence and strife in the city.
10. Day and night they prowl about on its walls; malice and abuse are within it.
11. Destructive forces are at work in the city; threats and lies never leave its streets.
12. If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide.
13. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend,
14. with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God, as we walked about among the worshipers.
15. Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the realm of the dead, for evil finds lodging among them.
16. As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me.
17. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.