Psalm 141-144

Complete Jewish Bible

141 ⁽⁰⁾ A psalm of David:

⁽¹⁾ Adonai, I have called you; come to me quickly!
Listen to my plea when I call to you.
² Let my prayer be like incense set before you,
my uplifted hands like an evening sacrifice.

³ Set a guard, Adonai, over my mouth;
keep watch at the door of my lips.
⁴ Don’t let my heart turn to anything evil
or allow me to act wickedly
with men who are evildoers;
keep me from eating their delicacies.

⁵ Let the righteous strike me, let him correct me;
it will be an act of love.
Let my head not refuse such choice oil,
for I will keep on praying about their wickedness.
⁶ When their rulers are thrown down from the cliff,
[the wicked] will hear that my words were fitting.
⁷ As when one plows and breaks the ground into clods,
our bones are strewn at the mouth of Sh’ol.

⁸ For my eyes, Adonai, Adonai, are on you;
in you I take refuge; don’t pour out my life.
⁹ Keep me from the trap they have set for me,
from the snares of evildoers.
¹⁰ Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I pass by in safety.

142 ⁽⁰⁾ A maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer:

^2 (1) With my voice I cry to Adonai,
with my voice I plead to Adonai for mercy.
^3 (2) Before him I pour out my complaint,
before him I tell my trouble.
^4 (3) When my spirit faints within me,
you watch over my path.
By the road that I am walking
they have hidden a snare for me.
^5 (4) Look to my right, and see
that no one recognizes me.
I have no way of escape;
nobody cares for me.

^6 (5) I cried out to you, Adonai;
I said, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
^7 (6) Listen to my cry,
for I have been brought very low.

Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
^8 (7) Lead me out of prison,
so that I can give thanks to your name;
in me the righteous will be crowning themselves,
because you will have treated me generously.

143 ⁽⁰⁾ A psalm of David:

⁽¹⁾ Adonai, hear my prayer;
listen to my pleas for mercy.
In your faithfulness, answer me,
and in your righteousness.
² Don’t bring your servant to trial,
since in your sight no one alive
would be considered righteous.

³ For an enemy is pursuing me;
he has crushed my life into the ground
and left me to live in darkness,
like those who have been long dead.
⁴ My spirit faints within me;
my heart is appalled within me.

⁵ I remember the days of old,
reflecting on all your deeds,
thinking about the work of your hands.
⁶ I spread out my hands to you,
I long for you like a thirsty land. (Selah)

⁷ Answer me quickly, Adonai,
because my spirit is fainting.
Don’t hide your face from me,
or I’ll be like those who drop down into a pit.
⁸ Make me hear of your love in the morning,
because I rely on you.
Make me know the way I should walk,
because I entrust myself to you.
⁹ Adonai, rescue me from my enemies;
I have hidden myself with you.
¹⁰ Teach me to do your will,
because you are my God;
Let your good Spirit guide me
on ground that is level.
¹¹ For your name’s sake, Adonai, preserve my life;
in your righteousness, bring me out of distress.
¹² In your grace, cut off my enemies;
destroy all those harassing me;
because I am your servant.

144 ⁽⁰⁾ By David:

⁽¹⁾ Blessed be Adonai, my rock,
who trains my hands for war
and my fingers for battle.
² He shows me grace; and he is my fortress,
my stronghold, in whom I find shelter,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues my people under me.

³ Adonai, what are mere mortals,
that you notice them at all;
humans, that you think about them?
⁴ Man is like a puff of wind,
his days like a fleeting shadow.

⁵ Adonai, lower the heavens, and come down;
touch the mountains, make them pour out smoke.
⁶ Shoot out lightning, and scatter them;
send out your arrows, and rout them.
⁷ Reach out your hands from on high;
rescue me; save me out of deep water,
out of the power of strangers,
⁸ whose mouths speak worthless words
and whose right hands swear false oaths.

⁹ God, I will sing a new song to you;
sing praises to you with a ten-stringed harp.
¹⁰ You give kings their victories;
you save your servant David from the cruel sword.
¹¹ Rescue me, save me from the power of strangers,
whose mouths speak worthless words
and whose right hands swear false oaths.

¹² Our sons in their youth will be
like full-grown saplings,
our daughters will be like sculptured pillars
fit for the corner of a palace.
¹³ Our barns are full with crops of every kind;
the sheep in our fields number thousands, tens of thousands.
¹⁴ our oxen are well-fed,
our city walls have no breach,
our people are not taken captive,
and there are no cries of protest in our cities’ open places.
¹⁵ How happy the people who live in such conditions!
How happy the people whose God is Adonai!