Psalm 52-56
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 52
Judgment on the Deceitful
To the leader. A Maskil of David, when Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
1 Why do you boast, O mighty one,
of mischief done against the godly?[a]
All day long(A) 2 you are plotting destruction.
Your tongue is like a sharp razor,
you worker of treachery.(B)
3 You love evil more than good
and lying more than speaking the truth. Selah(C)
4 You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.(D)
5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah(E)
6 The righteous will see and fear
and will laugh at the evildoer,[b] saying,(F)
7 “See the one who would not take
refuge in God
but trusted in abundant riches
and sought refuge in wealth!”[c](G)
8 But I am like a green olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.(H)
9 I will thank you forever
because of what you have done.
In the presence of the faithful
I will proclaim[d] your name, for it is good.(I)
Psalm 53
Denunciation of Godlessness
To the leader: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.
1 Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt; they commit abominable acts;
there is no one who does good.(J)
2 God looks down from heaven on humankind
to see if there are any who are wise,
who seek after God.(K)
3 They have all fallen away; they are all alike perverse;
there is no one who does good,
no, not one.(L)
4 Have they no knowledge, those evildoers,
who eat up my people as they eat bread
and do not call upon God?(M)
5 There they shall be in great terror,
in terror such as has not been.
For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly;[e]
they will be put to shame,[f] for God has rejected them.(N)
6 O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.(O)
Psalm 54
Prayer for Vindication
To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “David is in hiding among us.”
1 Save me, O God, by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.(P)
2 Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.(Q)
3 For the insolent have risen against me;
the ruthless seek my life;
they do not set God before them. Selah(R)
4 But surely, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of[g] my life.(S)
5 He will repay my enemies for their evil.
In your faithfulness, put an end to them.(T)
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.(U)
7 For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.(V)
Psalm 55
Complaint about a Friend’s Treachery
To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David.
1 Give ear to my prayer, O God;
do not hide yourself from my supplication.(W)
2 Attend to me and answer me;
I am troubled in my complaint.
I am distraught(X) 3 by the noise of the enemy,
because of the clamor of the wicked.
For they bring[h] trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.(Y)
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.(Z)
5 Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.(AA)
6 And I say, “O that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;(AB)
7 truly, I would flee far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hurry to find a shelter for myself
from the raging wind and tempest.”(AC)
9 Confuse, O Lord, confound their speech,
for I see violence and strife in the city.(AD)
10 Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
11 ruin is in its midst;
oppression and fraud
do not depart from its marketplace.(AE)
12 It is not enemies who taunt me—
I could bear that;
it is not adversaries who deal insolently with me—
I could hide from them.(AF)
13 But it is you, my equal,
my companion, my familiar friend,(AG)
14 with whom I kept pleasant company;
we walked in the house of God with the throng.(AH)
15 Let death come upon them;
let them go down alive to Sheol,
for evil is in their homes and in their hearts.(AI)
16 But I call upon God,
and the Lord will save me.(AJ)
17 Evening and morning and at noon
I utter my complaint and moan,
and he will hear my voice.(AK)
18 He will redeem me unharmed
from the battle that I wage,
for many are arrayed against me.(AL)
19 God, who is enthroned from of old, Selah
will hear and will humble them,
because they do not change
and do not fear God.(AM)
20 My companion laid hands on a friend
and violated a covenant with me[i](AN)
21 with speech smoother than butter
but with a heart set on war,
with words that were softer than oil
but in fact were drawn swords.(AO)
22 Cast your burden[j] on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.(AP)
23 But you, O God, will cast them down
into the lowest pit;
the bloodthirsty and treacherous
shall not live out half their days.
But I will trust in you.(AQ)
Psalm 56
Trust in God under Persecution
To the leader: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. Of David. A Miktam, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
1 Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;
all day long foes oppress me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many fight against me.
O Most High,(AR) 3 when I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.(AS)
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I am not afraid;
what can flesh do to me?(AT)
5 All day long they seek to injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.(AU)
6 They stir up strife; they lurk;
they watch my steps,
as they hoped to take my life.(AV)
7 Do not deliver them for any reason;[k]
in wrath cast down the peoples, O God!(AW)
8 You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your record?(AX)
9 Then my enemies will retreat
in the day when I call.
This I know, that[l] God is for me.(AY)
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; I am not afraid.
What can a mere mortal do to me?
12 My vows to you I must perform, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.(AZ)
13 For you have delivered my soul from death
and my feet from falling,
so that I may walk before God
in the light of life.(BA)
Footnotes
- 52.1 Cn Compare Syr: Heb the kindness of God
- 52.6 Heb him
- 52.7 Syr Tg: Heb in his destruction
- 52.9 Cn: Heb wait for
- 53.5 Cn Compare Gk Syr: Heb him who encamps against you
- 53.5 Gk: Heb you have put (them) to shame
- 54.4 Gk Syr Jerome: Heb is of those who uphold or is with those who uphold
- 55.3 Cn Compare Gk: Heb they cause to totter
- 55.20 Heb lacks with me
- 55.22 Or Cast what he has given you
- 56.7 Gk Compare Syr Jerome: Heb deliver them because of their iniquity
- 56.9 Or because
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.