⁴ My heart is in anguish^(G) within me;
the terrors^(H) of death have fallen on me.
⁵ Fear and trembling^(I) have beset me;
horror^(J) 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;^[c](K)
8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,^(L)
far from the tempest and storm.^(M)”

⁹ Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,^(N)
for I see violence and strife^(O) in the city.^(P)
10 Day and night they prowl^(Q) about on its walls;
malice and abuse are within it.
¹¹ Destructive forces^(R) are at work in the city;
threats and lies^(S) 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,^(T)
14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship^(U)
at the house of God,^(V)
as we walked about
among the worshipers.

¹⁵ Let death take my enemies by surprise;^(W)
let them go down alive to the realm of the dead,^(X)
for evil finds lodging among them.

¹⁶ As for me, I call to God,
and the Lord saves me.
¹⁷ Evening,^(Y) morning^(Z) and noon^(AA)
I cry out in distress,
and he hears my voice.
¹⁸ He rescues me unharmed
from the battle waged against me,
even though many oppose me.
¹⁹ God, who is enthroned from of old,^(AB)
who does not change—
he will hear^(AC) them and humble them,
because they have no fear of God.^(AD)

²⁰ My companion attacks his friends;^(AE)
he violates his covenant.^(AF)
21 His talk is smooth as butter,^(AG)
yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,^(AH)
yet they are drawn swords.^(AI)

²² Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;^(AJ)
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.^(AK)
23 But you, God, will bring down the wicked
into the pit^(AL) of decay;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful^(AM)
will not live out half their days.^(AN)

But as for me, I trust in you.^(AO)

⁴ Your foes roared^(K) in the place where you met with us;
they set up their standards^(L) as signs.
⁵ They behaved like men wielding axes
to cut through a thicket of trees.^(M)
6 They smashed all the carved^(N) paneling
with their axes and hatchets.
⁷ They burned your sanctuary to the ground;
they defiled^(O) the dwelling place^(P) of your Name.^(Q)
8 They said in their hearts, “We will crush^(R) them completely!”
They burned^(S) every place where God was worshiped in the land.

⁹ We are given no signs from God;^(T)
no prophets^(U) are left,
and none of us knows how long this will be.
¹⁰ How long^(V) will the enemy mock^(W) you, God?
Will the foe revile^(X) your name forever?
¹¹ Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?^(Y)
Take it from the folds of your garment^(Z) and destroy them!

¹² But God is my King^(AA) from long ago;
he brings salvation^(AB) on the earth.

¹³ It was you who split open the sea^(AC) by your power;
you broke the heads of the monster^(AD) in the waters.
¹⁴ It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan^(AE)
and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.^(AF)
15 It was you who opened up springs^(AG) and streams;
you dried up^(AH) the ever-flowing rivers.
¹⁶ The day is yours, and yours also the night;
you established the sun and moon.^(AI)
17 It was you who set all the boundaries^(AJ) of the earth;
you made both summer and winter.^(AK)

¹⁸ Remember how the enemy has mocked you, Lord,
how foolish people^(AL) have reviled your name.
¹⁹ Do not hand over the life of your dove^(AM) to wild beasts;
do not forget the lives of your afflicted^(AN) people forever.
²⁰ Have regard for your covenant,^(AO)
because haunts of violence fill the dark places^(AP) of the land.
²¹ Do not let the oppressed^(AQ) retreat in disgrace;
may the poor and needy^(AR) praise your name.
²² Rise up,^(AS) O God, and defend your cause;
remember how fools^(AT) mock you all day long.
²³ Do not ignore the clamor^(AU) of your adversaries,^(AV)
the uproar^(AW) of your enemies,^(AX) which rises continually.

2 ^[a]How the Lord has covered Daughter Zion
with the cloud of his anger^[b]!^(A)
He has hurled down the splendor of Israel
from heaven to earth;
he has not remembered his footstool^(B)
in the day of his anger.^(C)

² Without pity^(D) the Lord has swallowed^(E) up
all the dwellings of Jacob;
in his wrath he has torn down
the strongholds^(F) of Daughter Judah.
He has brought her kingdom and its princes
down to the ground^(G) in dishonor.

³ In fierce anger he has cut off
every horn^[c][d](H) of Israel.
He has withdrawn his right hand^(I)
at the approach of the enemy.
He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire
that consumes everything around it.^(J)

⁴ Like an enemy he has strung his bow;^(K)
his right hand is ready.
Like a foe he has slain
all who were pleasing to the eye;^(L)
he has poured out his wrath^(M) like fire^(N)
on the tent^(O) of Daughter Zion.

⁵ The Lord is like an enemy;^(P)
he has swallowed up Israel.
He has swallowed up all her palaces
and destroyed her strongholds.^(Q)
He has multiplied mourning and lamentation^(R)
for Daughter Judah.^(S)

⁶ He has laid waste his dwelling like a garden;
he has destroyed^(T) his place of meeting.^(U)
The Lord has made Zion forget
her appointed festivals and her Sabbaths;^(V)
in his fierce anger he has spurned
both king and priest.^(W)

⁷ The Lord has rejected his altar
and abandoned his sanctuary.^(X)
He has given the walls of her palaces^(Y)
into the hands of the enemy;
they have raised a shout in the house of the Lord
as on the day of an appointed festival.^(Z)

⁸ The Lord determined to tear down
the wall around Daughter Zion.^(AA)
He stretched out a measuring line^(AB)
and did not withhold his hand from destroying.
He made ramparts^(AC) and walls lament;
together they wasted away.^(AD)

⁹ Her gates^(AE) have sunk into the ground;
their bars^(AF) he has broken and destroyed.
Her king and her princes are exiled^(AG) among the nations,
the law^(AH) is no more,
and her prophets^(AI) no longer find
visions^(AJ) from the Lord.

¹⁴ The visions of your prophets
were false^(A) and worthless;
they did not expose your sin
to ward off your captivity.^(B)
The prophecies they gave you
were false and misleading.^(C)

¹⁵ All who pass your way
clap their hands at you;^(D)
they scoff^(E) and shake their heads^(F)
at Daughter Jerusalem:^(G)
“Is this the city that was called
the perfection of beauty,^(H)
the joy of the whole earth?”^(I)

¹⁶ All your enemies open their mouths
wide against you;^(J)
they scoff and gnash their teeth^(K)
and say, “We have swallowed her up.^(L)
This is the day we have waited for;
we have lived to see it.”^(M)

¹⁷ The Lord has done what he planned;
he has fulfilled^(N) his word,
which he decreed long ago.^(O)
He has overthrown you without pity,^(P)
he has let the enemy gloat over you,^(Q)
he has exalted the horn^[a] of your foes.^(R)

“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;^(D)
11 the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’^[a]?”^(E)