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The LORD Implored to Defend the Psalmist against the Wicked.

¹ O LORD my God, ^(C1)in You I take refuge;
Save me and ^(C2)rescue me from all those who pursue me,

² So that my enemy will not tear me ^(C1)like a lion,
Dragging me away while there is no one to rescue me.

³ O LORD my God, if I have done this,
If there is ^(C1)injustice in my hands,

⁴ If I have ^(C1)done evil to him who was at peace with me,
Or without cause ^(C2)robbed him who was my enemy,

⁵ Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me;
And let him trample my life to the ground
And lay my honor in the dust. Selah.

^6 (C1)Arise, O LORD, in Your anger;
^(C2)Lift up Yourself against ^(C3)the rage of my enemies;
^(C4)Rise up for me; You have commanded judgment and vindication.

⁷ Let the assembly of the ^(C1)nations be gathered around You,
And return on high over them.

⁸ The LORD ^(C1)judges the peoples;
Judge me, O LORD, and ^(C2)grant me justice according to my righteousness and according to the integrity within me.

⁹ Oh, let ^(C1)the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but ^(C2)establish the righteous those in right standing with You;
For the righteous God ^(C3)tries the hearts and minds. ^(VR1)

¹⁰ My ^(C1)shield and my defense depend on God,
Who ^(C2)saves the upright in heart.

¹¹ God is a ^(C1)righteous judge,
And a God who is ^(C2)indignant every day.

¹² If a man ^(C1)does not repent, God will ^(C2)sharpen His sword;
He has strung and ^(C3)bent His mighty bow and made it ready.

¹³ He has also prepared other deadly weapons for Himself;
He makes His ^(C1)arrows fiery shafts aimed at the unrepentant.

¹⁴ Behold, the wicked and irreverent man is pregnant with sin,
And he conceives ^(C1)mischief and gives birth to lies.

¹⁵ He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,
And has ^(C1)fallen into the very pit which he made as a trap.

¹⁶ His ^(C1)mischief will return on his own head,
And his ^(C2)violence will come down on the top of his head like loose dirt.

¹⁷ I will give thanks to the LORD ^(C1)according to His righteousness and justice,
And I will ^(C2)sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.