Thi Thiên 7

A plea to the righteous judge

¹A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD about Cush, a man of the tribe of Benjamin. ²LORD my God, I have made you my refuge. Save me from all who are hunting me down, and rescue me, ³or he will tear me apart like a lion, dragging me off with no one to rescue me. ⁴LORD my God, if I have done what they say, if my hands are guilty of wrong, ⁵if I have paid back a friend with harm, or robbed my enemy for no reason,^{a 6}then let my enemy chase me down and catch me; let him trample my life into the ground and leave my honor lying in the dust. Selah ⁷Rise up, LORD, in your anger! Stand up against the rage of my enemies. Wake up and act for me; you have ordered justice to be done. ⁸Let the peoples gather around you, and take your seat again above them on high. ⁹The LORD judges the peoples. Give me justice, LORD, because I am in the right and have done no wrong. ¹⁰Bring the evil of the wicked to an end, and make the righteous secure, for you are the righteous God who tests minds and hearts. ¹¹My shield is God, who rescues those whose hearts are right. ¹²God is a righteous judge, a God who is angry at evil every day. ¹³If anyone will not turn back, God will sharpen his sword; he has strung his bow and taken aim.^{b 14}He has made ready deadly weapons for that person, and he turns his arrows into fire. ¹⁵See how the wicked person is pregnant with evil: having conceived trouble, he gives birth to lies. ¹⁶He dug a pit and scooped it out deep, and fell into the very hole he made. ¹⁷The trouble he caused comes back on his own head; his violence falls on his own skull. ¹⁸I will thank the LORD because he does what is right, and I will sing praises to the name of the LORD Most High.