In pride and arrogance the wicked hotly pursue and persecute the afflicted;
Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.

The wicked, in the haughtiness of his face, will not seek nor inquire for Him;
All his thoughts are, “There is no God [so there is no accountability or punishment].”

In the Lord I take refuge [and put my trust];
How can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to your mountain;

May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaks great things [in boasting];

Have all the workers of wickedness and injustice no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon the Lord?

He brought me out into a broad place;
He rescued me because He was pleased with me and delighted in me.

The precepts of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

My strength is dried up like a fragment of clay pottery;
And my [dry] tongue clings to my jaws;
And You have laid me in the dust of death.

They divide my clothing among them
And cast lots for my garment.

O Lord, You have brought my life up from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead);
You have kept me alive, so that I would not go down to the pit (grave).

And You have not given me into the hand of the enemy;
You have set my feet in a broad place.

Let the lying lips be mute,
Which speak insolently and arrogantly against the [consistently] righteous
With pride and contempt.

Do not let the foot of the proud [person] overtake me,
And do not let the hand of the wicked drive me away.

I have been young and now I am old,
Yet I have not seen the righteous (those in right standing with God) abandoned
Or his descendants pleading for bread.

Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who makes the Lord his trust,
And does not regard the proud nor those who lapse into lies.

Let those be ashamed and humiliated together
Who seek my life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back [in defeat] and dishonored
Who delight in my hurt.

Even my own close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me [betraying me].

But now You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor,
And You do not go out with our armies [to lead us to victory].

You make us a byword among the nations,
A laughingstock among the people.

Glorious is the King’s daughter within [the palace];
Her robe is interwoven with gold.

She will be brought to the King in embroidered garments;
The virgins, her companions who follow her,
Will be brought to You.

With gladness and rejoicing will they be led;
They will enter into the King’s palace.

He chooses our inheritance for us,
The glory and excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah.

“When you see a thief, you are pleased with him and condone his behavior,
And you associate with adulterers.

I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness;
In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].

Have workers of wickedness no knowledge or no understanding?
They eat up My people as though they ate bread
And have not called upon God.

Let death come deceitfully upon them;
Let them go down alive to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
For evil [of every kind] is in their dwelling and in their hearts, in their midst.

For the sin of their mouths and the words of their lips,
Let them even be trapped in their pride,
And on account of the curses and lies which they tell.

You brought us into the net;
You laid a heavy burden [of servitude] on us.

You made men (charioteers) ride over our heads [in defeat];
We went through fire and through water,
Yet You brought us out into a [broad] place of abundance [to be refreshed].

Do not let those who wait [confidently] for You be ashamed through me, O Lord God of hosts;
Do not let those who seek You [as necessary for life itself] be dishonored through me, O God of Israel,

When I made sackcloth my clothing [as one in mourning],
I became a byword [a mere object of scorn] to them.

Let those be ashamed and humiliated
Who seek my life;
Let them be turned back and humiliated
Who delight in my hurt.

Therefore pride is their necklace;
Violence covers them like a garment [like a long, luxurious robe].

He will cut off the spirit of princes;
He is awesome and feared by the kings of the earth.

He brought streams also from the rock [at Rephidim and Kadesh]
And caused waters to run down like rivers.

“Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out
And the streams overflowed;
Can He give bread also?
Or will He provide meat for His people?”

Man ate the bread of angels;
God sent them provision in abundance.

So He brought them to His holy land,
To this mountain [Zion] which His right hand had acquired.

From tending the ewes with nursing young He brought him
To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.

O do not remember against us the sins and guilt of our forefathers.
Let Your compassion and mercy come quickly to meet us,
For we have been brought very low.

You have fed them the bread of tears,
And You have made them drink [bitter] tears in abundance.

You uprooted a vine (Israel) from Egypt;
You drove out the [Canaanite] nations and planted the vine [in Canaan].

“I am the Lord your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

O Lord, You have [at last] shown favor to Your land [of Canaan];
You have restored [from Babylon] the captives of Jacob (Israel).

O God, arrogant and insolent men have risen up against me;
A band of violent men have sought my life,
And they have not set You before them.

O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord?
Your faithfulness surrounds You [as an intrinsic, unchangeable part of Your very being].

For You are the glory of their strength [their proud adornment],
And by Your favor our horn is exalted.

You have broken down all his [city] walls;
You have brought his strongholds to ruin.

Before the mountains were born
Or before You had given birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are [the eternal] God.

The days of our life are seventy years—
Or even, if because of strength, eighty years;
Yet their pride [in additional years] is only labor and sorrow,
For it is soon gone and we fly away.

Rise up, O Judge of the earth;
Give to the proud a fitting compensation.

Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will silence;
The one who has a haughty look and a proud (arrogant) heart I will not tolerate.

For I have eaten ashes like bread,
And have mingled my drink with tears

And wine which makes the heart of man glad,
So that he may make his face glisten with oil,
And bread to sustain and strengthen man’s heart.

And He called for a famine upon the land [of Egypt];
He cut off every source of bread.

Their land swarmed with frogs,
Even in the chambers of their kings.

He brought the sons of Israel out [of Egypt] with silver and gold,
And among their tribes there was not one who stumbled.

The Israelites asked, and He brought quail,
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

He brought out His people with joy,
And His chosen ones with a joyful shout,

Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were subdued under the [powerful] hand of their enemies.

He brought them out of darkness and the deep (deathly) darkness
And broke their bonds apart.

Let his children wander and beg;
Let them seek their food and be driven far from their ruined homes.

The Lord protects the simple (childlike);
I was brought low [humbled and discouraged], and He saved me.

The Lord is on my side, He is among those who help me;
Therefore I will look [in triumph] on those who hate me.

This [day in which God has saved me] is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

You rebuke the presumptuous and arrogant, the cursed ones,
Who wander from Your commandments.

The arrogant utterly ridicule me,
Yet I do not turn away from Your law.

Let the arrogant be ashamed and humiliated, for they sabotage me with a lie;
But I will meditate on Your precepts.

I have seen that all [human] perfection has its limits [no matter how grand and perfect and noble];
Your commandment is exceedingly broad and extends without limits [into eternity].

Be the guarantee for Your servant for good [as Judah was the guarantee for Benjamin];
Do not let the arrogant oppress me.

Our soul is greatly filled
With the scoffing of those who are at ease,
And with the contempt of the proud [who disregard God’s law].

Then the raging waters would have swept over our soul.”

We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers;
The trap is broken and we have escaped.

When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion (Jerusalem),
We were like those who dream [it seemed so unreal].

It is vain for you to rise early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of anxious labors—
For He gives [blessings] to His beloved even in his sleep.

“I will abundantly bless her provisions;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.

It is like the precious oil [of consecration] poured on the head,
Coming down on the beard,
Even the beard of Aaron,
Coming down upon the edge of his [priestly] robes [consecrating the whole body].

And brought Israel out from among them,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;

Though the Lord is exalted,
He regards the lowly [and invites them into His fellowship];
But the proud and haughty He knows from a distance.

The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords;
They have spread a net by the wayside;
They have set traps for me. Selah.

“Give attention to my cry,
For I am brought very low;
Rescue me from my persecutors,
For they are stronger than I.