If one turn not, he will sharpen his sword; he hath bent his bow and made it ready,

For behold, the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may in darkness shoot at the upright in heart.

Thou hast proved my heart, thou hast visited me by night; thou hast tried me, thou hast found nothing: my thought goeth not beyond my word.

Who teacheth my hands to war, and mine arms bend a bow of brass;

The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the afflicted and needy, to slay those that are upright in the way:

I am depressed; I am bowed down beyond measure; I go mourning all the day.

I am faint and broken beyond measure; I roar by reason of the agitation of my heart.

God maketh the solitary into families; those that were bound he bringeth out into prosperity: but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

They band together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood.

Thou hast set a bound which they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth.

To bind his princes at his pleasure, and teach his elders wisdom.

Such as inhabit darkness and the shadow of death, bound in affliction and iron,

Jehovah is God, and he hath given us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar.

The proud have derided me beyond measure: I have not declined from thy law.

To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;