They track us down and have now surrounded us in our steps;
They set their eyes to force us to the ground,

He made darkness His hiding place (covering); His pavilion (canopy) around Him,
The darkness of the waters, the thick clouds of the skies.

Do not drag me away with the wicked
And with those who do evil,
Who speak peace with their neighbors,
While malice and mischief are in their hearts.

Let their way be dark and slippery,
With the angel of the Lord pursuing and harassing them.

Consider the covenant [You made with Abraham],
For the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.

I will open my mouth in a parable [to instruct using examples];
I will utter dark and puzzling sayings of old [that contain important truth]—

Will Your wonders be known in the darkness?
And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness [where the dead forget and are forgotten]?

He sent [thick, oppressive] darkness and made the land dark;
And Moses and Aaron did not rebel against His words.

They wandered in the wilderness in a [solitary] desert region;
And did not find a way to an inhabited city.

For the enemy has persecuted me,
He has crushed my life down to the ground;
He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have been long dead.