55:1¤ Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my supplication:
55:2Be attentive to me and hear me. I am grieved in my exercise; and am troubled,
55:3At the voice of the enemy, and at the tribulation of the sinner. For they have cast iniquities upon me: and in wrath they were troublesome to me.
55:4My heart is troubled within me: and the fear of death is fallen upon me.
55:5Fear and trembling are come upon me: and darkness hath covered me.
55:6And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest?
55:7Lo, I have gone far off flying away; and I abode in the wilderness.
55:8I waited for him that hath saved me from pusillanimity of spirit, and a storm.
55:9Cast down, O Lord, and divide their tongues; for I have seen iniquity and contradiction in the city.
55:10Day and night shall iniquity surround it upon its walls: and in the midst thereof are labour,
55:11And injustice. And usury and deceit have not departed from its streets.
55:12For if my enemy had reviled me, I would verily have borne with it. And if he that hated me had spoken great things against me, I would perhaps have hidden my self from him.
55:13But thou a man of one mind, my guide, and my familiar,
55:14Who didst take sweetmeats together with me: in the house of God we walked with consent.
55:15Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into hell. For there is wickedness in their dwellings: in the midst of them.
55:16But I have cried to God: and the Lord will save me.
55:17Evening and morning, and at noon I will speak and declare: and he shall hear my voice.
55:18He shall redeem my soul in peace from them that draw near to me: for among many they were with me.
55:19God shall hear, and the Eternal shall humble them. For there is no change with them, and they have not feared God:
55:20He hath stretched forth his hand to repay. They have defiled his covenant,
55:21They are divided by the wrath of his countenance, and his heart hath drawn near. His words are smoother than oil, and the same are darts.
55:22Cast thy care upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall not suffer the just to waver for ever.
55:23But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee, O Lord.
56:1¤ Have mercy on me, O God, for man hath trodden me under foot; all the day long he hath afflicted me fighting against me.
56:2My enemies have trodden on me all the day long; for they are many that make war against me.
56:3From the height of the day I shall fear: but I will trust in thee.
56:4In God I will praise my words, in God I have put my trust: I will not fear what flesh can do against me.
56:5All the day long they detested my words: all their thoughts were against me unto evil.
56:6They will dwell and hide themselves: they will watch my heel. As they have waited for my soul,
56:7For nothing shalt thou save them: in thy anger thou shalt break the people in pieces. O God,
56:8I have declared to thee my life: thou hast set my tears in thy sight, As also in thy promise.
56:9Then shall my enemies be turned back. In what day soever I shall call upon thee, behold I know thou art my God.
56:10In God will I praise the word, in the Lord will I praise his speech.
56:11In God have I hoped, I will not fear what man can do to me.
56:12In me, O God, are vows to thee, which I will pay, praises to thee:
56:13Because thou hast delivered my soul from death, my feet from falling: that I may please in the sight of God, in the light of the living.
57:1¤ Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me: for my soul trusteth in thee. And in the shadow of thy wings will I hope, until iniquity pass away.
57:2I will cry to God the most high; to God who hath done good to me.
57:3He hath sent from heaven and delivered me: he hath made them a reproach that trod upon me. God hath sent his mercy and his truth,
57:4And he hath delivered my soul from the midst of the young lions. I slept troubled. The sons of men, whose teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
57:5Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, and thy glory above all the earth.
57:6They prepared a snare for my feet; and they bowed down my soul. They dug a pit before my face, and they are fallen into it.
57:7My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I will sing, and rehearse a psalm.
57:8Arise, O my glory, arise psaltery and harp: I will arise early.
57:9I will give praise to thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing a psalm to thee among the nations.
57:10For thy mercy is magnified even to the heavens: and thy truth unto the clouds.
57:11Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth.