PSALM 7 [†] O LORD my God, in you do I  m take refuge;

 n save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,

2 lest like  o a lion they tear my soul apart,

rending it in pieces, with  p none to deliver.

3[†] O LORD my God,  q if I have done this,

if there is  r wrong in my hands,

4 if I have repaid  s my friend [2] with evil

or  t plundered my enemy without cause,

5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,

and let him  u trample my life to the ground

and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

6[†]  v Arise, O LORD, in your anger;

 w lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;

 x awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.

7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;

over it return on high.

8[^] The LORD  y judges the peoples;

 z judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness

and according to the integrity that is in me.

9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,

and may you establish the righteous—

you who  a test  b the minds and hearts, [3]

O righteous God!

10 My shield is  c with God,

who saves  d the upright in heart.

11 God is  e a righteous judge,

and a God who feels  f indignation every day.

12[†] If a man [4] does not repent, God [5] will  g whet his sword;

he has  h bent and  i readied his bow;

13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,

making his  j arrows  k fiery shafts.

14 Behold, the wicked man  l conceives evil

and is  l pregnant with mischief

and gives birth to lies.

15 He makes  m a pit, digging it out,

and falls into the hole that he has made.

16 His  n mischief returns upon his own head,

and on his own skull his violence descends.

17[†] I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness,

and I will  o sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.

To the choirmaster: according to The  p Gittith. [1] A Psalm of David.