1 Lord, I cry out to You;

Make haste to me!

Give ear to my voice when I cry out to You.

2 Let my prayer be set before You aas incense,

bThe lifting up of my hands as cthe evening sacrifice.

3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my dmouth;

Keep watch over the door of my lips.

4 Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,

To practice wicked works

With men who work iniquity;

eAnd do not let me eat of their delicacies.

5 fLet the righteous strike me;

It shall be a kindness.

And let him rebuke me;

It shall be as excellent oil;

Let my head not refuse it.

For still my prayer is against the deeds of the wicked.

6 Their judges are overthrown by the sides of the 1cliff,

And they hear my words, for they are sweet.

7 Our bones are scattered at the mouth of the grave,

As when one plows and breaks up the earth.

8 But gmy eyes are upon You, O God the Lord;

In You I take refuge;

2Do not leave my soul destitute.

9 Keep me from hthe snares they have laid for me,

And from the traps of the workers of iniquity.

10 iLet the wicked fall into their own nets,

While I escape safely.

Psalm 142

A Plea for Relief from Persecutors

A aContemplation 1Of David. A Prayer bWhen He Was in the Cave.

1 I cry out to the Lord with my voice;

With my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.

2 I pour out my complaint before Him;

I declare before Him my trouble.

3 When my spirit 2was coverwhelmed within me,

Then You knew my path.

In the way in which I walk

They have secretly dset a snare for me.

4 Look on my right hand and see,

For there is no one who acknowledges me;

Refuge has failed me;

No one cares for my soul.

5 I cried out to You, O Lord:

I said, “You are my refuge,

My portion in the land of the living.

6 3Attend to my cry,

For I am brought very low;

Deliver me from my persecutors,

For they are stronger than I.

7 Bring my soul out of prison,

That I may epraise Your name;

The righteous shall surround me,

For You shall deal bountifully with me.”