Psalm 140:1–7

Title A psalm of David.

1 I call to you, Lord, come quickly to me;

hear me when I call to you.

2 May my prayer be set before you like incense;

may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

3 Set a guard over my mouth, Lord;

keep watch over the door of my lips.

4 Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil

so that I take part in wicked deeds

along with those who are evildoers;

do not let me eat their delicacies.

5 Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness;

let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head.

My head will not refuse it,

for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.

6 Their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs,

and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.

7 They will say, “As one plows and breaks up the earth,

so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave.”

Title A Psalm of David.

1 O Lord, I call upon you; hasten to me!

Give ear to my voice when I call to you!

2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,

and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!

3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

keep watch over the door of my lips!

4 Do not let my heart incline to any evil,

to busy myself with wicked deeds

in company with men who work iniquity,

and let me not eat of their delicacies!

5 Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness;

let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head;

let my head not refuse it.

Yet my prayer is continually against their evil deeds.

6 When their judges are thrown over the cliff,

then they shall hear my words, for they are pleasant.

7 As when one plows and breaks up the earth,

so shall our bones be scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

Title A Psalm of David.

1 Lord, I cry unto thee: Make haste unto me;

Give ear unto my voice, when I cry unto thee.

2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense;

And the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

3 Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth;

Keep the door of my lips.

4 Incline not my heart to any evil thing,

To practise wicked works with men that work iniquity:

And let me not eat of their dainties.

5 Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness:

And let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil,

Which shall not break my head:

For yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities.

6 When their judges are overthrown in stony places,

They shall hear my words; for they are sweet.

7 Our bones are scattered at the grave’s mouth,

As when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.

Title A psalm of David.

1 O Lord, I am calling to you. Please hurry!

Listen when I cry to you for help!

2 Accept my prayer as incense offered to you,

and my upraised hands as an evening offering.

3 Take control of what I say, O Lord,

and guard my lips.

4 Don’t let me drift toward evil

or take part in acts of wickedness.

Don’t let me share in the delicacies

of those who do wrong.

5 Let the godly strike me!

It will be a kindness!

If they correct me, it is soothing medicine.

Don’t let me refuse it.

But I pray constantly

against the wicked and their deeds.

6 When their leaders are thrown down from a cliff,

the wicked will listen to my words and find them true.

7 Like rocks brought up by a plow,

the bones of the wicked will lie scattered without burial.

Title A Psalm of David.

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 as incense,

The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

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;

And do not let me eat of their delicacies.

5 Let 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 cliff,

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.

Title A psalm of David.

1 Lord, I call to you. Come quickly.

Listen to me when I call to you.

2 Let my prayer be like incense placed before you,

and my praise like the evening sacrifice.

3 Lord, help me control my tongue;

help me be careful about what I say.

4 Take away my desire to do evil

or to join others in doing wrong.

Don’t let me eat tasty food

with those who do evil.

5 If a good person punished me, that would be kind.

If he corrected me, that would be like perfumed oil on my head.

I shouldn’t refuse it.

But I pray against those who do evil.

6 Let their leaders be thrown down the cliffs.

Then people will know that I have spoken correctly:

7 “The ground is plowed and broken up.

In the same way, our bones have been scattered at the grave.”

Title A Psalm of David.

1 Jehovah, I have called upon thee; make haste unto me:

Give ear unto my voice, when I call unto thee.

2 Let my prayer be set forth as incense before thee;

The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

3 Set a watch, O Jehovah, before my mouth;

Keep the door of my lips.

4 Incline not my heart to any evil thing,

To practise deeds of wickedness

With men that work iniquity:

And let me not eat of their dainties.

5 Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness;

And let him reprove me, it shall be as oil upon the head;

Let not my head refuse it:

For even in their wickedness shall my prayer continue.

6 Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock;

And they shall hear my words; for they are sweet.

7 As when one ploweth and cleaveth the earth,

Our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

Title A Psalm of David.

1 Jehovah, I have called upon thee: make haste unto me; give ear unto my voice, when I call unto thee. 2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening oblation. 3 Set a watch, O Jehovah, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. 4 Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise deeds of wickedness with men that are workers of iniquity; and let me not eat of their dainties.

5 Let the righteous smite me, it is kindness; and let him reprove me, it is an excellent oil which my head shall not refuse: for yet my prayer also is for them in their calamities. 6 When their judges are thrown down from the rocks, they shall hear my words, for they are sweet. 7 Our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol, as when one cutteth and cleaveth wood upon the earth.

Title A psalm by David. 

1 O Lord, I cry out to you, “Come quickly.” 

Open your ears to me when I cry out to you. 

2 Let my prayer be accepted 

as sweet-smelling incense in your presence. 

Let the lifting up of my hands in prayer be accepted 

as an evening sacrifice. 

3 O Lord, set a guard at my mouth. 

Keep watch over the door of my lips. 

4 Do not let me be persuaded to do anything evil 

or to become involved with wickedness, 

with people who are troublemakers. 

Do not let me taste their delicacies. 

5 A righteous person may strike me or correct me out of kindness. 

It is like lotion for my head. 

My head will not refuse it, 

because my prayer is directed against evil deeds. 

6 When their judges are thrown off a cliff, 

they will listen to what I have to say. 

It will sound pleasant ⸤to them⸥. 

7 As someone plows and breaks up the ground, 

so our bones will be planted at the mouth of the grave. 

Title A Davidic psalm.

1 Lord, I call on You; hurry to help me.

Listen to my voice when I call on You.

2 May my prayer be set before You as incense,

the raising of my hands as the evening offering.

3 Lord, set up a guard for my mouth;

keep watch at the door of my lips.

4 Do not let my heart turn to any evil thing

or perform wicked acts

with men who commit sin.

Do not let me feast on their delicacies.

5 Let the righteous one strike me—

it is an act of faithful love;

let him rebuke me—

it is oil for my head;

let me not refuse it.

Even now my prayer is against

the evil acts of the wicked.

6 When their rulers will be thrown off

the sides of a cliff,

the people will listen to my words,

for they are pleasing.

7 As when one plows and breaks up the soil,

turning up rocks,

so our bones have been scattered

at the mouth of Sheol.

Title A Psalm of David.

1 I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me;

give ear to my voice when I call to you.

2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you

and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.

3 Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;

keep watch over the door of my lips.

4 Do not turn my heart to any evil,

to busy myself with wicked deeds

in company with those who work iniquity;

do not let me eat of their delicacies.

5 Let the righteous strike me;

let the faithful correct me.

Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,

for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds.

6 When they are given over to those who shall condemn them,

then they shall learn that my words were pleasant.

7 Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land,

so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.

Title A psalm of David.

1 I call on you, O Yahweh; hasten to me.

Listen to my voice when I call to you.

2 Let my prayer be set before you as incense,

the lifting up of my palms as the evening offering.

3 Set a guard, O Yahweh, over my mouth;

keep watch over the door of my lips.

4 Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,

to practice wicked deeds

with men who do iniquity;

and do not let me eat of their delicacies.

5 Let a righteous one strike me in kindness,

and let him chasten me.

It is oil for my head; let not my head refuse.

For still my prayer is against their evil deeds.

6 When their judges are thrown down the sides of a cliff,

then they will understand that my words were pleasant.

7 As when one plows and breaks up the earth,

so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

Title A psalm of David.

1 Lord, I call out to you. Come quickly to help me.

Listen to me when I call out to you.

2 May my prayer come to you like the sweet smell of incense.

When I lift up my hands in prayer, may it be like the evening sacrifice.

3 Lord, guard my mouth.

Keep watch over the door of my lips.

4 Don’t let my heart be drawn to what is evil.

Don’t let me join men who do evil.

They don’t do what is right.

Don’t let me join them and eat their fancy food.

5 If a person who does what is right were to strike me, it would be an act of kindness.

If that person were to correct me, it would be like pouring olive oil on my head.

I wouldn’t say no to it.

But I always pray against the things that sinful people do.

6 When their rulers are thrown down from the rocky cliffs,

those evil people will realize that my words were true.

7 They will say, “As clumps of dirt are left from plowing up the ground,

so our bones will be scattered near an open grave.”

Title A Psalm of David.

1 O Lord, I call upon You; hasten to me!

Give ear to my voice when I call to You!

2 May my prayer be counted as incense before You;

The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.

3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

Keep watch over the door of my lips.

4 Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,

To practice deeds of wickedness

With men who do iniquity;

And do not let me eat of their delicacies.

5 Let the righteous smite me in kindness and reprove me;

It is oil upon the head;

Do not let my head refuse it,

For still my prayer is against their wicked deeds.

6 Their judges are thrown down by the sides of the rock,

And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.

7 As when one plows and breaks open the earth,

Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.