Psalms 7:3–16

¹¹Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.

¹⁸And he said, Wherefore doth my lord thus pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in mine hand?

¹⁹Now therefore, I pray thee, let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If the Lord have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering: but if they be the children of men, cursed be they before the Lord; for they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go, serve other gods.

³For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord.

⁷And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:

⁸The Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.

¹⁴If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.

²²The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the Lord, (save us not this day,)

⁸Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the Lord with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?

¹³And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

⁹¶ And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?

¹⁷Not for any injustice in mine hands: also my prayer is pure.

¹⁸O earth, cover not thou my blood, and let my cry have no place.

¹⁹Also now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high.

¹⁸If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

⁸That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that sheweth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?

¹⁷And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.

¹⁸And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the Lord had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not.

¹⁹For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the Lord reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day.

²⁰He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant.

²⁰Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.

²¹Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle.

⁵And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

⁴¶ And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good:

⁵For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?

¹AND David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life?

¹⁴Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king’s son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house?

¹⁰Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the Lord’s anointed.

¹¹Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.

¹²The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.

¹³As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.

¹⁴After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea.

¹⁵The Lord therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.

⁷So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.

²⁸I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.

²⁹Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling.

²⁴And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.

⁹And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not: for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?

¹⁰David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.

¹¹The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed: but, I pray thee, take thou now the spear that is at his bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.

¹²So David took the spear and the cruse of water from Saul’s bolster; and they gat them away, and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither awaked: for they were all asleep; because a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon them.

¹³¶ Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of an hill afar off; a great space being between them:

¹⁴And David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Answerest thou not, Abner? Then Abner answered and said, Who art thou that criest to the king?

¹⁵And David said to Abner, Art not thou a valiant man? and who is like to thee in Israel? wherefore then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king thy lord.

¹⁶This thing is not good that thou hast done. As the Lord liveth, ye are worthy to die, because ye have not kept your master, the Lord’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is, and the cruse of water that was at his bolster.

¹⁷And Saul knew David’s voice, and said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king.

⁴And when they were gone out of the city, and not yet far off, Joseph said unto his steward, Up, follow after the men; and when thou dost overtake them, say unto them, Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good?

³The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts.

²¹¶ Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.

³And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.

¹³O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.

²Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.

⁵Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.

¹²Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.

⁶I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.

³I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.

¹⁵I have sewed sackcloth upon my skin, and defiled my horn in the dust.

³⁸If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;

³⁹If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life:

⁴⁰Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

⁵If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit;

⁶Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.

⁷If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands;

⁸Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.

⁹If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour’s door;

¹⁰Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her.

¹²Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place.

¹³Hide them in the dust together; and bind their faces in secret.

¹²Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

⁵¶ And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the Lord is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.

²³Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.

²³Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.

¹⁰Now will I rise, saith the Lord; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.

⁷Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.

²⁰Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only.

⁹¶ Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

⁶The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.

⁷Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.

²⁶Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies’ sake.

¹⁴And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the Lord had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom.

¹³The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people.

⁵For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.

¹PLEAD my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.

⁵Thou therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.

¹LET God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.

²As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

²⁰As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.

³Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.

⁸Thou didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven; the earth feared, and was still,

⁹When God arose to judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. Selah.

⁶⁵Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.

¹O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.

²Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.

⁵And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.

⁶For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

⁷And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

²⁰Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.

²For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.

¹⁵For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

⁵Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high,

⁶Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!

⁶Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

¹¹Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.

¹⁰The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

¹¹So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.

⁴The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.

¹⁷Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

¹⁸And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

¹³Before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

¹⁰But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

¹¹For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

¹²So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

¹²For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.

¹JUDGE me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.

¹⁰Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:

⁹Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

⁴For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

⁵Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

¹JUDGE me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.

⁷²So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.

²⁴Judge me, O Lord my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.

²⁵Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.

²⁶Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me.

²⁷Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

¹²O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

²⁵That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

⁵³The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.

⁴The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

²Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal.

³Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

²⁰The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

²²For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.

²³I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.

²⁴Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

²¹Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.

¹¹But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.

¹²And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.

⁸And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.

³¹Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

¹BETTER is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.

¹GOD standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.

²⁰But, O Lord of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I revealed my cause.

¹⁰I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

¹²But, O Lord of hosts, that triest the righteous, and seest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them: for unto thee have I opened my cause.

⁹¶ And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

⁷But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

¹⁵Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

⁵The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

¹O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.

²Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.

²³The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.

²¹Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.

²³And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

²⁵Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

²³And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

³Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

⁹He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

¹⁸To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.

⁶Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord.

¹⁰But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

¹³To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

⁴⁵And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

³⁶Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

³⁷¶ So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.

³⁸And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and Esar-haddon his son reigned in his stead.

²He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

¹⁰O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?

¹¹Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.

²²Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.

²³Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.

⁵Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.

⁶O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.

¹JUDE, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:

¹AFTER these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

¹⁸Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once.

⁴Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.

¹¹For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

⁶If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.

²⁰They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the Lord: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.

²¹For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.

²His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.

¹I WILL love thee, O Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

³But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

¹⁸For the Lord is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.

²God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

⁶Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

⁸The Lord shall judge the people: judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.

¹⁵But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.

¹²I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.

¹³Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence.

⁶And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

¹⁹¶ Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

¹⁰And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

⁶¶ Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

⁷Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

⁴¹If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.

³⁰Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

⁴Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.

²³And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, to them that have sworn oaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity, that they may be taken.

⁹Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:

¹⁰It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; it is furbished that it may glitter: should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree.

¹¹And he hath given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, to give it into the hand of the slayer.

¹¹Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

¹IN that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

⁵For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.

¹⁸¶ I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God.

¹⁹Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.

⁶Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

¹³Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.

¹¹The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.

¹⁴Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

⁵Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.

⁷But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.

⁶For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

¹⁰And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

²³I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.

⁴²I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.

⁴For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, the poison whereof drinketh up my spirit: the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.

¹²He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow.

¹³He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reins.

²For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.

⁶Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.

³Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:

¹⁵Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

³⁵They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit.

¹¹Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.

⁴None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

⁵They hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.

²⁰The wicked man travaileth with pain all his days, and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor.

⁸Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

¹⁰Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.

²⁷Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.

⁸He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

⁹Whoso removeth stones shall be hurt therewith; and he that cleaveth wood shall be endangered thereby.

²The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

⁷For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.

⁸Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.

⁶They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.

¹⁵The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.

¹⁶The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

¹⁰So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.

²⁰Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.

²²¶ His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

⁹As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.

¹⁰Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again.

⁸⁵The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.

¹³That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.

²⁷Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.

²⁵But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

¹²The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

¹³The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming.

³²And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing thereof, to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.

¹²The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.

¹³As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.

¹⁰David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.

¹⁹Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

³And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.

⁴Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

¹²There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.

⁹¶ And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.

³Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.

⁴And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.

⁵My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name.

⁴He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.