[To the chief Musician upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.] Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. {upon...: or, upon the eighth} {Help: or, Save}

For among my people are found wicked {men}: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. {they lay...: or, they pry as fowlers lie in wait}

Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts {are} thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction {are} in their paths. {destruction: Heb. breaking}

The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth {it} to heart: and merciful men {are} taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil {to come}. {merciful...: Heb. men of kindness, or, godliness} {from...: or, from that which is evil}

[To the chief Musician, {A Psalm} of David.] The fool hath said in his heart, {There is} no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, {there is} none that doeth good.

If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

Moreover, 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.

Their quiver {is} as an open sepulchre, they {are} all mighty men.

They 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.

Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.

They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad. {drag: or, flue net}

They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. {blood: Heb. bloods}

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come.

The words of the wicked {are} to lie in wait for blood: but the mouth of the upright shall deliver them.

The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth {it} to heart: and merciful men {are} taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil {to come}. {merciful...: Heb. men of kindness, or, godliness} {from...: or, from that which is evil}

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

They 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.

Yea, truth faileth; and he {that} departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw {it}, and it displeased him that {there was} no judgment. {maketh...: or, is accounted mad} {it displeased...: Heb. it was evil in his eyes}

Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the LORD, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother. {fuel: Heb. meat}

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

By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. {blood: Heb. bloods}

Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment {is} toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. {secretly: Heb. in the secret places}

Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?

For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for {one} covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. {that he...: or, if he hate her, put her away} {putting...: Heb. to put away}

In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.

And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength {lieth}, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.

For the congregation of hypocrites {shall be} desolate, and fire shall consume the tabernacles of bribery.

And the LORD said unto me, A conspiracy is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so.

For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.

Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum {is} therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it.

Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find? {goodness: or, bounty}

{He is} a merchant, the balances of deceit {are} in his hand: he loveth to oppress. {a merchant: or, Canaan} {oppress: or, deceive}

That we {henceforth} be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, {and} cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, and said, because he had defiled Dinah their sister:

And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver {him} into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.

Cursed {be} he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Moreover, 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.

And Joab said to Amasa, {Art} thou in health, my brother? And Joab took Amasa by the beard with the right hand to kiss him.

And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, {even} I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.

Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:

Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one {is} an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand {is} stretched out still. {folly: or, villany}

The instruments also of the churl {are} evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. {the needy...: or, he speaketh against the poor in judgment}

As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me continually {is} grief and wounds.

But thou shalt say unto them, This {is} a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth. {correction: or, instruction}

I hearkened and heard, {but} they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.

Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.

Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because {there is} no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

Gilead {is} a city of them that work iniquity, {and is} polluted with blood. {polluted: or, cunning for}

That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in unto the {same} maid, to profane my holy name: {maid: or, young woman}

Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth. {wrong: or, wrested}

For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver {them}. {deliver: Heb. make to be found}

He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain.

The wicked desireth the net of evil {men}: but the root of the righteous yieldeth {fruit}. {the net: or, the fortress}

For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue {is} deceitful in their mouth.