Lord, from the ill and fro­ward man
Give me de­liv­er­ance,
And do Thou safe pre­serve me from
The man of vio­lence:

Who in their heart mis­chiev­ous things
Are me­di­tat­ing e’er;
And they for war as­sem­bled are
Continually to­ge­ther.

Much like un­to a ser­pent’s tongue
Their tongues they sharp do make;
And un­der­neath their lips there lies
The poi­son of a snake.

Lord, keep me from the wick­ed’s hands,
From vio­lent men me save;
Who ut­ter­ly to ov­er­throw
My go­ings pur­posed have.

The proud for me a snare have hid,
And cords; yea, they a net
Have by the way­side for me spread;
They gins for me have set.

I said un­to the Lord, Thou art
My God: un­to the cry
Of all my sup­pli­ca­tions,
Lord, do Thine ear ap­ply.

O God the Lord, who art the strength
Of my sal­va­tion:
A co­ver­ing in the day of war
My head Thou hast put on.

Unto the wick­ed man, O Lord,
His wish­es do not grant;
Nor fur­ther Thou his ill de­vice,
Lest they them­selves should vaunt.

As for the head and chief of those
About that com­pass me,
E’en by the mis­chief of their lips
Let Thou them co­vered be.

Let burn­ing coals up­on them fall,
Them throw in fie­ry flame,
And in deep pits, that they no more
May rise out of the same.

Let not an ev­il speak­er be
On earth es­tab­lish­èd:
Mischief shall hunt the vio­lent man,
Till he be ru­in­èd.

I know God will th’af­flict­ed’s cause
Maintain, and poor men’s right.
Surely the just shall praise Thy name;
Th’upright dwell in Thy sight.