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Psalm 140

1  Deliver me, O Lord, from evildoers ♦︎
   and protect me from the violent,
2  Who devise evil in their hearts ♦︎
   and stir up strife all the day long.
3  They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent; ♦︎
   adder’s poison is under their lips.
4  Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; ♦︎
   protect me from the violent
      who seek to make me stumble.
5  The proud have laid a snare for me
      and spread out a net of cords; ♦︎
   they have set traps along my path.
6  I have said to the Lord, ‘You are my God; ♦︎
   listen, O Lord, to the voice of my supplication.
7  ‘O Lord God, the strength of my salvation, ♦︎
   you have covered my head in the day of battle.
8  ‘Do not grant the desires of the wicked, O Lord, ♦︎
   do not prosper their wicked plans.
9  ‘Let not those who surround me lift up their heads; ♦︎
   let the evil of their own lips fall upon them.
10  ‘Let hot burning coals rain upon them; ♦︎
   let them be cast into the depths, that they rise not again.’
11  No slanderer shall prosper on the earth, ♦︎
   and evil shall hunt down the violent to overthrow them.
12  I know that the Lord will bring justice for the oppressed ♦︎
   and maintain the cause of the needy.
13  Surely, the righteous will give thanks to your name, ♦︎
   and the upright shall dwell in your presence.

15 I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. ¹⁶And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It shall not come to mind, or be remembered, or missed; nor shall another one be made. ¹⁷At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer stubbornly follow their own evil will. ¹⁸In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your ancestors for a heritage.

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes on those who are disobedient. ⁷Therefore do not be associated with them. ⁸For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— ⁹for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. ¹⁰Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹²For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; ¹³but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, ¹⁴for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
‘Sleeper, awake!
   Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.’

15 Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, ¹⁶making the most of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, ²⁰giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.