141 Lord , I am calling to you for help.
Come to me quickly!
Please listen to what I am saying.
2 I offer my prayer to you like incense.
Please accept it when I raise my hands to you.
Accept it like a gift that I offer to you in the evening.
3 Lord , keep my mouth safe,
so that I do not speak bad things.
4 Do not let my mind want evil things.
Do not let me join with wicked people,
to do the same bad things that they do.
I do not even want to eat their good food.
5 If a good man hits me because he loves me,
he is being kind to me.
If he shows me that I have done a wrong thing,
that it is like special oil on my head. [ b ]
I would not refuse it.
I continue to pray against what wicked people do.
6 They will throw their rulers down
from high rocks.
Then they will agree that my words were true.
7 It will be like a farmer who ploughs his field,
and breaks the earth into pieces.
Just like that, they will break the bones of wicked people.
They will throw their bones on the ground
at the entrance to Sheol.
8 But I look to you for help, Almighty Lord .
I need you to keep me safe.
Do not let wicked people kill me.
9 They have prepared traps to catch me.
Do not let me fall into the traps of those evil people.
10 May those bad people fall into their own traps!
Then I will be free from their power.
141 Lord , I call to you for help.
Listen to me as I pray.
Please hurry and help me!
2 Accept my prayer like a gift of burning incense,
the words I lift up like an evening sacrifice.
3 Lord , help me control what I say.
Don’t let me say anything bad.
4 Take away any desire to do evil.
Keep me from joining the wicked in doing wrong.
Help me stay away from their feasts.
5 If good people correct me,
I will consider it a good thing.
If they criticize me,
I will accept it like a warm welcome. [ a ]
But my prayer will always be against the wicked and the evil they do.
6 Let their judges be put to death. [ b ]
Then everyone will know that I told the truth.
7 Like rocks in a field that a farmer has plowed,
so our bones will be scattered in the grave.
8 My Lord God , I look to you for help.
I look to you for protection; don’t let me die.
9 Those evil people are trying to trap me.
Don’t let me fall into their traps.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own traps,
while I walk away unharmed.
141 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.
8 But mine eyes are unto thee, O God the Lord: in thee is my trust; leave not my soul destitute.
9 Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.
141 Lord , I call upon You; ( A ) hurry to me!
( B ) Listen to my voice when I call to You!
2 May my prayer be [ a ] counted as ( C ) incense before You;
The ( D ) raising of my hands as the ( E ) evening offering.
3 Set a ( F ) guard, Lord , [ b ] over my mouth;
Keep watch over the ( G ) door of my lips.
4 ( H ) Do not incline my heart to any evil thing,
To practice deeds [ c ] of wickedness
With people who ( I ) do wrong;
And ( J ) may I not taste their delicacies.
5 May the ( K ) righteous strike me with mercy and discipline me;
It is ( L ) oil for the head;
My head shall not refuse it,
For my prayer ( M ) is still against their evil deeds.
6 Their judges are ( N ) thrown down by the sides of the rock,
And they hear my words, for they are pleasant.
7 As when one ( O ) plows and breaks open the earth,
Our ( P ) bones have been scattered at the ( Q ) mouth of [ d ] Sheol.
8 For my ( R ) eyes are toward You, [ e ] God , the Lord;
In You I ( S ) take refuge; ( T ) do not [ f ] leave me defenseless.
9 Keep me from the [ g ] ( U ) jaws of the trap which they have set for me,
And from the ( V ) snares of those who do wrong.
10 May the wicked ( W ) fall into their own nets,
While I pass by [ h ] ( X ) safely.
1 I call to you, Lord , come quickly ( A ) to me;
hear me ( B ) when I call to you.
2 May my prayer be set before you like incense; ( C )
may the lifting up of my hands ( D ) be like the evening sacrifice. ( E )
3 Set a guard over my mouth, ( F ) Lord ;
keep watch over the door of my lips. ( G )
4 Do not let my heart ( H ) be drawn to what is evil
so that I take part in wicked deeds ( I )
along with those who are evildoers;
do not let me eat their delicacies. ( J )
5 Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness;
let him rebuke me ( K ) —that is oil on my head. ( L )
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, ( M )
and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.
7 They will say, “As one plows ( N ) and breaks up the earth, ( O )
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth ( P ) of the grave.”
8 But my eyes are fixed ( Q ) on you, Sovereign Lord ;
in you I take refuge ( R ) —do not give me over to death.
9 Keep me safe ( S ) from the traps set by evildoers, ( T )
from the snares ( U ) they have laid for me.
10 Let the wicked fall ( V ) into their own nets,
while I pass by in safety. ( W )
