1 Yahweh my God, I come to you to protect me.

Rescue me, save me from all those who are pursuing me in order to harm me.

2 If you do not do that, they will tear me into pieces

like a lion does when it attacks the animals it wants to kill,

and no one will save me from them.

3 Yahweh my God, if I have done anything that is wrong,

4 if I have done evil to some friend who did good things to me,

or if, for no good reason, I have spared (OR, acted violently toward) those who were my enemies,

5 allow my enemies to pursue me and capture me.

Allow them to trample me into the ground

and leave me [SYN] lying dead in the dirt.

(Think about that!)

6 But Yahweh, because you are very angry with those who pursue me,

arise and attack/defeat my enemies who are furiously/angrily attacking me

Do to them what is just!

7 Gather around you the people of all nations,

and rule them from where you are in heaven [MTY].

8 Yahweh, judge the people of all nations!

And, Yahweh, show that I have done nothing that is wrong.

9 God, you know what every person is thinking,

and because you are righteous, you always do what is just/right.

So now stop evil people from doing wicked deeds,

and defend all of us who are righteous!

10 God, you protect me like a shield protects soldiers [MET];

you protect all those who are righteous in their inner being.

11 You judge everyone correctly,

and every day you punish wicked people.

12 Whenever your enemies do not ◄repent/change their behavior►,

it is as though [MET] you sharpen your sword and put a string on your bow to get ready to kill them.

13 You are preparing your weapons that kill those whom they strike;

the arrows that you will shoot have flaming tips.

14 Wicked people tell lies,

and they think that they surely will be able to do [MET] the evil things that they are planning to do

just as surely as a pregnant woman knows that she is going to give birth to a child [MET].

15 But when they dig a deep pit to trap others,

they themselves will fall into it.

16 They themselves will experience the trouble that they want to cause others to have;

they will hurt themselves by the violent things that they want to do to others.

17 I praise Yahweh because he always acts righteously/justly;

I sing to praise Yahweh, the one who is much greater than any other god.