Let every  ¹person be  ²subject to the authorities over him, for there is no authority except  ³from God, and those which exist are  ⁴ordained by God.

So then he who resists the authority opposes God's ordination, and those who oppose will receive  ¹judgment to themselves.

For the rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you want to have no fear of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from him;

For he is a  ¹servant of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, fear; he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who practices evil.

Therefore it is necessary to be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience.

For because of this you also pay taxes; for they are God's  ¹officers, attending constantly to this very thing.

Render to all the things due: tax to whom tax is due, custom to whom custom is due, fear to whom fear is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who  ¹loves the other has fulfilled the law.

For, “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Love does not work evil to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

And this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to be raised from sleep; for now is our  ¹salvation nearer than when we believed.

The  ¹night is far advanced, and the day has drawn near. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the weapons of light.

Let us walk becomingly as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in fornication and licentiousness, not in strife and jealousy.

But  ¹put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no  ²provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.

The  ¹fool has said in his heart,
There is no God.
They are corrupt and commit abominable deeds;
There is none who does good.

God looked down from heaven
Upon the sons of men
To see if there was anyone who had insight,
Who seeks after God.

All of them have turned back;
They are together perverse.
There is none who does good;
There is not even one.

Have they no knowledge, the workers of iniquity,
Who eat up my people as they would eat up bread
And do not call upon God?

There they were in great fear,
Where there was no fear.
For God scattered the bones
Of him who encamped against you.
You put them to shame
Because God has rejected them.

Oh that the  ¹salvation of Israel might come forth from Zion!
When God turns the captivity of His people,
Jacob will exult, Israel will rejoice.

To the choir director: on the stringed instruments. A  ¹Maschil of David, when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, David is indeed hiding among us!

O God,  ¹save me by Your name,
And execute judgment for me by Your might.

O God, hear my prayer;
Give ear to the words of my mouth.

For strangers have risen up against me,
And those who terrorize seek my life;
They do not set God before them.Selah

Behold, God is my Helper;
The Lord is among those who sustain my soul.

He will return the evil to those who lie in wait for me.
Annihilate them in Your  ¹faithfulness.

I will offer a freewill offering to You;
I will  ¹praise Your name, O Jehovah, for it is good.

For He has delivered me from all distress,
And my eye looks triumphantly upon my enemies.

To the choir director: on the stringed instruments. A  ¹Maschil of David

 ¹Give ear, O God, to my prayer;
And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.

Give heed to me, and answer me.
I grow restless in my complaint and moan,

Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the oppression of the wicked man;
For they drop iniquity upon me,
And in anger they make me their enemy.

My heart writhes within me,
And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.

Fear and trembling have come upon me,
And shuddering overwhelms me.

And I say, Oh that I had wings like a dove!
Then I would fly away and be at rest.

Indeed I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness.Selah

I would hasten my escape
From the storm wind and the tempest.

Confuse, O Lord, divide their tongue;
For I have seen violence and contention in the city.

Day and night they go around it,
Upon its walls;
And iniquity and trouble are in the midst of it.

Utter ruin is in the midst of it,
And oppression and deceit
Do not depart from its streets.

For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;
Otherwise I could bear it.
It is not he who hates me who magnifies himself against me;
Otherwise I could hide myself from him.

But it is you,  ¹my equal,
My close friend and my acquaintance.

We were in sweet counsel together;
We walked with the throng in the house of God.

 ¹Let death surprise them;
May they go down into Sheol alive.
For evil is in their dwelling, in the midst of them.

As for me, I call out to God,
And Jehovah will save me.

Evening and morning and at noontime
I complain and moan,
And He hears my voice.

He has redeemed my soul in peace
From the battle against me,
For many are they who strive with me.

God hears and answers them —
Even He who sits enthroned from of old — Selah
Because with them there is no change,
And they do not fear God.

 ¹He put forth his hands against those who were at peace with him;
He profaned his covenant.

Smooth were the buttery words of his mouth,
But his heart was war;
More soothing than oil were his words,
But they were in fact drawn swords.

Cast your burden upon Jehovah,
And He will sustain you;
He will never allow the righteous to be moved.

But You, O God, will bring them down
Into the pit of decay.
Men of bloodshed and deceit
Will not live out half their days;
But I will trust in You.

To the choir director: according to the  ¹dove on the distant terebinths. Of David. A  ²Michtam, when the Philistines seized him in Gath

 ¹Be gracious to me, O God; for man tramples me;
All day long he, fighting, oppresses me.

Those who lie in wait for me trample me all day long,
For many are those who arrogantly fight against me.

When I am afraid,
I trust in You.

In God, whose word I praise,
In God do I trust, and I will not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?

All day long they wrest my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.

They gather themselves; they lurk;
They watch my steps,
As they have waited to take my life.

Will there be deliverance for them in spite of their iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, O God.

You have counted my wanderings.
Put my tears into Your bottle.
Are they not in Your book?

Then my enemies will turn back
When I call;
This I know,
That God is for me.

In God, whose word I praise,
In Jehovah, whose word I praise,

In God do I trust; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

Your vows, O God, are on me;
I will render thank offerings to You.

For You have delivered my soul from death,
Indeed, my feet from stumbling,
That I may walk before God
In the light of the living.

To the choir director:  ¹Do not destroy. Of David. A  ²Michtam, when he fled from Saul, in the cave

 ¹Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me;
For my soul takes refuge in You;
Indeed in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge,
Until the destruction passes by.

I call out to God the Most High,
To the God who accomplishes all things for me.

He sends forth from heaven and saves me;
He reproaches him who would trample me; Selah
God sends forth
His lovingkindness and His  ¹faithfulness.

My soul is among lions;
I lie down among those who blaze forth, the sons of men,
Whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And whose tongue is a sharp sword.

Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.

They have prepared a net for my steps;
My soul is bowed down.
They have dug a pit before me;
They have fallen into it themselves. Selah

My heart is steadfast, O God;
My heart is steadfast.
I will sing, indeed I will sing psalms.

Awake, my glory;
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.

I will give thanks to You among the peoples, O Lord;
I will sing psalms to You among the nations.

For Your lovingkindness is as great as the heavens;
And Your faithfulness reaches unto the skies.

Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.

To the choir director:  ¹Do not destroy. Of David. A  ²Michtam

 ¹Do you indeed, O  ²judges, speak righteousness?
Do you judge in uprightness, O sons of men?

No, in heart you perform injustice;
You weigh out the violence of your hands on earth.

The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They err from their birth, speaking lies.

Their venom is like the venom of a serpent;
They are like the deaf cobra that has shut its ear,

Which does not hear the sound of the charmers
Or the wise spellbinder.

O God, break their teeth in their mouth;
Break off the fangs of the young lions, O Jehovah.

Let them melt like water that runs off.
When he shoots his arrows,
Let them be as though they were cut off.

Let them be like a snail that melts and goes away,
Like a woman's miscarriage, which by no means sees the sun.

Before your pots can feel the fire of the thorns,
Whether green or burning, He will sweep them away.

The righteous man will rejoice when he sees vengeance;
He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

And men will say, Indeed there is fruit for the righteous man;
Indeed there is a God who judges on earth.