Exercise appropriate caution so that there is no negligence in this matter. Why should danger increase to the point that kings sustain damage?”

My guests ¹  and my servant girls consider ²  me a stranger; I am a foreigner ³  in their eyes.

then he reveals ¹  to them what they have done, ²  and their transgressions, that they were behaving proudly.

They say, ¹  “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! ²  Let’s free ourselves from ³  their ropes!”

Confuse them, ¹  O Lord! Frustrate their plans! ²  For I see violence and conflict in the city.

Hurry and look ¹  at the permanent ruins, and all the damage the enemy has done to the temple! ² 

Pay back our neighbors in full! ¹  May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord! ² 

They have almost destroyed me here on the earth, but I do not reject your precepts.

It is time for the Lord to act – they break your law!

A song of ascents. ²  “Since my youth they have often attacked me,” let Israel say.

“Since my youth they have often attacked me, but they have not defeated me.

The Righteous One ¹  considers ²  the house ³  of the wicked; he overthrows the wicked to their ruin. ⁴ 

Syria has plotted with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah to bring about your demise. ¹ 

Before they even call out, ¹  I will respond; while they are still speaking, I will hear.

For the nations of Israel and Judah ¹  have been very unfaithful to me,” says the Lord.

For he will die in the country where they took him as a captive. He will never see this land again.” ¹ 

But as for me, my eye will not pity them nor will I spare ¹  them; I hereby repay them for what they have done.” ² 

I will make ¹  the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully, declares the sovereign Lord.”

Moreover, they have done this to me: In the very same day ¹  they desecrated my sanctuary and profaned my Sabbaths.

who ¹  have risked their lives ²  for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ³