You who practice deceit,(A)
    your tongue plots destruction;(B)
    it is like a sharpened razor.(C)

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The tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.

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Hide me from the conspiracy(A) of the wicked,(B)
    from the plots of evildoers.
They sharpen their tongues like swords(C)
    and aim cruel words like deadly arrows.(D)
They shoot from ambush at the innocent;(E)
    they shoot suddenly, without fear.(F)

They encourage each other in evil plans,
    they talk about hiding their snares;(G)
    they say, “Who will see it[a]?”(H)
They plot injustice and say,
    “We have devised a perfect plan!”
    Surely the human mind and heart are cunning.

But God will shoot them with his arrows;
    they will suddenly be struck down.
He will turn their own tongues against them(I)
    and bring them to ruin;
    all who see them will shake their heads(J) in scorn.(K)

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 64:5 Or us

Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:

Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:

That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.

They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?

They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.

But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.

So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.

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“They make ready their tongue
    like a bow, to shoot lies;(A)
it is not by truth
    that they triumph[a] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
    they do not acknowledge(B) me,”
declares the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 9:3 Or lies; / they are not valiant for truth

And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord.

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