Translations
For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.
For look! The wicked are already stringing the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the cord to shoot through the darkness at the upright of heart.
See how the wicked draw back the bow, how they notch the arrow against the string to shoot from the shadows at those whose hearts are true.
For behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrow on the string to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
Footnotes
The Hebrew yishrei-lev, 'upright of heart,' is a compound moral descriptor: yashar (straight, level) joined to lev (the heart as seat of will and character). The wicked shoot bemo-ophel, 'in/through the darkness'—not mere night but the moral opacity that enables cowardly, hidden attack. F.O.G. renders the phrase literally to preserve its physical menace; F.O.G.M. uses 'from the shadows' to draw out the stealth and cowardice of opposition to the godly. Note also the bird motif from v.1—those who urge flight have themselves become hunters.
