Psalm 10-12

Common English Bible

³ The wicked brag about their body’s^[b] cravings;
    the greedy reject the Lord, cursing.
⁴ At the peak of their wrath,
    the wicked don’t seek God:
    There’s no God—
    that’s what they are always thinking.
⁵ Their ways are always twisted.
        Your rules are too lofty for them.
    They snort at all their foes.
⁶     They think to themselves,
        We’ll never stumble.
        We’ll never encounter any resistance.
⁷ Their mouths are filled
        with curses, dishonesty, violence.
    Under their tongues lie
        troublemaking and wrongdoing.
⁸ They wait in a place perfect for ambush;^[c]
    from their hiding places
    they kill innocent people;
    their eyes spot those who are helpless.
⁹ They lie in ambush
    in secret places,
    like a lion in its lair.
They lie in ambush
    so they can seize those who suffer!
They seize the poor, all right,
    dragging them off in their nets.
¹⁰ Their helpless victims are crushed;
    they collapse, falling prey to the strength of the wicked.
¹¹ The wicked think to themselves:
    God has forgotten.
    God has hidden his face.
    God never sees anything!

¹² Get up, Lord!
    Get your fist ready, God!
    Don’t forget the ones who suffer!
¹³ Why do the wicked reject God?
    Why do they think to themselves
        that you won’t find out?
¹⁴ But you do see!
    You do see troublemaking and grief,
    and you do something about it!
The helpless leave it all to you.
    You are the orphan’s helper.

¹⁵ Break the arms of those
    who are wicked and evil.
Seek out their wickedness
    until there’s no more to find.
¹⁶ The Lord rules forever and always!
    The nations will vanish from his land.

¹⁷ Lord, you listen to the desires of those who suffer.
    You steady their hearts;
you listen closely to them,
¹⁸     to establish justice
        for the orphan and the oppressed,
    so that people of the land
        will never again be terrified.

⁴ But the Lord is in his holy temple.
    The Lord! His throne is in heaven.
His eyes see—
    his vision examines all of humanity.
⁵ The Lord examines
    both the righteous and the wicked;
    his very being^[e] hates anyone who loves violence.
⁶ God will rain fiery coals and sulfur on the wicked;
    their cups will be filled
    with nothing but a scorching hot wind
⁷     because the Lord is righteous!
    He loves righteous deeds.
    Those whose heart is right will see God’s face.^[f]

⁵ But the Lord says,
    “Because the poor are oppressed,
    because of the groans of the needy,
    I’m now standing up.
    I will provide the help they are gasping for.”^[h]
6 The Lord’s promises are pure,
    like silver that’s been refined in an oven,
    purified seven times over!

⁷ You, Lord, will keep us,^[i]
    protecting us from this generation forever.
⁸ The wicked roam all over the place,
    while depravity is praised by human beings.