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Psalm 6-10
The Message
Psalm 6-10
The Message
6 1-2 Please, God, no more yelling,
no more trips to the woodshed.
Treat me nice for a change;
I’m so starved for affection.
2-3 Can’t you see I’m black-and-blue,
beaten up badly in bones and soul?
God, how long will it take
for you to let up?
4-5 Break in, God, and break up this fight;
if you love me at all, get me out of here.
I’m no good to you dead, am I?
I can’t sing in your choir if I’m buried in some tomb!
6-7 I’m tired of all this—so tired. My bed
has been floating forty days and nights
On the flood of my tears.
My mattress is soaked, soggy with tears.
The sockets of my eyes are black holes;
nearly blind, I squint and grope.
8-9 Get out of here, you Devil’s crew:
at last God has heard my sobs.
My requests have all been granted,
my prayers are answered.
10 Cowards, my enemies disappear.
Disgraced, they turn tail and run.
7 1-2 God! God! I am running to you for dear life;
the chase is wild.
If they catch me, I’m finished:
ripped to shreds by foes fierce as lions,
dragged into the forest and left
unlooked for, unremembered.
3-5 God, if I’ve done what they say—
betrayed my friends,
ripped off my enemies—
If my hands are really that dirty,
let them get me, walk all over me,
leave me flat on my face in the dirt.
6-8 Stand up, God; pit your holy fury
against my furious enemies.
Wake up, God. My accusers have packed
the courtroom; it’s judgment time.
Take your place on the bench, reach for your gavel,
throw out the false charges against me.
I’m ready, confident in your verdict:
“Innocent.”
9-11 Close the book on Evil, God,
but publish your mandate for us.
You get us ready for life:
you probe for our soft spots,
you knock off our rough edges.
And I’m feeling so fit, so safe:
made right, kept right.
God in solemn honor does things right,
but his nerves are sandpapered raw.
11-13 Nobody gets by with anything.
God is already in action—
Sword honed on his whetstone,
bow strung, arrow on the string,
Lethal weapons in hand,
each arrow a flaming missile.
14 Look at that guy!
He had sex with sin,
he’s pregnant with evil.
Oh, look! He’s having
the baby—a Lie-Baby!
15-16 See that man shoveling day after day,
digging, then concealing, his man-trap
down that lonely stretch of road?
Go back and look again—you’ll see him in it headfirst,
legs waving in the breeze.
That’s what happens:
mischief backfires;
violence boomerangs.
17 I’m thanking God, who makes things right.
I’m singing the fame of heaven-high God.
8 God, brilliant Lord,
yours is a household name.
2 Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk,
and silence atheist babble.
3-4 I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
Why take a second look our way?
5-8 Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods,
bright with Eden’s dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
repeated to us your Genesis-charge,
Made us stewards of sheep and cattle,
even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
whales singing in the ocean deeps.
9 God, brilliant Lord,
your name echoes around the world.
9 1-2 I’m thanking you, God, from a full heart,
I’m writing the book on your wonders.
I’m whistling, laughing, and jumping for joy;
I’m singing your song, High God.
3-4 The day my enemies turned tail and ran,
they stumbled on you and fell on their faces.
You took over and set everything right;
when I needed you, you were there, taking charge.
5-6 You blow the whistle on godless nations;
you throw dirty players out of the game,
wipe their names right off the roster.
Enemies disappear from the sidelines,
their reputation trashed,
their names erased from the halls of fame.
7-8 God holds the high center,
he sees and sets the world’s mess right.
He decides what is right for us earthlings,
gives people their just deserts.
9-10 God’s a safe-house for the battered,
a sanctuary during bad times.
The moment you arrive, you relax;
you’re never sorry you knocked.
11-12 Sing your songs to Zion-dwelling God,
tell his stories to everyone you meet:
How he tracks down killers
yet keeps his eye on us,
registers every whimper and moan.
13-14 Be kind to me, God;
I’ve been kicked around long enough.
Once you’ve pulled me back
from the gates of death,
I’ll write the book on Hallelujahs;
on the corner of Main and First
I’ll hold a street meeting;
I’ll be the song leader; we’ll fill the air
with salvation songs.
15-16 They’re trapped, those godless countries,
in the very snares they set,
Their feet all tangled
in the net they spread.
They have no excuse;
the way God works is well-known.
The shrewd machinery made by the wicked
has maimed their own hands.
17-20 The wicked bought a one-way
ticket to hell.
No longer will the poor be nameless—
no more humiliation for the humble.
Up, God! Aren’t you fed up with their empty strutting?
Expose these grand pretensions!
Shake them up, God!
Show them how silly they look.
10 1-2 God, are you avoiding me?
Where are you when I need you?
Full of hot air, the wicked
are hot on the trail of the poor.
Trip them up, tangle them up
in their fine-tuned plots.
3-4 The wicked are windbags,
the swindlers have foul breath.
The wicked snub God,
their noses stuck high in the air.
Their graffiti are scrawled on the walls:
“Catch us if you can!” “God is dead.”
5-6 They care nothing for what you think;
if you get in their way, they blow you off.
They live (they think) a charmed life:
“We can’t go wrong. This is our lucky year!”
7-8 They carry a mouthful of spells,
their tongues spit venom like adders.
They hide behind ordinary people,
then pounce on their victims.
9 They mark the luckless,
then wait like a hunter in a blind;
When the poor wretch wanders too close,
they stab him in the back.
10-11 The hapless fool is kicked to the ground,
the unlucky victim is brutally axed.
He thinks God has dumped him,
he’s sure that God is indifferent to his plight.
12-13 Time to get up, God—get moving.
The luckless think they’re Godforsaken.
They wonder why the wicked scorn God
and get away with it,
Why the wicked are so cocksure
they’ll never come up for audit.
14 But you know all about it—
the contempt, the abuse.
I dare to believe that the luckless
will get lucky someday in you.
You won’t let them down:
orphans won’t be orphans forever.
15-16 Break the wicked right arms,
break all the evil left arms.
Search and destroy
every sign of crime.
God’s grace and order wins;
godlessness loses.
17-18 The victim’s faint pulse picks up;
the hearts of the hopeless pump red blood
as you put your ear to their lips.
Orphans get parents,
the homeless get homes.
The reign of terror is over,
the rule of the gang lords is ended.
Psalm 6-10
New International Version
Psalm 6-10
New International Version
Psalm 6[a]
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. According to sheminith.[b] A psalm of David.
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger(A)
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Have mercy on me,(B) Lord, for I am faint;(C)
heal me,(D) Lord, for my bones are in agony.(E)
3 My soul is in deep anguish.(F)
How long,(G) Lord, how long?
4 Turn,(H) Lord, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.(I)
5 Among the dead no one proclaims your name.
Who praises you from the grave?(J)
All night long I flood my bed with weeping(M)
and drench my couch with tears.(N)
7 My eyes grow weak(O) with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.
8 Away from me,(P) all you who do evil,(Q)
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;(R)
the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish;(S)
they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.(T)
Psalm 7[c]
A shiggaion[d](U) of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite.
1 Lord my God, I take refuge(V) in you;
save and deliver me(W) from all who pursue me,(X)
2 or they will tear me apart like a lion(Y)
and rip me to pieces with no one to rescue(Z) me.
3 Lord my God, if I have done this
and there is guilt on my hands(AA)—
4 if I have repaid my ally with evil
or without cause(AB) have robbed my foe—
5 then let my enemy pursue and overtake(AC) me;
let him trample my life to the ground(AD)
and make me sleep in the dust.[e](AE)
6 Arise,(AF) Lord, in your anger;
rise up against the rage of my enemies.(AG)
Awake,(AH) my God; decree justice.
7 Let the assembled peoples gather around you,
while you sit enthroned over them on high.(AI)
8 Let the Lord judge(AJ) the peoples.
Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness,(AK)
according to my integrity,(AL) O Most High.(AM)
9 Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
and make the righteous secure—(AN)
you, the righteous God(AO)
who probes minds and hearts.(AP)
10 My shield[f](AQ) is God Most High,
who saves the upright in heart.(AR)
11 God is a righteous judge,(AS)
a God who displays his wrath(AT) every day.
12 If he does not relent,(AU)
he[g] will sharpen his sword;(AV)
he will bend and string his bow.(AW)
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;
he makes ready his flaming arrows.(AX)
14 Whoever is pregnant with evil
conceives trouble and gives birth(AY) to disillusionment.
15 Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out
falls into the pit(AZ) they have made.(BA)
16 The trouble they cause recoils on them;
their violence comes down on their own heads.
17 I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness;(BB)
I will sing the praises(BC) of the name of the Lord Most High.(BD)
Psalm 8[h]
For the director of music. According to gittith.[i] A psalm of David.
1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name(BE) in all the earth!
You have set your glory(BF)
in the heavens.(BG)
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold(BH) against your enemies,
to silence the foe(BI) and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,(BJ)
the work of your fingers,(BK)
the moon and the stars,(BL)
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[j](BM)
5 You have made them[k] a little lower than the angels[l](BN)
and crowned them[m] with glory and honor.(BO)
6 You made them rulers(BP) over the works of your hands;(BQ)
you put everything under their[n] feet:(BR)
7 all flocks and herds,(BS)
and the animals of the wild,(BT)
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,(BU)
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!(BV)
Psalm 9[o][p]
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A psalm of David.
1 I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;(BW)
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.(BX)
2 I will be glad and rejoice(BY) in you;
I will sing the praises(BZ) of your name,(CA) O Most High.
3 My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have upheld my right(CB) and my cause,(CC)
sitting enthroned(CD) as the righteous judge.(CE)
5 You have rebuked the nations(CF) and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name(CG) for ever and ever.
6 Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
you have uprooted their cities;(CH)
even the memory of them(CI) has perished.
7 The Lord reigns forever;(CJ)
he has established his throne(CK) for judgment.
8 He rules the world in righteousness(CL)
and judges the peoples with equity.(CM)
9 The Lord is a refuge(CN) for the oppressed,(CO)
a stronghold in times of trouble.(CP)
10 Those who know your name(CQ) trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken(CR) those who seek you.(CS)
11 Sing the praises(CT) of the Lord, enthroned in Zion;(CU)
proclaim among the nations(CV) what he has done.(CW)
12 For he who avenges blood(CX) remembers;
he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.(CY)
13 Lord, see how my enemies(CZ) persecute me!
Have mercy(DA) and lift me up from the gates of death,(DB)
14 that I may declare your praises(DC)
in the gates of Daughter Zion,(DD)
and there rejoice in your salvation.(DE)
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;(DF)
their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.(DG)
16 The Lord is known by his acts of justice;
the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.[q](DH)
17 The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,(DI)
all the nations that forget God.(DJ)
18 But God will never forget the needy;
the hope(DK) of the afflicted(DL) will never perish.
19 Arise,(DM) Lord, do not let mortals triumph;(DN)
let the nations be judged(DO) in your presence.
20 Strike them with terror,(DP) Lord;
let the nations know they are only mortal.(DQ)
Psalm 10[r]
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,(DT)
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts(DU) about the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.(DV)
4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.(DW)
5 His ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected by[s] him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”(DX)
7 His mouth is full(DY) of lies and threats;(DZ)
trouble and evil are under his tongue.(EA)
8 He lies in wait(EB) near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent.(EC)
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
9 like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;(ED)
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.(EE)
10 His victims are crushed,(EF) they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, “God will never notice;(EG)
he covers his face and never sees.”(EH)
12 Arise,(EI) Lord! Lift up your hand,(EJ) O God.
Do not forget the helpless.(EK)
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?(EL)
Why does he say to himself,
“He won’t call me to account”?(EM)
14 But you, God, see the trouble(EN) of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;(EO)
you are the helper(EP) of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man;(EQ)
call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.
16 The Lord is King for ever and ever;(ER)
the nations(ES) will perish from his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;(ET)
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,(EU)
18 defending the fatherless(EV) and the oppressed,(EW)
so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.
Footnotes
- Psalm 6:1 In Hebrew texts 6:1-10 is numbered 6:2-11.
- Psalm 6:1 Title: Probably a musical term
- Psalm 7:1 In Hebrew texts 7:1-17 is numbered 7:2-18.
- Psalm 7:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
- Psalm 7:5 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
- Psalm 7:10 Or sovereign
- Psalm 7:12 Or If anyone does not repent, / God
- Psalm 8:1 In Hebrew texts 8:1-9 is numbered 8:2-10.
- Psalm 8:1 Title: Probably a musical term
- Psalm 8:4 Or what is a human being that you are mindful of him, / a son of man that you care for him?
- Psalm 8:5 Or him
- Psalm 8:5 Or than God
- Psalm 8:5 Or him
- Psalm 8:6 Or made him ruler . . . ; / . . . his
- Psalm 9:1 Psalms 9 and 10 may originally have been a single acrostic poem in which alternating lines began with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Septuagint they constitute one psalm.
- Psalm 9:1 In Hebrew texts 9:1-20 is numbered 9:2-21.
- Psalm 9:16 The Hebrew has Higgaion and Selah (words of uncertain meaning) here; Selah occurs also at the end of verse 20.
- Psalm 10:1 Psalms 9 and 10 may originally have been a single acrostic poem in which alternating lines began with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Septuagint they constitute one psalm.
- Psalm 10:5 See Septuagint; Hebrew / they are haughty, and your laws are far from
Psalm 6-10
King James Version
Psalm 6-10
King James Version
6 O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
2 Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed.
3 My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O Lord, how long?
4 Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
6 I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.
7 Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.
8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.
9 The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.
10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.
7 O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me:
2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
3 O Lord my God, If I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands;
4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)
5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah.
6 Arise, O Lord, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded.
7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.
8 The Lord shall judge the people: judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.
9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.
10 My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.
11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
12 If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.
14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.
17 I will praise the Lord according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the Lord most high.
8 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
9 I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
3 When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.
4 For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.
5 Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.
6 O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.
7 But the Lord shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.
8 And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
9 The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.
12 When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.
13 Have mercy upon me, O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:
14 That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.
15 The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
16 The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.
17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.
19 Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.
20 Put them in fear, O Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.
10 Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.
4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.
6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.
7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.
9 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.
10 He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.
11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.
13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.
14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
16 The Lord is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.
17 Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:
18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.