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Psalm 53:1–6

qThe fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;

there is none who does good.

God looks down from heaven

on the children of man

to see if there are any who understand,2

who seek after God.

They have all fallen away;

together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

Have those who work evil no knowledge,

who eat up my people as they eat bread,

and do not call upon God?

There they are, in great terror,

rwhere there is no terror!

For God sscatters the bones of him who encamps against you;

you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When God restores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

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Psalm 53:1–6 — The New International Version (NIV)

The fool says in his heart,

“There is no God.”

They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;

there is no one who does good.

God looks down from heaven

on all mankind

to see if there are any who understand,

any who seek God.

Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt;

there is no one who does good,

not even one.

Do all these evildoers know nothing?

They devour my people as though eating bread;

they never call on God.

But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,

where there was nothing to dread.

God scattered the bones of those who attacked you;

you put them to shame, for God despised them.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When God restores his people,

let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

Psalm 53:1–6 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity:

There is none that doeth good.

God looked down from heaven upon the children of men,

To see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.

Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy;

There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge?

Who eat up my people as they eat bread:

They have not called upon God.

There were they in great fear, where no fear was:

For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee:

Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.

Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!

When God bringeth back the captivity of his people,

Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

Psalm 53:1–6 — New Living Translation (NLT)

Only fools say in their hearts,

“There is no God.”

They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;

not one of them does good!

God looks down from heaven

on the entire human race;

he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,

if anyone seeks God.

But no, all have turned away;

all have become corrupt.

No one does good,

not a single one!

Will those who do evil never learn?

They eat up my people like bread

and wouldn’t think of praying to God.

Terror will grip them,

terror like they have never known before.

God will scatter the bones of your enemies.

You will put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

Who will come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel?

When God restores his people,

Jacob will shout with joy, and Israel will rejoice.

Psalm 53:1–6 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;

There is none who does good.

God looks down from heaven upon the children of men,

To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.

Every one of them has turned aside;

They have together become corrupt;

There is none who does good,

No, not one.

Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge,

Who eat up my people as they eat bread,

And do not call upon God?

There they are in great fear

Where no fear was,

For God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you;

You have put them to shame,

Because God has despised them.

Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

When God brings back the captivity of His people,

Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

Psalm 53:1–6 — New Century Version (NCV)

Fools say to themselves,

“There is no God.”

Fools are evil and do terrible things;

none of them does anything good.

God looked down from heaven on all people

to see if anyone was wise,

if anyone was looking to God for help.

But all have turned away.

Together, everyone has become evil;

none of them does anything good.

Not a single person.

Don’t the wicked understand?

They destroy my people as if they were eating bread.

They do not ask God for help.

The wicked are filled with terror

where there had been nothing to fear.

God will scatter the bones of your enemies.

You will defeat them,

because God has rejected them.

I pray that victory will come to Israel from Mount Zion!

May God bring them back.

Then the people of Jacob will rejoice,

and the people of Israel will be glad.

Psalm 53:1–6 — American Standard Version (ASV)

The fool hath said in his heart,

There is no God.

Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity;

There is none that doeth good.

God looked down from heaven upon the children of men,

To see if there were any that did understand,

That did seek after God.

Every one of them is gone back; they are together become filthy;

There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge,

Who eat up my people as they eat bread,

And call not upon God?

There were they in great fear, where no fear was;

For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee:

Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath rejected them.

Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!

When God bringeth back the captivity of his people,

Then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

Psalm 53:1–6 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God! They have corrupted themselves, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. God looked down from the heavens upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back, they are together become corrupt: there is none that doeth good, not even one. Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, eating up my people as they eat bread? they call not upon God. There were they in great fear, where no fear was; for God scattereth the bones of him that encampeth against thee. Thou hast put them to shame, for God hath despised them. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God turneth again the captivity of his people, Jacob shall be glad, Israel shall rejoice.

Psalm 53:1–6 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

Godless fools say in their hearts, 

“There is no God.” 

They are corrupt. 

They do disgusting things. 

There is no one who does good things. 

God looks down from heaven on Adam’s descendants 

to see if there is anyone who acts wisely, 

if there is anyone who seeks help from God. 

Everyone has fallen away. 

Together they have become rotten to the core. 

No one, not even one person, does good things. 

Are all those troublemakers, 

those who devour my people as if they were devouring food, 

so ignorant that they do not call on God? 

There they are—panic-stricken— 

⸤but⸥ there was no reason to panic, 

because God has scattered the bones 

of those who set up camp against you. 

You put them to shame. 

After all, God has rejected them. 

If only salvation for Israel would come from Zion! 

When God restores the fortunes of his people, 

Jacob will rejoice. 

Israel will be glad. 

Psalm 53:1–6 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.”

They are corrupt, and they do vile deeds.

There is no one who does good.

God looks down from heaven on the human race

to see if there is one who is wise,

one who seeks God.

All have turned away;

all alike have become corrupt.

There is no one who does good,

not even one.

Will evildoers never understand?

They consume My people as they consume bread;

they do not call on God.

Then they will be filled with terror—

terror like no other —

because God will scatter

the bones of those who besiege you.

You will put them to shame,

for God has rejected them.

Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion!

When God restores the fortunes of His people,

Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

Psalm 53:1–6 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, they commit abominable acts;

there is no one who does good.

God looks down from heaven on humankind

to see if there are any who are wise,

who seek after God.

They have all fallen away, they are all alike perverse;

there is no one who does good,

no, not one.

Have they no knowledge, those evildoers,

who eat up my people as they eat bread,

and do not call upon God?

There they shall be in great terror,

in terror such as has not been.

For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly;

they will be put to shame, for God has rejected them.

O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!

When God restores the fortunes of his people,

Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

Psalm 53:1–6 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt and they have done abominable iniquity.

There is none who does good.

God looks down from heaven upon the children of humankind

to see whether there is one who has insight,

one who seeks God.

All of them have turned back.

They are altogether corrupt.

There is none who does good;

there is not even one.

Do not evildoers know,

they who eat my people as though they were eating bread?

They do not call on God.

There they are very fearful

where no fear had been,

because God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you.

You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.

Oh, that from Zion would come salvation for Israel!

When God returns the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Psalm 53:1–6 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

Foolish people say in their hearts,

“There is no God.”

They do all kinds of horrible and evil things.

No one does anything good.

God looks down from heaven

on all people.

He wants to see if there are any who understand.

He wants to see if there are any who trust in God.

All of them have turned away.

They have all become evil.

No one does anything good,

no one at all.

Won’t those who do evil ever learn?

They eat up my people as if they were eating bread.

They don’t call out to God for help.

Just look at them! They are filled with terror

even when there is nothing to be afraid of!

People of Israel, God will scatter the bones of those who attack you.

You will put them to shame, because God hates them.

How I pray that the One who saves Israel will come out of Zion!

God will bless his people with great success again.

So let the people of Jacob be filled with joy! Let Israel be glad!

Psalm 53:1–6 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”

They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;

There is no one who does good.

God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men

To see if there is anyone who understands,

Who seeks after God.

Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

There is no one who does good, not even one.

Have the workers of wickedness no knowledge,

Who eat up My people as though they ate bread

And have not called upon God?

There they were in great fear where no fear had been;

For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you;

You put them to shame, because God had rejected them.

Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!

When God restores His captive people,

Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.


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