Psalm 13–15

A Prayer for Help^s

13 How much longer will you forget me, Lord? For ever?

How much longer will you hide yourself from me?

²How long must I endure trouble?

How long will sorrow fill my heart day and night?

How long will my enemies triumph over me?

³Look at me, O Lord my God, and answer me. Restore my strength; don’t let me die.

⁴Don’t let my enemies say, “We have defeated him.”

Don’t let them gloat over my downfall.

⁵I rely on your constant love;

I will be glad, because you will rescue me.

⁶I will sing to you, O Lord,

because you have been good to me.

The Wickedness of Men

^t

14^* Fools say to themselves,

“There is no God.”

They are all corrupt,

and they have done terrible things;

there is no one who does what is right.

^2*The Lord looks down from heaven at human beings

to see if there are

any who are wise, any who worship him.

^3*But they have all gone wrong;

they are all equally bad. Not one of them does what is right,

not a single one.

⁴“Don’t they know?” asks the Lord.

“Are all these evildoers ignorant?

They live by robbing my people,

and they never pray to me.”

⁵But then they will be terrified,

for God is with those who obey him.

⁶Evildoers frustrate the plans of the humble,

but the Lord is their protection.

⁷How I pray that victory

will come to Israel from Zion.

How happy the people of Israel will be

when the Lord makes them prosperous again!

What God Requires^u

15 Lord, who may enter your Temple?

Who may worship on Zion, your sacred hill?^v

²Those who obey God in everything

and always do what is right,

whose words are true and sincere,

³and who do not slander others.

They do no wrong to their friends

nor spread rumours about their neighbours.

⁴They despise those whom God rejects,

but honour those who obey the Lord.

They always do what they promise,

no matter how much it may cost.

⁵They make loans without charging interest

and cannot be bribed to testify against the innocent.

Whoever does these things will always be secure.