Psalm 94:1–96:13

¹O Lord, God of vengeance, 

O God of vengeance, appear! 

²Arise, O Judge of the earth. 

Give arrogant people what they deserve. 

³How long, O Lord, will wicked people triumph? 

How long? 

⁴They ramble. 

They speak arrogantly. 

All troublemakers brag about themselves. 

⁵They crush your people, O Lord. 

They make those who belong to you suffer. 

⁶They kill widows and foreigners, and they murder orphans. 

⁷They say, “The Lord doesn’t see it. 

The God of Jacob doesn’t even pay attention to it.” 

⁸Pay attention, you stupid people! 

When will you become wise, you fools? 

⁹God created ears. 

Do you think he can’t hear? 

He formed eyes. 

Do you think he can’t see? 

¹⁰He disciplines nations. 

Do you think he can’t punish? 

He teaches people. 

Do you think he doesn’t know anything? 

¹¹The Lord knows that people’s thoughts are pointless. 

¹²O Lord, blessed is the person 

whom you discipline and instruct from your teachings. 

¹³You give him peace and quiet from times of trouble 

while a pit is dug to trap wicked people. 

¹⁴The Lord will never desert his people 

or abandon those who belong to him. 

¹⁵The decisions of judges will again become fair, 

and everyone whose motives are decent will pursue justice. 

¹⁶Who will stand up for me against evildoers? 

Who will stand by my side against troublemakers? 

¹⁷If the Lord had not come to help me, 

my soul would have quickly fallen silent ⸤in death⸥. 

¹⁸When I said, “My feet are slipping,” 

your mercy, O Lord, continued to hold me up. 

¹⁹When I worried about many things, 

your assuring words soothed my soul. 

²⁰Are wicked rulers who use the law to do unlawful things 

able to be your partners? 

²¹They join forces to take the lives of righteous people. 

They condemn innocent people to death. 

²²The Lord has become my stronghold. 

My God has become my rock of refuge. 

²³He has turned their own wickedness against them. 

He will destroy them because of their sins. 

The Lord our God will destroy them. 

Psalm 95

¹Come, let’s sing joyfully to the Lord. 

Let’s shout happily to the rock of our salvation. 

²Let’s come into his presence with a song of thanksgiving. 

Let’s shout happily to him with psalms. 

³The Lord is a great God and a great king above all gods. 

⁴In his hand are the deep places of the earth, 

and the mountain peaks are his. 

⁵The sea is his. 

He made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 

⁶Come, let’s worship and bow down. 

Let’s kneel in front of the Lord, our maker, 

⁷because he is our God 

and we are the people in his care, 

the flock that he leads. 

If only you would listen to him today! 

⁸“Do not be stubborn like ⸤my people were⸥ at Meribah, 

like the time at Massah in the desert. 

⁹Your ancestors challenged me and tested me there, 

although they had seen what I had done. 

¹⁰For 40 years I was disgusted with those people. 

So I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts continue to stray. 

They have not learned my ways.’ 

¹¹That is why I angrily took this solemn oath: 

‘They will never enter my place of rest!’ ” 

Psalm 96

¹Sing to the Lord a new song! 

Sing to the Lord, all the earth! 

²Sing to the Lord! Praise his name! 

Day after day announce that the Lord saves his people. 

³Tell people about his glory. 

Tell all the nations about his miracles. 

⁴The Lord is great! 

He should be highly praised. 

He should be feared more than all ⸤other⸥ gods 

⁵because all the gods of the nations are idols. 

The Lord made the heavens. 

⁶Splendor and majesty are in his presence. 

Strength and beauty are in his holy place. 

⁷Give to the Lord, you families of the nations. 

Give to the Lord glory and power. 

⁸Give to the Lord the glory he deserves. 

Bring an offering, and come into his courtyards. 

⁹Worship the Lord in ⸤his⸥ holy splendor. 

Tremble in his presence, all the earth! 

¹⁰Say to the nations, “The Lord rules as king!” 

The earth stands firm; it cannot be moved. 

He will judge people fairly. 

¹¹Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad. 

Let the sea and everything in it roar like thunder. 

¹²Let the fields and everything in them rejoice. 

Then all the trees in the forest will sing joyfully 

¹³in the Lord’s presence because he is coming. 

He is coming to judge the earth. 

He will judge the world with righteousness 

and its people with his truth.