Psalm 10–12

A Prayer for God to Throw down the Wicked

10Why, O Yahweh, do you stand far off?

Why do you hide^a during times of distress?

²In arrogance the wicked persecutes^b the poor.

Let them be caught in the schemes that they devised,

³for the wicked boasts about the desire of his heart,^c

and the one greedy for gain curses and treats Yahweh with contempt.

⁴With bald-faced pride^d the wicked will not seek God.

There is no God in any of his thoughts.

⁵His ways^e endure at all times.^f

Your judgments are aloof from him.

As for all his enemies, he scoffs at them.

⁶He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved

throughout all generations,^g during which I will have no trouble.”

⁷His mouth is filled with cursing,

with deceits and oppression;

under his tongue are trouble and evil.

⁸He sits in ambush in villages;

in the hiding places he kills the innocent.

His eyes lurk^h for the helpless.

⁹He lies in ambush secretly,ⁱ like a lion in a thicket.

He lies in ambush to seize the poor;

he seizes the poor by catching him in his net.

¹⁰He is crushed;^j he is bowed down;^k

so^l the helpless host^m falls by his might.ⁿ

¹¹He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.

He has hidden his face.

He never sees.”

¹²Rise up, O Yahweh;

O God, lift up your hand.

Do not forget the afflicted.

¹³Why does the wicked treat God with contempt?

He says in his heart, “You will not call me to account.”

¹⁴But you have seen; indeed you have noted trouble and grief

to take it into your hand.

The helpless abandons himself upon you;

you have been the helper for the orphan.

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked,

and as for the evil man—

seek out his wickedness until you find none.

¹⁶Yahweh is king forever and ever;

the nations have perished from his land.

¹⁷The longing of the afflicted you have heard, O Yahweh.

You will make their heart secure. You will listen attentively^o

¹⁸to render judgment for the fatherless and the oppressed

so that a mere mortal from the earth will no longer cause terror.

Confidence in Yahweh’s Righteousness

11For the music director. Of David.^a

¹In Yahweh I have taken refuge;

how can you say to my soul,

“Flee to your mountain like a bird”?

²For look: The wicked string the bow.^b

They have fitted their arrow to the string,

to shoot from the darkness

at the upright of heart.

³When the foundations are destroyed

what can the righteous do?^c

⁴Yahweh is in his holy temple;

Yahweh is in the heavens on his throne.

His eyelids see;

they test the children of humankind.

⁵Yahweh tests the righteous,

but the wicked and the lover of violence

his soul hates.

⁶He will rain coals^d on the wicked.

Burning sulfur and scorching wind

will be the portion of their cup.

⁷For Yahweh is righteous;

he loves righteous deeds.

The upright shall see his face.

Human Faithlessness and God’s Faithfulness

12For the music director; on the Sheminith.^a A psalm of David.^b

¹Save, O Yahweh, for the pious have ceased to be;

for the faithful have vanished

from among the children of humankind.

²They speak falseness to each other.^c

With flattering lips,

with a double heart^d they speak.

³May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips,

the tongue speaking great boasts—

⁴those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail.

Our lips are on our side.

Who is master over us?”

⁵“Because of the oppression of the afflicted,

because of the groaning of the poor,

now I will rise up,” Yahweh says.

“I shall put them in the safety for which they^e long.”

⁶The words of Yahweh are pure words

like silver refined in the crucible on the ground,

refined seven times.

⁷You, O Yahweh, will protect them.

You will preserve him^f

from this generation always.

⁸The wicked prowl about

when vileness is exalted among the children of humankind.