Psalm 10–12

PSALM 10

A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.

¹Why ^ado You stand afar off, O Lord?

Why ^bdo You hide ¹Yourself in times of trouble?

²In ^apride the wicked ¹hotly pursue the afflicted;

²Let them be ^bcaught in the plots which they have devised.

³For the wicked ^aboasts of his ^bheart’s desire,

And ¹the greedy man curses and ^cspurns the Lord.

⁴The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, ^adoes not seek Him.

All his ¹thoughts are, “^bThere is no God.”

⁵His ways ^1aprosper at all times;

Your judgments are on high, ^bout of his sight;

As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.

⁶He says to himself, “^aI will not be moved;

¹Throughout all generations ^bI will not be in adversity.”

⁷His ^amouth is full of curses and deceit and ^boppression;

^cUnder his tongue is mischief and wickedness.

⁸He sits in the ^alurking places of the villages;

In the hiding places he ^bkills the innocent;

His eyes ¹stealthily watch for the ^2cunfortunate.

⁹He lurks in a hiding place as ^aa lion in his ¹lair;

He ^blurks to catch ^cthe afflicted;

He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his ^dnet.

¹⁰He ¹crouches, he ²bows down,

And the ³unfortunate fall ⁴by his mighty ones.

¹¹He ^asays to himself, “God has forgotten;

He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”

¹²Arise, O Lord; O God, ^alift up Your hand.

^bDo not forget the afflicted.

¹³Why has the wicked ^aspurned God?

He has said to himself, “You will not require it.”

¹⁴You have seen it, for You have beheld ^amischief and vexation to ¹take it into Your hand.

The ^2bunfortunate commits himself to You;

You have been the ^chelper of the orphan.

^15aBreak the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,

^1bSeek out his wickedness until You find none.

¹⁶The Lord is ^aKing forever and ever;

^bNations have perished from His land.

¹⁷O Lord, You have heard the ^adesire of the ¹humble;

You will ^bstrengthen their heart, ^cYou will incline Your ear

¹⁸To ¹vindicate the ^aorphan and the ^boppressed,

So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause ^cterror.

PSALM 11

The Lord a Refuge and Defense.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

¹In the Lord I ^atake refuge;

How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your ^bmountain;

²For, behold, the wicked ^abend the bow,

They ^1bmake ready their arrow upon the string

To ^cshoot in darkness at the upright in heart.

³If the ^afoundations are destroyed,

What can the righteous do?”

⁴The Lord is in His ^aholy temple; the ¹Lord’s ^bthrone is in heaven;

His ^ceyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.

⁵The Lord ^atests the righteous and ^bthe wicked,

And the one who loves violence His soul hates.

⁶Upon the wicked He will ^arain ¹snares;

^bFire and brimstone and ^cburning wind will be the portion of ^dtheir cup.

⁷For the Lord is ^arighteous, ^bHe loves ¹righteousness;

The upright will ^cbehold His face.

PSALM 12

God, a Helper against the Treacherous.

For the choir director; ^†upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.

¹Help, Lord, for ^athe godly man ceases to be,

For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

²They ^aspeak ¹falsehood to one another;

With ^bflattering ²lips and with a double heart they speak.

³May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,

The tongue that ^aspeaks great things;

⁴Who ^ahave said, “With our tongue we will prevail;

Our lips are ¹our own; who is lord over us?”

⁵“Because of the ^adevastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,

Now ^bI will arise,” says the Lord; “I will ^cset him in the safety for which he longs.”

⁶The ^awords of the Lord are pure words;

As silver ^btried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times.

⁷You, O Lord, will keep them;

You will ^apreserve him from this generation forever.

⁸The ^awicked strut about on every side

When ^1bvileness is exalted among the sons of men.