PSALM 52

To the choirmaster. A Maskil of David, when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

1 Why do you boast, O mighty man,

of mischief done against the godly?b

All the day 2 you are plotting destruction.

Your tongue is like a sharp razor,

you worker of treachery.

3 You love evil more than good,

and lying more than speaking the truth. [Selah]

4 You love all words that devour,

O deceitful tongue.

5 But God will break you down for ever;

he will snatch and tear you from your tent;

he will uproot you from the land of the living. [Selah]

6 The righteous shall see, and fear,

and shall laugh at him, saying,

7 “See the man who would not make God his refuge,

but trusted in the abundance of his riches,

and sought refuge in his wealth!”c

8 But I am like a green olive tree

in the house of God.

I trust in the steadfast love of God

for ever and ever.

9 I will thank thee for ever,

because thou hast done it.

I will proclaimd thy name, for it is good,

in the presence of the godly.

PSALM 10

1 Why dost thou stand afar off, O Lord?

Why dost thou hide thyself in times of trouble?

2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor;

let them be caught in the schemes which they have devised.

3 For the wicked boasts of the desires of his heart,

and the man greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.

4 In the pride of his countenance the wicked does not seek him;

all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

5 His ways prosper at all times;

thy judgments are on high, out of his sight;

as for all his foes, he puffs at them.

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

throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.”

7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression;

under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

8 He sits in ambush in the villages;

in hiding places he murders the innocent.

His eyes stealthily watch for the hapless,

9 he lurks in secret like a lion in his covert;

he lurks that he may seize the poor,

he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.

10 The hapless is crushed, sinks down,

and falls by his might.

11 He thinks in his heart, “God has forgotten,

he has hidden his face, he will never see it.”

12 Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up thy hand;

forget not the afflicted.

13 Why does the wicked renounce God,

and say in his heart, “Thou wilt not call to account”?

14 Thou dost see; yea, thou dost note trouble and vexation,

that thou mayest take it into thy hands;

the hapless commits himself to thee;

thou hast been the helper of the fatherless.

15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and evildoer;

seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

16 The Lord is king for ever and ever;

the nations shall perish from his land.

17 O Lord, thou wilt hear the desire of the meek;

thou wilt strengthen their heart, thou wilt incline thy ear

18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,

so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

PSALM 11

To the choirmaster. Of David.

1 In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to me,

“Flee like a bird to the mountains;*

2 for lo, the wicked bend the bow,

they have fitted their arrow to the string,

to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;

3 if the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do”?

4 The Lord is in his holy temple,

the Lord’s throne is in heaven;

his eyes behold, his eyelids test, the children of men.

5 The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,

and his soul hates him that loves violence.

6 On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and brimstone;

a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

7 For the Lord is righteous, he loves righteous deeds;

the upright shall behold his face.