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Psalm 10

I

Why, Lord, do you stand afar
    and pay no heed in times of trouble?
Arrogant scoundrels pursue the poor;
    they trap them by their cunning schemes.(A)

II

The wicked even boast of their greed;
    these robbers curse and scorn the Lord.(B)
In their insolence the wicked boast:
    “God does not care; there is no God.”(C)
    Yet their affairs always succeed;
    they ignore your judgment on high;
    they sneer at all who oppose them.
They say in their hearts, “We will never fall;
    never will we see misfortune.”
Their mouths are full of oaths, violence, and lies;
    discord and evil are under their tongues.(D)
They wait in ambush near towns;
    their eyes watch for the helpless
    to murder the innocent in secret.(E)
They lurk in ambush like lions in a thicket,
    hide there to trap the poor,
    snare them and close the net.(F)
10 The helpless are crushed, laid low;
    they fall into the power of the wicked,
11 Who say in their hearts, “God has forgotten,
    shows no concern, never bothers to look.”(G)

III

12 Rise up, Lord! God, lift up your hand!
    Do not forget the poor!
13 Why should the wicked scorn God,
    say in their hearts, “God does not care”?
14 But you do see;
    you take note of misery and sorrow;(H)
    you take the matter in hand.
To you the helpless can entrust their cause;
    you are the defender of orphans.(I)
15 Break the arm of the wicked and depraved;
    make them account for their crimes;
    let none of them survive.

IV

16 The Lord is king forever;(J)
    the nations have vanished from his land.
17 You listen, Lord, to the needs of the poor;
    you strengthen their heart and incline your ear.
18 You win justice for the orphaned and oppressed;(K)
    no one on earth will cause terror again.

Psalm 10[a]

Why, Lord, do you stand far off?(A)
    Why do you hide yourself(B) in times of trouble?

In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,(C)
    who are caught in the schemes he devises.
He boasts(D) about the cravings of his heart;
    he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.(E)
In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
    in all his thoughts there is no room for God.(F)
His ways are always prosperous;
    your laws are rejected by[b] him;
    he sneers at all his enemies.
He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
    He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”(G)

His mouth is full(H) of lies and threats;(I)
    trouble and evil are under his tongue.(J)
He lies in wait(K) near the villages;
    from ambush he murders the innocent.(L)
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
    like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;(M)
    he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.(N)
10 His victims are crushed,(O) they collapse;
    they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, “God will never notice;(P)
    he covers his face and never sees.”(Q)

12 Arise,(R) Lord! Lift up your hand,(S) O God.
    Do not forget the helpless.(T)
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?(U)
    Why does he say to himself,
    “He won’t call me to account”?(V)
14 But you, God, see the trouble(W) of the afflicted;
    you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;(X)
    you are the helper(Y) of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man;(Z)
    call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
    that would not otherwise be found out.

16 The Lord is King for ever and ever;(AA)
    the nations(AB) will perish from his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;(AC)
    you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,(AD)
18 defending the fatherless(AE) and the oppressed,(AF)
    so that mere earthly mortals
    will never again strike terror.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 10:1 Psalms 9 and 10 may originally have been a single acrostic poem in which alternating lines began with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Septuagint they constitute one psalm.
  2. Psalm 10:5 See Septuagint; Hebrew / they are haughty, and your laws are far from