Psalm 10

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Literal

The Perils of the Pilgrim

¹Why, O LORD, do You stand far off?

Why do You hide in times of trouble?

¹Why, O YHWH, do You stand far off? Do You hide in times of distress?

²In pride the wicked pursue the needy;

let them be caught in the schemes they devise.

²In his arrogance, the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; may they be caught in the schemes that they have devised!

³For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart;

he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.

³For the wicked one boasts over the desire of his heart, and he blesses a dishonest gainer; he has despised YHWH.

⁴In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him;

in all his schemes there is no God.

⁴The wicked one, in the height of his face, does not inquire; there is no God in any of his thoughts.

⁵He is secure in his ways at all times;

Your lofty judgments are far from him;

he sneers at all his foes.

⁵His paths are firm at every time; Your judgments are on high before him, and all his adversaries, he sneers at them.

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

from age to age I am free of distress.”

⁶He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved—from generation to generation—to whom will be no adversity.”

⁷His mouth is full of cursing, deceit,^a and violence;

trouble and malice are under his tongue.

⁷His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are trouble and iniquity.

⁸He lies in wait near the villages;

in ambush he slays the innocent;

his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.

⁸He sits in an ambush of the villages; in the hidden places he kills the innocent one; his eyes look stealthily on the helpless.

⁹He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket;

he lurks to seize the oppressed;

he catches the lowly in his net.

⁹He lies in wait in the hidden place, like a lion in his lair; he lies in wait to catch the afflicted one; he catches the afflicted one by drawing him into his net.

¹⁰They are crushed and beaten down;^a

the helpless fall prey to his strength.

¹⁰He is crushed; he bows down, and the hapless one falls by his strength.

¹¹He says to himself, “God has forgotten;

He hides His face and never sees.”

¹¹He has said in his heart, “God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will not see it forever.”

¹²Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God!

Do not forget the helpless.

¹²Arise, O YHWH! O God, lift up Your hand! You must not forget the afflicted ones.

¹³Why has the wicked man renounced God?

He says to himself, “You will never call me to account.”

¹³Upon what does the wicked spurn God? He has said in his heart, “You will not call me to account.”

¹⁴But You have regarded trouble and grief;

You see to repay it by Your hand.

The victim entrusts himself to You;

You are the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁴Indeed you You have seen; You regard trouble and grief, to give it into Your hand. The hapless one leaves himself to You; for You are the One helping the fatherless.

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;

call him to account for his wickedness

until none is left to be found.

¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer! Seek out his wickedness, until none is found.

¹⁶The LORD is King forever and ever;

the nations perish from His land.

¹⁶YHWH is King forever and ever; the nations have perished from His land.

¹⁷You have heard, O LORD, the desire of the humble;

You will strengthen their hearts.

You will incline Your ear,

¹⁷The desire of the afflicted ones You have heard, O YHWH; You will make firm their hearts; You will incline Your ear,

¹⁸to vindicate the fatherless and oppressed,

that the men of the earth

may strike terror no more.

¹⁸to do justice for the fatherless and oppressed; he shall not continue anymore to terrorize—the man from the earth,