Psalm 82

English Standard Version

Rescue the Weak and Needy

A Psalm of ^(A)Asaph.

82 ^(B)God ^(C)has taken his place in the divine council;
    in the midst of ^(D)the gods he ^(E)holds judgment:
²“How long will you judge unjustly
    and ^(F)show partiality to ^(G)the wicked? Selah
³^(H)Give justice to ^(I)the weak and the fatherless;
    ^(J)maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.
⁴^(K)Rescue the weak and the needy;
    ^(L)deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

⁵^(M)They have neither knowledge nor understanding,
^(N)they walk about in darkness;
^(O)all the foundations of the earth are ^(P)shaken.

⁶^(Q)I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
⁷nevertheless, like men ^(R)you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”^[a]

⁸^(S)Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for you shall ^(T)inherit all the nations!

Footnotes

Psalm 82:7 Or fall as one man, O princes

Deuteronomy 32:8

English Standard Version

⁸When the Most High ^(A)gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he ^(B)divided mankind,
he fixed the borders^[a] of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.^[b]