Psalm 52-53

New American Standard Bible

Futility of Boastful Wickedness.

For the music director. A ^[a]Maskil of David, ^[b]when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”

52 Why do you ^(A)boast in evil, you mighty man?
The ^(B)faithfulness of God endures all day long.
²Your tongue devises ^(C)destruction,
Like a ^(D)sharp razor, ^(E)you worker of deceit.
³You ^(F)love evil more than good,
^(G)Lies more than speaking what is right. Selah
⁴You love all words that devour,
You ^(H)deceitful tongue.

⁵^[c]But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and ^(I)tear you away from your tent,
And ^(J)uproot you from the ^(K)land of the living. Selah
⁶The righteous will ^(L)see and fear,
And they will ^(M)laugh at him, saying,
⁷“Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But ^(N)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And ^(O)was strong in ^[d]his evil desire.”

⁸But as for me, I am like a ^(P)green olive tree in the house of God;
I ^(Q)trust in the faithfulness of God forever and ever.
⁹I will ^(R)praise You forever, because You have done it,
And I will wait on Your name, ^(S)for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.

Foolishness and Wickedness of People.

For the music director; according to ^[e]Mahalath. A ^[f]Maskil of David.

53 ^(T)The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
^(U)There is no one who does good.
²God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of mankind
To see if there is ^(V)anyone who ^[g]understands,
Who ^(W)seeks after God.
³^(X)Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.

⁴Have the workers of injustice ^(Y)no knowledge,
Who eat up My people like they ate bread,
And have not called upon God?
⁵They were in great ^[h]fear there, ^(Z)where no ^[i]fear had been;
For God ^(AA)scattered the bones of ^[j]him who encamped against you;
You ^(AB)put them to shame, because ^(AC)God had rejected them.
⁶Oh, that ^(AD)the salvation of Israel would come from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob shall rejoice, Israel shall be glad.