³ The wicked are proud of their evil desires;
    the greedy curse and reject the Lord.
⁴ The wicked do not care about the Lord;
    in their pride they think that God doesn't matter.

⁵ The wicked succeed in everything.
    They cannot understand God's judgments;
    they sneer at their enemies.
⁶ They say to themselves, “We will never fail;
    we will never be in trouble.”
^7 (A)Their speech is filled with curses, lies, and threats;
    they are quick to speak hateful, evil words.

⁸ They hide themselves in the villages,
    waiting to murder innocent people.
They spy on their helpless victims;
⁹     they wait in their hiding place like lions.
They lie in wait for the poor;
    they catch them in their traps and drag them away.

¹⁰ The helpless victims lie crushed;
    brute strength has defeated them.
¹¹ The wicked say to themselves, “God doesn't care!
    He has closed his eyes and will never see me!”

¹² O Lord, punish those wicked people!
    Remember those who are suffering!
¹³ How can the wicked despise God
    and say to themselves, “He will not punish me”?

¹⁴ But you do see; you take notice of trouble and suffering
    and are always ready to help.
The helpless commit themselves to you;
    you have always helped the needy.

¹⁵ Break the power of wicked and evil people;
    punish them for the wrong they have done
    until they do it no more.

¹⁶ The Lord is king forever and ever.
    Those who worship other gods
    will vanish from his land.

¹⁷ You will listen, O Lord, to the prayers of the lowly;
    you will give them courage.
¹⁸ You will hear the cries of the oppressed and the orphans;
    you will judge in their favor,
    so that mortal men may cause terror no more.