³ How long will the wicked, Lord,
    how long will the wicked continue to triumph?
⁴ When they speak, they spew arrogance.
    Everyone who practices iniquity brags about it.^[b]

⁵ Lord, they have crushed your people,
    afflicting your heritage.
⁶ The wicked^[c] kill widows and foreigners;
    they murder orphans.
⁷ They say, “The Lord cannot see,
    and the God of Jacob will not notice.”

⁸ Pay attention, you dull ones among the crowds!
    You fools! Will you ever become wise?
⁹ The one who formed^[d] the ear can hear, can he not?
    The one who made the eyes can see, can he not?
¹⁰ The one who disciplines nations can rebuke them, can he not?
    The one who teaches mankind can discern, can he not?
¹¹ The Lord knows the thoughts of human beings—
    that they are futile.

¹² How blessed is the man whom you instruct, Lord,
    whom you teach from your Law,
¹³ keeping him calm when times are troubled
    until a pit has been dug for the wicked.
¹⁴ For the Lord will not forsake his people;
    he will not abandon his heritage.
¹⁵ Righteousness will be restored with justice,
    and all the pure of heart will follow it.

¹⁶ Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
    Who will stand for me against those who practice iniquity?
¹⁷ If the Lord had not been my helper,
    I would have quickly become silent.
¹⁸ When I say that my foot is shaking,
    your gracious love, Lord, will sustain me.
¹⁹ When my anxious inner thoughts become overwhelming,
    your comfort encourages me.

²⁰ Will destructive national leaders,^[e]
    who plan wicked things through misuse of the Law,
        be allied with you?
²¹ They gather together against the righteous,
    condemning the innocent to death.

²² But the Lord is my stronghold,
    and my God, the rock, is my refuge.
²³ He will repay them for their sin;
    he will annihilate them because of their evil.
        The Lord our God will annihilate them.