12 You will be in the right, O Lord,
    when I lay charges against you,
    but let me put my case to you.
Why does the way of the guilty prosper?
    Why do all who are treacherous thrive?^(A)

⁶ The tents of robbers are at peace,
    and those who provoke God are secure,
    who bring their god in their hands.^[a](A)

⁴ So the law becomes slack,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked surround the righteous;
    therefore judgment comes forth perverted.^(A)

⁷ though the wicked sprout like grass
    and all evildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction forever,^(A)

⁴ Against you, you alone, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence
    and blameless when you pass judgment.^(A)

¹ Do not fret because of the wicked;
    do not be envious of wrongdoers,^(A)

⁵ The Lord within it is righteous;
    he does no wrong.
Every morning he renders his judgment,
    each dawn without fail,
    but the unjust knows no shame.^(A)

¹³ Your eyes are too pure to behold evil,
    and you cannot look on wrongdoing;
why do you look on the treacherous
    and are silent when the wicked swallow
    those more righteous than they?^(A)
14 You have made people like the fish of the sea,
    like crawling things that have no ruler.^(B)