12 You will be in the right, O Yahweh, when I complain to you.
    Even so, let me speak my claims with you.
Why does the way of the wicked succeed?
    All those who deal treacherously with treachery are at ease.
² Not only do you plant them, they take root.
    They grow, but also they produce fruit.
You are near in their mouths,
    but far from their inmost beings.^[a]
3 But you, O Yahweh, you know me,
    you see me, and you test that my heart is with you.
Tear them apart like sheep for the slaughtering,
    and set them apart for the day of slaughter.
⁴ How long^[b] will the land mourn, and the vegetation of every field dry up,
    because of the wickedness of those who live in it?
The animals and the birds^[c] are swept away,
    because they have said, “He does not see our future.”