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A prayer for the overthrow of the wicked.

10 Why standest thou afar off, O Jehovah?
Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
In the pride of the wicked [a]the poor [b]is hotly pursued;
[c]Let them be taken in the devices that they have conceived.
For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire,
And [d]the covetous renounceth, yea, [e]contemneth Jehovah.
The wicked, in the pride of his countenance, saith, He will not require it.
All his thoughts are, There is no God.
His ways are [f]firm at all times;
Thy judgments are far above out of his sight:
As for all his adversaries, he puffeth at them.
He saith in his heart, I shall not be moved;
To all generations I shall not be in adversity.
His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and [g]oppression:
Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages;
In the secret places doth he murder the innocent;
His eyes are privily set against the [h]helpless.
He lurketh in secret as a lion in his covert;
He lieth in wait to catch the poor:
He doth catch the poor, when he draweth him in his net.
10 [i]He croucheth, he boweth down,
And the [j]helpless fall by his strong ones.
11 He saith in his heart: God hath forgotten;
He hideth his face, he will never see it.
12 Arise, O Jehovah; O God, lift up thy hand:
Forget not the [k]poor.
13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God,
And say in his heart, Thou wilt not require it?
14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest [l]mischief and spite, [m]to requite it with thy hand:
The [n]helpless committeth himself unto thee;
Thou hast been the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break thou the arm of the wicked;
And as for the evil man, seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
16 Jehovah is King for ever and ever:
The [o]nations are perished out of his land.
17 Jehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the meek:
Thou wilt [p]prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear;
18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed,
That man who is of the earth may be terrible no more.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 10:2 Or, he doth hotly pursue the poor
  2. Psalm 10:2 Hebrew is set on fire.
  3. Psalm 10:2 Or, They are taken
  4. Psalm 10:3 Or, blesseth the covetous, but contemneth etc.
  5. Psalm 10:3 Or, revileth
  6. Psalm 10:5 Or, grievous
  7. Psalm 10:7 Or, fraud
  8. Psalm 10:8 Or, hapless
  9. Psalm 10:10 Another reading is, And being crushed.
  10. Psalm 10:10 Or, hapless
  11. Psalm 10:12 Or, meek
  12. Psalm 10:14 Or, travail and grief
  13. Psalm 10:14 Or, to take it into thy hand
  14. Psalm 10:14 Or, hapless
  15. Psalm 10:16 Or, heathen
  16. Psalm 10:17 Or, establish

Psalm 10[a]

Why, Lord, do you stand far off?(A)
    Why do you hide yourself(B) in times of trouble?

In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,(C)
    who are caught in the schemes he devises.
He boasts(D) about the cravings of his heart;
    he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.(E)
In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
    in all his thoughts there is no room for God.(F)
His ways are always prosperous;
    your laws are rejected by[b] him;
    he sneers at all his enemies.
He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
    He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”(G)

His mouth is full(H) of lies and threats;(I)
    trouble and evil are under his tongue.(J)
He lies in wait(K) near the villages;
    from ambush he murders the innocent.(L)
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
    like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;(M)
    he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.(N)
10 His victims are crushed,(O) they collapse;
    they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, “God will never notice;(P)
    he covers his face and never sees.”(Q)

12 Arise,(R) Lord! Lift up your hand,(S) O God.
    Do not forget the helpless.(T)
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?(U)
    Why does he say to himself,
    “He won’t call me to account”?(V)
14 But you, God, see the trouble(W) of the afflicted;
    you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;(X)
    you are the helper(Y) of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man;(Z)
    call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
    that would not otherwise be found out.

16 The Lord is King for ever and ever;(AA)
    the nations(AB) will perish from his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;(AC)
    you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,(AD)
18 defending the fatherless(AE) and the oppressed,(AF)
    so that mere earthly mortals
    will never again strike terror.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 10:1 Psalms 9 and 10 may originally have been a single acrostic poem in which alternating lines began with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Septuagint they constitute one psalm.
  2. Psalm 10:5 See Septuagint; Hebrew / they are haughty, and your laws are far from