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Need for God’s Justice

10 Lord,[a][b] why do you stand so far away?(A)
Why do you hide in times of trouble?(B)
In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue their victims;
let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.(C)

For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings;(D)
the one who is greedy curses[c] and despises the Lord.(E)
In all his scheming,
the wicked person arrogantly thinks,[d]
‘There’s no accountability,
since there’s no God.’(F)
His ways are always secure;[e]
your lofty judgements have no effect on him;[f]
he scoffs at all his adversaries.(G)
He says to himself, ‘I will never be moved –
from generation to generation I will be without calamity.’(H)
Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth;
trouble and malice are under his tongue.(I)
He waits in ambush near settlements;(J)
he kills the innocent in secret places.
His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless;(K)
he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket.
He lurks in order to seize a victim;
he seizes a victim and drags him in his net.
10 So he is oppressed and beaten down;
helpless people fall because of the wicked one’s strength.(L)
11 He says to himself, ‘God has forgotten;
he hides his face and will never see.’(M)

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Footnotes

  1. 10:1 Some Hb mss, LXX connect Pss 9–10.
  2. 10:1 Together Pss 9–10 form a partial acrostic.
  3. 10:3 Or he blesses the greedy
  4. 10:4 Lit wicked according to the height of his nose
  5. 10:5 Or prosperous
  6. 10:5 Lit judgements are away from in front of him