Psalm 9-10
International Standard Version
To the Director: Accompanied by female voices.[a] A Davidic Psalm.
A Cry for God’s Justice
9 [b]I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart,
I will declare all your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praises to your name, Most High!
3 When my enemies turn back,
they will stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have brought about justice for me and my cause;
you sit on the throne judging righteously.
5 You rebuked the nations,
you destroyed the wicked,
you wiped out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy has perished,
reduced to ruins forever.
You uprooted their cities,
the very memory of them vanished.
7 But the Lord sits on his throne[c] forever;
his throne is established for judgment.
8 He will judge the world righteously
and make just decisions for the people.
9 The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
a refuge in times of distress.
10 Those who know your name will trust you,
for you have not forsaken those who seek you, Lord.
11 Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion;
declare his mighty deeds among the peoples.
12 As an avenger of blood, he remembers them;
he has not forgotten the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, Lord,
take note of my affliction,
because of those who hate me.
You snatch me away from the gates of death,
14 so I may declare everything for which you should be praised[d]
in the gates of the daughter of Zion,[e]
so I will rejoice in your deliverance.
15 The nations have sunk down into the pit they made,
their feet are ensnared in the trap[f] they set.
16 The Lord has made himself known,
executing judgment.
The wicked are ensnared
by what their hands have made.
17 The wicked will turn back to where the dead are[h]—
all the nations that have forgotten God.
18 For he will not always overlook the plight of the poor,
nor will the hope of the afflicted perish forever.
19 Rise up, Lord,
do not let man prevail!
The nations will be judged in your presence.
20 Make them afraid, Lord,
Let the nations know that they are only human.[i]
A Prayer for Judging the Wicked
10 [j]Why do you stand far away, Lord?
Why do you hide in times of distress?
2 The wicked one arrogantly pursues the afflicted,[k]
who are trapped in the schemes he devises.
3 For the wicked one boasts about his own desire;
he blesses the greedy
and despises the Lord.
4 With haughty arrogance, the wicked thinks,
“God will not seek justice.”[l]
He always presumes “There is no God.”
5 Their ways always seem prosperous.
Your judgments are on high,
far away from them.
They scoff at all their enemies.
6 They say to themselves,
“We will not be moved throughout all time,
and we will not experience adversity.”
7 Their mouth is full of curses, lies, and oppression,
their tongues[m] spread trouble and iniquity.
8 They wait[n] in ambush in the villages,
they kill the innocent in secret.
9 Their eyes secretly watch the helpless,
lying in wait like a lion in his den.
They lie in wait to catch the afflicted.
They catch the afflicted when they pull him into their net.
10 The victim[o] is crushed,
and he sinks down;
the helpless fall by their might.
11 The wicked say to themselves,
“God has forgotten,
he has hidden his face,
he will never see it.”
12 Rise up, Lord!
Raise your hand, God.
Don’t forget the afflicted!
13 Why do the wicked despise God
and say to themselves, “God[p] will not seek justice.”?[q]
14 But you do see!
You take note of trouble and grief
in order to take the matter into your own hand.
The helpless one commits himself[r] to you;
you have been the orphan’s helper.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man;
so that when you seek out his wickedness
you will find it no more.
16 The Lord is king forever and ever;
nations will perish from his land.
17 Lord, you heard the desire of the afflicted;
you will strengthen them,[s]
you will listen carefully,
18 to do justice for the orphan[t] and the oppressed,
so that men of the earth may cause terror no more.
Footnotes
- Psalm 9:1 Or according to the tune ‘Death of a Son’
- Psalm 9:1 Psalms 9 & 10 constitute a single psalm in the LXX.
- Psalm 9:7 The Heb. lacks on his throne
- Psalm 9:14 Lit. declare all your praise
- Psalm 9:14 I.e. Jerusalem
- Psalm 9:15 Lit. net
- Psalm 9:16 Heb. Higgaion Selah
- Psalm 9:17 Lit. to Sheol; a reference to the realm of the dead
- Psalm 9:20 Or men
- Psalm 10:1 Psalms 9 & 10 constitute a single psalm in the LXX.
- Psalm 10:2 Or the poor
- Psalm 10:4 The Heb. lacks justice
- Psalm 10:7 Lit. under his tongue
- Psalm 10:8 Lit. sit
- Psalm 10:10 Lit. He
- Psalm 10:13 Lit. He
- Psalm 10:13 The Heb. lacks justice
- Psalm 10:14 The Heb. lacks himself
- Psalm 10:17 Lit. strengthen their heart
- Psalm 10:18 Or fatherless
Psalm 9-10
New International Version
Psalm 9[a][b]
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A psalm of David.
1 I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;(A)
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.(B)
2 I will be glad and rejoice(C) in you;
I will sing the praises(D) of your name,(E) O Most High.
3 My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have upheld my right(F) and my cause,(G)
sitting enthroned(H) as the righteous judge.(I)
5 You have rebuked the nations(J) and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name(K) for ever and ever.
6 Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
you have uprooted their cities;(L)
even the memory of them(M) has perished.
7 The Lord reigns forever;(N)
he has established his throne(O) for judgment.
8 He rules the world in righteousness(P)
and judges the peoples with equity.(Q)
9 The Lord is a refuge(R) for the oppressed,(S)
a stronghold in times of trouble.(T)
10 Those who know your name(U) trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken(V) those who seek you.(W)
11 Sing the praises(X) of the Lord, enthroned in Zion;(Y)
proclaim among the nations(Z) what he has done.(AA)
12 For he who avenges blood(AB) remembers;
he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.(AC)
13 Lord, see how my enemies(AD) persecute me!
Have mercy(AE) and lift me up from the gates of death,(AF)
14 that I may declare your praises(AG)
in the gates of Daughter Zion,(AH)
and there rejoice in your salvation.(AI)
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;(AJ)
their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.(AK)
16 The Lord is known by his acts of justice;
the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.[c](AL)
17 The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,(AM)
all the nations that forget God.(AN)
18 But God will never forget the needy;
the hope(AO) of the afflicted(AP) will never perish.
19 Arise,(AQ) Lord, do not let mortals triumph;(AR)
let the nations be judged(AS) in your presence.
20 Strike them with terror,(AT) Lord;
let the nations know they are only mortal.(AU)
Psalm 10[d]
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,(AX)
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts(AY) about the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.(AZ)
4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.(BA)
5 His ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected by[e] him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”(BB)
7 His mouth is full(BC) of lies and threats;(BD)
trouble and evil are under his tongue.(BE)
8 He lies in wait(BF) near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent.(BG)
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
9 like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;(BH)
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.(BI)
10 His victims are crushed,(BJ) they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, “God will never notice;(BK)
he covers his face and never sees.”(BL)
12 Arise,(BM) Lord! Lift up your hand,(BN) O God.
Do not forget the helpless.(BO)
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?(BP)
Why does he say to himself,
“He won’t call me to account”?(BQ)
14 But you, God, see the trouble(BR) of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;(BS)
you are the helper(BT) of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man;(BU)
call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.
16 The Lord is King for ever and ever;(BV)
the nations(BW) will perish from his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;(BX)
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,(BY)
18 defending the fatherless(BZ) and the oppressed,(CA)
so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.
Footnotes
- Psalm 9:1 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.
- Psalm 9:1 In Hebrew texts 9:1-20 is numbered 9:2-21.
- Psalm 9:16 The Hebrew has Higgaion and Selah (words of uncertain meaning) here; Selah occurs also at the end of verse 20.
- 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.
- Psalm 10:5 See Septuagint; Hebrew / they are haughty, and your laws are far from
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