Folly of the Godless, and God’s Final Triumph(A)

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

14 The (B)fool has said in his heart,
There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.

(C)The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
(D)They have all turned aside,
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.

Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And (E)do not call on the Lord?
There they are in great fear,
For God is with the generation of the righteous.
You shame the counsel of the poor,
But the Lord is his (F)refuge.

(G)Oh,[a] that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
(H)When the Lord brings back [b]the captivity of His people,
Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 14:7 Lit. Who will give out of Zion the salvation of Israel?
  2. Psalm 14:7 Or His captive people

Psalm 14

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

Only fools say in their hearts,
    “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;
    not one of them does good!

The Lord looks down from heaven
    on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
    if anyone seeks God.
But no, all have turned away;
    all have become corrupt.[a]
No one does good,
    not a single one!

Will those who do evil never learn?
    They eat up my people like bread
    and wouldn’t think of praying to the Lord.
Terror will grip them,
    for God is with those who obey him.
The wicked frustrate the plans of the oppressed,
    but the Lord will protect his people.

Who will come from Mount Zion to rescue Israel?
    When the Lord restores his people,
    Jacob will shout with joy, and Israel will rejoice.

Footnotes

  1. 14:3 Greek version reads have become useless. Compare Rom 3:12.

Human Wickedness[a](A)

14 (B)Fools say to themselves,
    “There is no God!”
They are all corrupt,
    and they have done terrible things;
    there is no one who does what is right.

The Lord looks down from heaven at us humans
    to see if there are any who are wise,
    any who worship him.
But they have all gone wrong;
    they are all equally bad.
Not one of them does what is right,
    not a single one.

“Don't they know?” asks the Lord.
    “Are all these evildoers ignorant?
They live by robbing my people,
    and they never pray to me.”

But then they will be terrified,
    for God is with those who obey him.
Evildoers frustrate the plans of the humble,
    but the Lord is their protection.

How I pray that victory
    will come to Israel from Zion.
How happy the people of Israel will be
    when the Lord makes them prosperous again!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 14:1 HEBREW TITLE: By David.

Foolishness and Wickedness of People.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

14 The fool has (A)said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed detestable acts;
There is (B)no one who does good.
The Lord has (C)looked down from heaven upon the sons of mankind
To see if there are any who [a](D)understand,
Who (E)seek God.
They have all (F)turned aside, together they are corrupt;
There is (G)no one who does good, not even one.

Do all the workers of injustice (H)not know,
Who (I)devour my people as they eat bread,
And (J)do not call upon the Lord?
There they are in great dread,
For God is with a (K)righteous generation.
You would put to shame the plan of the poor,
But the Lord is his (L)refuge.

Oh, that (M)the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord (N)restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 14:2 Or act wisely