The Lord Will Not Forsake His People

94 O Lord, God of (A)vengeance,
    O God of vengeance, (B)shine forth!
(C)Rise up, O (D)judge of the earth;
    repay to the (E)proud what they deserve!
O Lord, (F)how long shall the wicked,
    how long shall (G)the wicked exult?
They pour out their (H)arrogant words;
    all (I)the evildoers boast.
They (J)crush your people, O Lord,
    and afflict your heritage.
They kill (K)the widow and the sojourner,
    and murder (L)the fatherless;
(M)and they say, “The Lord does not see;
    the God of Jacob does not perceive.”

(N)Understand, O dullest of the people!
    Fools, when will you be wise?
(O)He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
10 He who (P)disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
He who (Q)teaches man knowledge—
11     (R)the Lord—knows the thoughts of man,
    that they are (S)but a breath.[a]

12 (T)Blessed is the man whom you (U)discipline, O Lord,
    and whom you teach out of your law,
13 to give him (V)rest from (W)days of trouble,
    until (X)a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 (Y)For the Lord will not forsake his (Z)people;
    he will not abandon his (AA)heritage;
15 for (AB)justice will return to the righteous,
    and all the upright in heart will (AC)follow it.

16 (AD)Who rises up for me against the wicked?
    Who stands up for me against evildoers?
17 (AE)If the Lord had not been my help,
    my soul would soon have lived in the land of (AF)silence.
18 When I thought, (AG)“My foot slips,”
    your steadfast love, O Lord, (AH)held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many,
    your consolations cheer my soul.
20 Can (AI)wicked rulers be allied with you,
    those who frame[b] injustice by (AJ)statute?
21 They (AK)band together against the life of the righteous
    and condemn (AL)the innocent to death.[c]
22 But the Lord has become my (AM)stronghold,
    and my God (AN)the rock of my (AO)refuge.
23 He will bring back on them (AP)their iniquity
    and (AQ)wipe them out for their wickedness;
    the Lord our God will wipe them out.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 94:11 Septuagint they are futile
  2. Psalm 94:20 Or fashion
  3. Psalm 94:21 Hebrew condemn innocent blood

Jerusalem Refused to Repent

(A)Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
    look and take note!
Search her squares to see
    (B)if you can find a man,
one who does justice
    and seeks truth,
(C)that I may pardon her.
(D)Though they say, “As the Lord lives,”
    (E)yet they swear falsely.
O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?
(F)You have struck them down,
    but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
    but they refused to take correction.
(G)They have made their faces harder than rock;
    they have refused to repent.

Then I said, “These are only the poor;
    they have no sense;
(H)for they do not know the way of the Lord,
    the justice of their God.
I will go to the great
    and will speak to them,
for they know the way of the Lord,
    the justice of their God.”
(I)But they all alike had broken the yoke;
    they had burst the bonds.

Therefore (J)a lion from the forest shall strike them down;
    a (K)wolf from the desert shall devastate them.
(L)A leopard is watching their cities;
    everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
because their transgressions are many,
    their (M)apostasies are great.

(N)“How can I pardon you?
    Your children have forsaken me
    (O)and have sworn by those who are no gods.
(P)When I fed them to the full,
    (Q)they committed adultery
    (R)and trooped to the houses of whores.
They were well-fed, lusty stallions,
    (S)each neighing (T)for his neighbor's wife.
(U)Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the Lord;
    and shall I not avenge myself
    on a nation such as this?

10 (V)“Go up through her vine rows and destroy,
    (W)but make not a full end;
strip away her branches,
    for they are not the Lord's.
11 (X)For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
    have been utterly treacherous to me,
declares the Lord.
12 They have spoken falsely of the Lord
    and have said, ‘He will do nothing;
(Y)no disaster will come upon us,
    (Z)nor shall we see sword or famine.
13 The prophets will become wind;
    the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them!’”

The Lord Proclaims Judgment

14 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts:
“Because you have spoken this word,
behold, (AA)I am making my words in your mouth (AB)a fire,
    and this people wood, and the fire shall consume them.
15 (AC)Behold, I am bringing against you
    a nation from afar, O house of Israel,
declares the Lord.
It is an enduring nation;
    it is an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know,
    (AD)nor can you understand what they say.
16 (AE)Their quiver is like (AF)an open tomb;
    they are all mighty warriors.
17 (AG)They shall eat up your harvest and your food;
    they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;
they shall eat up your flocks and your herds;
    they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;
your (AH)fortified cities in which you trust
    they shall beat down with the sword.”

Read full chapter

18 This charge (A)I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with (B)the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may (C)wage the good warfare, 19 (D)holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have (E)made shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are (F)Hymenaeus and (G)Alexander, whom I (H)have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to (I)blaspheme.

Read full chapter

Bible Gateway Recommends

ESV Economy Bible, Large Print Softcover
ESV Economy Bible, Large Print Softcover
Retail: $7.99
Our Price: $4.79
Save: $3.20 (40%)
4.0 of 5.0 stars
ESV Study Bible, Large Print, Genuine Leather, Black
ESV Study Bible, Large Print, Genuine Leather, Black
Retail: $129.99
Our Price: $87.99
Save: $42.00 (32%)
4.5 of 5.0 stars
ESV Spiral-Bound Journaling Bible, Hardcover, Five-Volume Set
ESV Spiral-Bound Journaling Bible, Hardcover, Five-Volume Set
Retail: $149.99
Our Price: $98.99
Save: $51.00 (34%)
Psalms, ESV Illuminated Scripture Journal
Psalms, ESV Illuminated Scripture Journal
Retail: $15.99
Our Price: $10.99
Save: $5.00 (31%)
5.0 of 5.0 stars
ESV MacArthur Study Bible, 2nd Edition--soft leather-look, brown
ESV MacArthur Study Bible, 2nd Edition--soft leather-look, brown
Retail: $79.99
Our Price: $46.99
Save: $33.00 (41%)
5.0 of 5.0 stars
ESV Economy Bible, Softcover
ESV Economy Bible, Softcover
Retail: $4.99
Our Price: $2.29
Save: $2.70 (54%)
4.0 of 5.0 stars