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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.

The Folly of the Godless and God’s Final Triumph

For the music director. Of David.[a]

14 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt.
They do abominable deeds.
There is none who does good.
Yahweh looks down from heaven upon the children of humankind
to see whether there is one who has insight,
one who cares about God.
All have gone astray;
they are altogether corrupt.
There is not one who does good;
there is not even one.
All who do evil—do they not know,
they who eat my people as though they were eating bread?
They do not call on Yahweh.
There they are very fearful[b]
because God is with the generation of the righteous.
You would put to shame the plan of the poor,
because[c] Yahweh is his refuge.
Oh that from Zion[d] would come salvation for Israel!
When Yahweh returns the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be happy.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 14:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm
  2. Psalm 14:5 Literally “they feared a fear”
  3. Psalm 14:6 Or “but”
  4. Psalm 14:7 Literally “Who will give that from Zion”