Psalm 53
Legacy Standard Bible
There Is No One Who Does Good
For the choir director. According to [a]Mahalath. A [b]Maskil of David.
53 (A)The wicked fool says in his heart, “There is no God,”
They act corruptly, and commit abominable injustice;
(B)There is no one who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there is (C)anyone who has insight,
Anyone who (D)seeks after God.
3 (E)Every one of them has turned back; together they have become [c]worthless;
There is no one who does good, not even one.
4 Do the workers of iniquity (F)not know,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread
And do not call upon God?
5 There they were in great dread (G)where no dread had been;
For God (H)scattered the bones of [d]him who encamped against you;
You (I)put them to shame, because (J)God had rejected them.
6 Oh, that (K)the salvation of Israel [e]would come out of Zion!
When God [f]restores His captive people,
[g]May Jacob rejoice, may Israel be glad.
Footnotes
- Psalm 53 Title Sickness, a sad tone
- Psalm 53 Title Possibly Contemplative, Didactic, Skillful Psalm
- Psalm 53:3 Or corrupt
- Psalm 53:5 Or possibly those
- Psalm 53:6 Lit would be
- Psalm 53:6 Or restores the fortunes of His people
- Psalm 53:6 Or Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad
Psalm 53
International Standard Version
To the Director: Upon machalath.[a] A Davidic instruction.[b]
The Fool and God’s Response
53 Fools say to themselves “There is no God.”
They are corrupt and commit iniquity;
not one of them practices what is good.
2 God looks down from the heavens upon humanity[c]
to see if anyone shows discernment as he searches for God.
3 All of them[d] have fallen away;
together they have become corrupt;
no one does what is good, not even one.
4 Will those who do evil ever learn?
They devour my people like they devour bread,
and never call on God.
5 There the Israelis[e] were seized with terror,
when there was nothing to fear.
For God scattered the bones of those who laid siege against you[f]—
you put them to shame,[g]
for God rejected them.
6 Would that Israel’s deliverance come out of Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be glad.[h]
Footnotes
- Psalm 53:1 A Heb. musical term
- Psalm 53:1 Lit. maskil
- Psalm 53:2 Lit. upon the sons of Adam
- Psalm 53:3 So MT; DSS 4QPsa lack of them
- Psalm 53:5 Lit. they
- Psalm 53:5 So MT DSS 4QPsa; LXX reads of men pleasers
- Psalm 53:5 So MT DSS 4QPsa; LXX reads they were put to shame
- Psalm 53:6 Cf. Ps 14:1-7
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.