⁴ They pour out their arrogant words,
    they boast, all the evildoers.
⁵ They crush thy people, O Lord,
    and afflict thy heritage.
⁶ They slay the widow and the sojourner,
    and murder the fatherless;
⁷ and they say, “The Lord does not see;
    the God of Jacob does not perceive.”

⁸ Understand, O dullest of the people!
    Fools, when will you be wise?
⁹ He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
¹⁰ He who chastens the nations, does he not chastise?
He who teaches men knowledge,
¹¹     the Lord, knows the thoughts of man,
    that they are but a breath.

¹² Blessed is the man whom thou dost chasten, O Lord,
    and whom thou dost teach out of thy law
¹³ to give him respite from days of trouble,
    until a pit is dug for the wicked.
¹⁴ For the Lord will not forsake his people;
    he will not abandon his heritage;
¹⁵ for justice will return to the righteous,
    and all the upright in heart will follow it.

¹⁶ Who rises up for me against the wicked?
    Who stands up for me against evildoers?
¹⁷ If the Lord had not been my help,
    my soul would soon have dwelt in the land of silence.
¹⁸ When I thought, “My foot slips,”
    thy steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
¹⁹ When the cares of my heart are many,
    thy consolations cheer my soul.
²⁰ Can wicked rulers be allied with thee,
    who frame mischief by statute?
²¹ They band together against the life of the righteous,
    and condemn the innocent to death.
²² But the Lord has become my stronghold,
    and my God the rock of my refuge.
²³ He will bring back on them their iniquity
    and wipe them out for their wickedness;
    the Lord our God will wipe them out.