⁴ They pour out their arrogant words;
    all the evildoers boast.^(D)
5 They crush your people, O Lord,
    and afflict your heritage.
⁶ They kill the widow and the stranger;
    they murder the orphan,
⁷ and they say, “The Lord does not see;
    the God of Jacob does not perceive.”^(E)

⁸ Understand, O dullest of the people;
    fools, when will you be wise?^(F)
9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?^(G)
10 He who disciplines the nations,
he who teaches knowledge to humankind,
    does he not chastise?^(H)
11 The Lord knows our thoughts,^[a]
    that they are but an empty breath.^(I)

¹² Happy are those whom you discipline, O Lord,
    and whom you teach out of your law,^(J)
13 giving them 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;^(K)
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?^(L)
17 If the Lord had not been my help,
    my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.^(M)
18 When I thought, “My foot is slipping,”
    your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.^(N)
19 When the cares of my heart are many,
    your consolations cheer my soul.^(O)
20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
    those who contrive mischief by statute?^(P)
21 They band together against the life of the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.^(Q)
22 But the Lord has become my stronghold
    and my God the rock of my refuge.^(R)
23 He will repay them for their iniquity
    and wipe them out for their wickedness;
    the Lord our God will wipe them out.^(S)