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94 Yahweh, you God to whom vengeance belongs,
    you God to whom vengeance belongs, shine out.
Rise up, you judge of the earth.
    Pay back the proud what they deserve.
Yahweh, how long will the wicked,
    how long will the wicked triumph?
They pour out arrogant words.
    All the evildoers boast.
They break your people in pieces, Yahweh,
    and afflict your heritage.
They kill the widow and the alien,
    and murder the fatherless.
They say, “Yah will not see,
    neither will Jacob’s God consider.”
Consider, you senseless among the people;
    you fools, when will you be wise?
He who implanted the ear, won’t he hear?
    He who formed the eye, won’t he see?
10 He who disciplines the nations, won’t he punish?
    He who teaches man knows.
11 Yahweh knows the thoughts of man,
    that they are futile.
12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Yah,
    and teach out of your law,
13 that you may give him rest from the days of adversity,
    until the pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For Yahweh won’t reject his people,
    neither will he forsake his inheritance.
15 For judgment will return to righteousness.
    All the upright in heart shall follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
    Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?
17 Unless Yahweh had been my help,
    my soul would have soon lived in silence.
18 When I said, “My foot is slipping!”
    Your loving kindness, Yahweh, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me,
    your comforts delight my soul.
20 Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you,
    which brings about mischief by statute?
21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous,
    and condemn the innocent blood.
22 But Yahweh has been my high tower,
    my God, the rock of my refuge.
23 He has brought on them their own iniquity,
    and will cut them off in their own wickedness.
    Yahweh, our God, will cut them off.

Psalm 94

O Lord, the God of vengeance,
    O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth!
Arise, O Judge of the earth.
    Give the proud what they deserve.
How long, O Lord?
    How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat?
How long will they speak with arrogance?
    How long will these evil people boast?
They crush your people, Lord,
    hurting those you claim as your own.
They kill widows and foreigners
    and murder orphans.
“The Lord isn’t looking,” they say,
    “and besides, the God of Israel[a] doesn’t care.”

Think again, you fools!
    When will you finally catch on?
Is he deaf—the one who made your ears?
    Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes?
10 He punishes the nations—won’t he also punish you?
    He knows everything—doesn’t he also know what you are doing?
11 The Lord knows people’s thoughts;
    he knows they are worthless!

12 Joyful are those you discipline, Lord,
    those you teach with your instructions.
13 You give them relief from troubled times
    until a pit is dug to capture the wicked.
14 The Lord will not reject his people;
    he will not abandon his special possession.
15 Judgment will again be founded on justice,
    and those with virtuous hearts will pursue it.

16 Who will protect me from the wicked?
    Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
17 Unless the Lord had helped me,
    I would soon have settled in the silence of the grave.
18 I cried out, “I am slipping!”
    but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me.
19 When doubts filled my mind,
    your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.

20 Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side—
    leaders whose decrees permit injustice?
21 They gang up against the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord is my fortress;
    my God is the mighty rock where I hide.
23 God will turn the sins of evil people back on them.
    He will destroy them for their sins.
    The Lord our God will destroy them.

Footnotes

  1. 94:7 Hebrew of Jacob. See note on 44:4.