³ My enemies turn back;
    they stumble and perish before you.
⁴ For you have upheld my right and my cause,
    sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.
⁵ You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
    you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
⁶ Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies,
    you have uprooted their cities;
    even the memory of them has perished.

⁷ The Lord reigns forever;
    he has established his throne for judgment.
⁸ He rules the world in righteousness
    and judges the peoples with equity.
⁹ The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
    a stronghold in times of trouble.
¹⁰ Those who know your name trust in you,
    for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

¹¹ Sing the praises of the Lord, enthroned in Zion;
    proclaim among the nations what he has done.
¹² For he who avenges blood remembers;
    he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.

¹³ Lord, see how my enemies persecute me!
    Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,
¹⁴ that I may declare your praises
    in the gates of Daughter Zion,
    and there rejoice in your salvation.

¹⁵ The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;
    their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
¹⁶ The Lord is known by his acts of justice;
    the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.^[c]
17 The wicked go down to the realm of the dead,
    all the nations that forget God.
¹⁸ But God will never forget the needy;
    the hope of the afflicted will never perish.

¹⁹ Arise, Lord, do not let mortals triumph;
    let the nations be judged in your presence.
²⁰ Strike them with terror, Lord;
    let the nations know they are only mortal.

² In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
    who are caught in the schemes he devises.
³ He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
    he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
⁴ In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
    in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
⁵ His ways are always prosperous;
    your laws are rejected by^[e] him;
    he sneers at all his enemies.
⁶ He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
    He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”

⁷ His mouth is full of lies and threats;
    trouble and evil are under his tongue.
⁸ He lies in wait near the villages;
    from ambush he murders the innocent.
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
⁹     like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
    he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
¹⁰ His victims are crushed, they collapse;
    they fall under his strength.
¹¹ He says to himself, “God will never notice;
    he covers his face and never sees.”

¹² Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
    Do not forget the helpless.
¹³ Why does the wicked man revile God?
    Why does he say to himself,
    “He won’t call me to account”?
¹⁴ But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
    you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
    you are the helper of the fatherless.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked man;
    call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
    that would not otherwise be found out.

¹⁶ The Lord is King for ever and ever;
    the nations will perish from his land.
¹⁷ You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
    you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
¹⁸ defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
    so that mere earthly mortals
    will never again strike terror.

⁴ The Lord is in his holy temple;
    the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
    his eyes examine them.
⁵ The Lord examines the righteous,
    but the wicked, those who love violence,
    he hates with a passion.
⁶ On the wicked he will rain
    fiery coals and burning sulfur;
    a scorching wind will be their lot.

⁷ For the Lord is righteous,
    he loves justice;
    the upright will see his face.

³ May the Lord silence all flattering lips
    and every boastful tongue—
⁴ those who say,
    “By our tongues we will prevail;
    our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”

⁵ “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan,
    I will now arise,” says the Lord.
    “I will protect them from those who malign them.”
⁶ And the words of the Lord are flawless,
    like silver purified in a crucible,
    like gold^[h] refined seven times.

⁷ You, Lord, will keep the needy safe
    and will protect us forever from the wicked,
⁸ who freely strut about
    when what is vile is honored by the human race.

³ Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
    Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
⁴ and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
    and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love;
    my heart rejoices in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing the Lord’s praise,
    for he has been good to me.

² The Lord looks down from heaven
    on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
    any who seek God.
³ All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
    there is no one who does good,
    not even one.

⁴ Do all these evildoers know nothing?

They devour my people as though eating bread;
    they never call on the Lord.
⁵ But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
    for God is present in the company of the righteous.
⁶ You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
    but the Lord is their refuge.

⁷ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
    When the Lord restores his people,
    let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

² The one whose walk is blameless,
    who does what is righteous,
    who speaks the truth from their heart;
³ whose tongue utters no slander,
    who does no wrong to a neighbor,
    and casts no slur on others;
⁴ who despises a vile person
    but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
    and does not change their mind;
⁵ who lends money to the poor without interest;
    who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things
    will never be shaken.

² I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    apart from you I have no good thing.”
³ I say of the holy people who are in the land,
    “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
⁴ Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
    I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
    or take up their names on my lips.

⁵ Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
    you make my lot secure.
⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    surely I have a delightful inheritance.
⁷ I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.
⁸ I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
    With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest secure,
¹⁰ because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
    nor will you let your faithful^[l] one see decay.
¹¹ You make known to me the path of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at your right hand.