A prayer for the overthrow of the wicked.
10 Why standest thou afar off, O Jehovah?
Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?
2 In the pride of the wicked [a]the poor [b]is hotly pursued;
[c]Let them be taken in the devices that they have conceived.
3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire,
And [d]the covetous renounceth, yea, [e]contemneth Jehovah.
4 The wicked, in the pride of his countenance, saith, He will not require it.
All his thoughts are, There is no God.
5 His ways are [f]firm at all times;
Thy judgments are far above out of his sight:
As for all his adversaries, he puffeth at them.
6 He saith in his heart, I shall not be moved;
To all generations I shall not be in adversity.
7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and [g]oppression:
Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
8 He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages;
In the secret places doth he murder the innocent;
His eyes are privily set against the [h]helpless.
9 He lurketh in secret as a lion in his covert;
He lieth in wait to catch the poor:
He doth catch the poor, when he draweth him in his net.
10 [i]He croucheth, he boweth down,
And the [j]helpless fall by his strong ones.
11 He saith in his heart: God hath forgotten;
He hideth his face, he will never see it.
12 Arise, O Jehovah; O God, lift up thy hand:
Forget not the [k]poor.
13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God,
And say in his heart, Thou wilt not require it?
14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest [l]mischief and spite, [m]to requite it with thy hand:
The [n]helpless committeth himself unto thee;
Thou hast been the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break thou the arm of the wicked;
And as for the evil man, seek out his wickedness till thou find none.
16 Jehovah is King for ever and ever:
The [o]nations are perished out of his land.
17 Jehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the meek:
Thou wilt [p]prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear;
18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed,
That man who is of the earth may be terrible no more.
Footnotes
- Psalm 10:2 Or, he doth hotly pursue the poor
- Psalm 10:2 Hebrew is set on fire.
- Psalm 10:2 Or, They are taken
- Psalm 10:3 Or, blesseth the covetous, but contemneth etc.
- Psalm 10:3 Or, revileth
- Psalm 10:5 Or, grievous
- Psalm 10:7 Or, fraud
- Psalm 10:8 Or, hapless
- Psalm 10:10 Another reading is, And being crushed.
- Psalm 10:10 Or, hapless
- Psalm 10:12 Or, meek
- Psalm 10:14 Or, travail and grief
- Psalm 10:14 Or, to take it into thy hand
- Psalm 10:14 Or, hapless
- Psalm 10:16 Or, heathen
- Psalm 10:17 Or, establish