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Psalm 10-12
Contemporary English Version
Psalm 10-12
Contemporary English Version
A Prayer for Help
1 Why are you far away, Lord?
Why do you hide yourself
when I am in trouble?
2 Proud and brutal people
hunt down the poor.
But let them get caught
by their own evil plans!
3 The wicked brag about
their deepest desires.
Those greedy people hate
and curse you, Lord.
4 The wicked are too proud
to turn to you
or even think about you.
5 They are always successful,
though they can't understand
your teachings,
and they keep sneering
at their enemies.
6 In their hearts they say,
“Nothing can hurt us!
We'll always be happy
and free from trouble.”
7 (A) They curse and tell lies,
and all they talk about
is how to be cruel
or how to do wrong.
8 They hide outside villages,
waiting to strike and murder
some innocent victim.
9 They are hungry lions
hiding in the bushes,
hoping to catch
some helpless passerby.
They trap the poor in nets
and drag them away.
10 They crouch down and wait
to grab a victim.
11 They say, “God can't see!
He's got on a blindfold.”
12 Do something, Lord God,
and use your powerful arm
to help those in need.
13 The wicked don't respect you.
In their hearts they say,
“God won't punish us!”
14 But you see the trouble
and the distress,
and you will do something.
The poor can count on you,
and so can orphans.
15 Now break the power
of all merciless people.
Punish them for doing wrong
and make them stop.
16 Our Lord, you will always rule,
but every godless nation
will vanish from the earth.
17 You listen to the longings
of those who suffer.
You offer them hope,
and you pay attention
to their cries for help.
18 You defend orphans
and everyone else in need,
so that no one on earth
can terrify others again.
(A psalm by David for the music leader.)
Trusting the Lord
1 The Lord is my fortress!
Don't say to me,
“Escape like a bird
to the mountains!”
2 You tell me, “Watch out!
Those evil people have put
their arrows on their bows,
and they are standing
in the shadows,
aiming at good people.
3 What can an honest person do
when everything crumbles?”
4 The Lord is sitting
in his sacred temple
on his throne in heaven.
He knows everything we do
because he sees us all.
5 The Lord tests honest people,
but despises those
who are cruel
and love violence.
6 He will send fiery coals[a]
and flaming sulfur
down on the wicked,
and they will drink nothing
but a scorching wind.
7 The Lord always does right
and wants justice done.
Everyone who does right
will see his face.
(A psalm by David for the music leader.[b])
A Prayer for Help
1 Please help me, Lord!
All who were faithful
and all who were loyal
have disappeared.
2 Everyone tells lies,
and no one is sincere.
3 Won't you chop off
all flattering tongues
that brag so loudly?
4 They say to themselves,
“We are great speakers.
No one else has a chance.”
5 But you, Lord, tell them,
“I will do something!
The poor are mistreated
and helpless people moan.
I'll rescue all who suffer.”
6 Our Lord, you are true
to your promises,
and your word is like silver
heated seven times
in a fiery furnace.[c]
7 You will protect us
and always keep us safe
from those people.
8 But all who are wicked
will keep on strutting,
while everyone praises
their shameless deeds.[d]
Footnotes
- 11.6 fiery coals: Or “trouble, fire.”
- Psalm 12 leader: The Hebrew text adds “according to the sheminith,” which may be a musical instrument with eight strings.
- 12.6 in a fiery furnace: The Hebrew text has “in a furnace to the ground,” which may describe part of a process for refining silver in Old Testament times.
- 12.8 while … deeds: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Psalm 10-12
New International Version
Psalm 10-12
New International Version
Psalm 10[a]
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,(C)
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts(D) about the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.(E)
4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.(F)
5 His ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected by[b] 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.”(G)
7 His mouth is full(H) of lies and threats;(I)
trouble and evil are under his tongue.(J)
8 He lies in wait(K) near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent.(L)
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;(M)
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.(N)
10 His victims are crushed,(O) they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, “God will never notice;(P)
he covers his face and never sees.”(Q)
12 Arise,(R) Lord! Lift up your hand,(S) O God.
Do not forget the helpless.(T)
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?(U)
Why does he say to himself,
“He won’t call me to account”?(V)
14 But you, God, see the trouble(W) of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;(X)
you are the helper(Y) of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man;(Z)
call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.
16 The Lord is King for ever and ever;(AA)
the nations(AB) will perish from his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;(AC)
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,(AD)
18 defending the fatherless(AE) and the oppressed,(AF)
so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.
Psalm 11
For the director of music. Of David.
1 In the Lord I take refuge.(AG)
How then can you say to me:
“Flee(AH) like a bird to your mountain.(AI)
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;(AJ)
they set their arrows(AK) against the strings
to shoot from the shadows(AL)
at the upright in heart.(AM)
3 When the foundations(AN) are being destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in his holy temple;(AO)
the Lord is on his heavenly throne.(AP)
He observes everyone on earth;(AQ)
his eyes examine(AR) them.
5 The Lord examines the righteous,(AS)
but the wicked, those who love violence,
he hates with a passion.(AT)
6 On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulfur;(AU)
a scorching wind(AV) will be their lot.
Psalm 12[c]
For the director of music. According to sheminith.[d] A psalm of David.
1 Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore;(BA)
those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.
2 Everyone lies(BB) to their neighbor;
they flatter with their lips
but harbor deception in their hearts.(BC)
3 May the Lord silence all flattering lips(BD)
and every boastful tongue—(BE)
4 those who say,
“By our tongues we will prevail;(BF)
our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?”
Footnotes
- Psalm 10:1 Psalms 9 and 10 may originally have been a single acrostic poem in which alternating lines began with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Septuagint they constitute one psalm.
- Psalm 10:5 See Septuagint; Hebrew / they are haughty, and your laws are far from
- Psalm 12:1 In Hebrew texts 12:1-8 is numbered 12:2-9.
- Psalm 12:1 Title: Probably a musical term
- Psalm 12:6 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text; Masoretic Text earth
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