Psalm 10

Evangelical Heritage Version

¹ Why, Lord, do you stand so far away?
Why do you hide in times of distress?

² Because of the pride of the wicked, the oppressed burn.^[a]
They are caught in the schemes that the wicked plan.
³ Yes, the wicked man boasts about his heart’s desires.
He blesses the robber. He despises the Lord.^[b]
4 With his nose in the air, the wicked does not seek God.
There is no room at all for God in his thoughts.
⁵ His ways are prosperous all the time.
He is haughty. Your judgments do not concern him.
He snorts at all of his foes.
⁶ He says in his heart, “I will not be shaken.
Through age after age I will have no trouble.”
⁷ Cursing fills his mouth, along with lies and threats.
Trouble and evil lie under his tongue.
⁸ He waits in ambush by the villages.
In hidden places he murders the innocent.
His eyes are spying on the helpless.
⁹ He lies in ambush. He hides like a lion in a thicket.
He lies in ambush to catch the oppressed.
He catches the oppressed by dragging them in his net.
¹⁰ The helpless are crushed. They sink down.
They fall under his strength.
¹¹ He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.
He hides his face. He never sees.”

¹² Rise up, O Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the oppressed.
¹³ Why does the wicked man despise God?
Why does he say in his heart,
“You do not seek justice”?
¹⁴ But you do see. You notice trouble and grief.
You take it into your own hands.
The helpless one abandons himself to you.
For the fatherless you are indeed a helper.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked.
You pursue the wickedness of the evil man
    until you find no more.^[c]

¹⁶ The Lord is King forever and ever.
The nations will perish from his land.
¹⁷ Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted.
You strengthen their hearts,
and your ear pays attention,
¹⁸ to obtain justice for the fatherless and the crushed,
so that the worldly man^[d] may no longer terrify.