Psalm 11-15

New King James Version

Faith in the Lord’s Righteousness

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

11 In ^(A)the Lord I put my trust;
How can you say to my soul,
“Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
²For look! ^(B)The wicked bend their bow,
They make ready their arrow on the string,
That they may shoot ^[a]secretly at the upright in heart.
³^(C)If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?

⁴The Lord is in His holy temple,
The Lord’s ^(D)throne is in heaven;
^(E)His eyes behold,
His eyelids test the sons of men.
⁵The Lord ^(F)tests the righteous,
But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
⁶Upon the wicked He will rain coals;
Fire and brimstone and a burning wind
^(G)Shall be ^[b]the portion of their cup.

⁷For the Lord is righteous,
He ^(H)loves righteousness;
^[c]His countenance beholds the upright.

Man’s Treachery and God’s Constancy

To the Chief Musician. ^(I)On ^[d]an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.

12 Help,^[e] Lord, for the godly man ^(J)ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
²^(K)They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and ^[f]a double heart they speak.

³May the Lord ^[g]cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks ^[h]proud things,
⁴Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”

⁵“For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”

⁶The words of the Lord are ^(L)pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
⁷You shall keep them, O Lord,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.

⁸The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

Trust in the Salvation of the Lord

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

13 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
^(M)How long will You hide Your face from me?
²How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

³Consider and hear me, O Lord my God;
^(N)Enlighten my eyes,
^(O)Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
⁴Lest my enemy say,
“I have prevailed against him”;
Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved.

⁵But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
⁶I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Folly of the Godless, and God’s Final Triumph^(P)

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

14 The ^(Q)fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.

²^(R)The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
³^(S)They have all turned aside,
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.

⁴Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And ^(T)do not call on the Lord?
⁵There they are in great fear,
For God is with the generation of the righteous.
⁶You shame the counsel of the poor,
But the Lord is his ^(U)refuge.

⁷^(V)Oh,^[i] that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
^(W)When the Lord brings back ^[j]the captivity of His people,
Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

The Character of Those Who May Dwell with the Lord

A Psalm of David.

15 Lord, ^(X)who may ^[k]abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?

²He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the ^(Y)truth in his heart;
³He who ^(Z)does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
^(AA)Nor does he ^[l]take up a reproach against his friend;
⁴^(AB)In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who ^(AC)swears to his own hurt and does not change;
⁵He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.