NET Bible | International Standard Version |
1O LORD, the God who avenges! O God who avenges, reveal your splendor! | 1God of vengeance, LORD God of vengeance, display your splendor! |
2Rise up, O judge of the earth! Pay back the proud! | 2Stand up, judge of the earth, and repay the proud. |
3O LORD, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked celebrate? | 3How long will the wicked, LORD, how long will the wicked continue to triumph? |
4They spew out threats and speak defiantly; all the evildoers boast. | 4When they speak, they spew arrogance. Everyone who practices iniquity brags about it. |
5O LORD, they crush your people; they oppress the nation that belongs to you. | 5LORD, they have crushed your people, afflicting your heritage. |
6They kill the widow and the one residing outside his native land, and they murder the fatherless. | 6The wicked kill widows and foreigners; they murder orphans. |
7Then they say, "The LORD does not see this; the God of Jacob does not take notice of it." | 7They say, "The LORD cannot see, and the God of Jacob will not notice." |
8Take notice of this, you ignorant people! You fools, when will you ever understand? | 8Pay attention, you dull ones among the crowds! You fools! Will you ever become wise? |
9Does the one who makes the human ear not hear? Does the one who forms the human eye not see? | 9The one who formed the ear can hear, can he not? The one who made the eyes can see, can he not? |
10Does the one who disciplines the nations not punish? He is the one who imparts knowledge to human beings! | 10The one who disciplines nations can rebuke them, can he not? The one who teaches mankind can discern, can he not? |
11The LORD knows that peoples' thoughts are morally bankrupt. | 11The LORD knows the thoughts of human beings— that they are futile. |
12How blessed is the one whom you instruct, O LORD, the one whom you teach from your law, | 12How blessed is the man whom you instruct, LORD, whom you teach from your Law, |
13in order to protect him from times of trouble, until the wicked are destroyed. | 13keeping him calm when times are troubled until a pit has been dug for the wicked. |
14Certainly the LORD does not forsake his people; he does not abandon the nation that belongs to him. | 14For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage. |
15For justice will prevail, and all the morally upright will be vindicated. | 15Righteousness will be restored with justice, and all the pure of heart will follow it. |
16Who will rise up to defend me against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against the evildoers? | 16Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will stand for me against those who practice iniquity? |
17If the LORD had not helped me, I would have laid down in the silence of death. | 17If the LORD had not been my helper, I would have quickly become silent. |
18If I say, "My foot is slipping," your loyal love, O LORD, supports me. | 18When I say that my foot is shaking, your gracious love, LORD, will sustain me. |
19When worries threaten to overwhelm me, your soothing touch makes me happy. | 19When my anxious inner thoughts become overwhelming, your comfort encourages me. |
20Cruel rulers are not your allies, those who make oppressive laws. | 20Will destructive national leaders, who plan wicked things through misuse of the Law, be allied with you? |
21They conspire against the blameless, and condemn to death the innocent. | 21They gather together against the righteous, condemning the innocent to death. |
22But the LORD will protect me, and my God will shelter me. | 22But the LORD is my stronghold, and my God, the rock, is my refuge. |
23He will pay them back for their sin. He will destroy them because of their evil; the LORD our God will destroy them. | 23He will repay them for their sin; he will annihilate them because of their evil. The LORD our God will annihilate them. |
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