Bible Browser

Psalm 94

God the Avenger of the Righteous

¹ O Lord, you God of vengeance,
   you God of vengeance, shine forth!
² Rise up, O judge of the earth;
   give to the proud what they deserve!
³ O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
   how long shall the wicked exult?

⁴ They pour out their arrogant words;
   all the evildoers boast.
⁵ They crush your people, O Lord,
   and afflict your heritage.
⁶ They kill the widow and the stranger,
   they murder the orphan,
⁷ and they say, ‘The Lord does not see;
   the God of Jacob does not perceive.’

⁸ Understand, O dullest of the people;
   fools, when will you be wise?
⁹ He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
¹⁰ He who disciplines the nations,
he who teaches knowledge to humankind,
   does he not chastise?
¹¹ The Lord knows our thoughts,^*
   that they are but an empty breath.

¹² Happy are those whom you discipline, O Lord,
   and whom you teach out of your law,
¹³ giving them respite from days of trouble,
   until a pit is dug for the wicked.
¹⁴ For the Lord will not forsake his people;
   he will not abandon his heritage;
¹⁵ for justice will return to the righteous,
   and all the upright in heart will follow it.

¹⁶ Who rises up for me against the wicked?
   Who stands up for me against evildoers?
¹⁷ If the Lord had not been my help,
   my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
¹⁸ When I thought, ‘My foot is slipping’,
   your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
¹⁹ When the cares of my heart are many,
   your consolations cheer my soul.
²⁰ Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
   those who contrive mischief by statute?
²¹ They band together against the life of the righteous,
   and condemn the innocent to death.
²² But the Lord has become my stronghold,
   and my God the rock of my refuge.
²³ He will repay them for their iniquity
   and wipe them out for their wickedness;
   the Lord our God will wipe them out.