Chapter 10

¹Why, Jehovah, standest thou afar off? [Why] hidest thou thyself in times of distress? ²The wicked, in his pride, doth hotly pursue the afflicted. They shall be taken in the devices that they have imagined. ³For the wicked boasteth of his soul`s desire, and he blesseth the covetous; he contemneth Jehovah. ⁴The wicked [saith], in the haughtiness of his countenance, He doth not search out: all his thoughts are, There is no God! ⁵His ways always succeed; thy judgments are far above out of his sight; [as for] all his adversaries, he puffeth at them. ⁶He saith in his heart, I shall not be moved; from generation to generation I shall be in no adversity. ⁷His mouth is full of cursing, and deceit, and oppression; under his tongue is mischief and iniquity. ⁸He sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages; in the secret places doth he slay the innocent: his eyes watch for the wretched. ⁹He lieth in wait secretly, like a lion in his thicket; he lieth in wait to catch the afflicted: he doth catch the afflicted, drawing him into his net. ¹⁰He croucheth, he boweth down, that the wretched may fall by his strong ones. ¹¹He saith in his heart, God hath forgotten, he hideth his face, he will never see [it]. ¹²Arise, Jehovah; O God, lift up thy hand: forget not the afflicted. ¹³Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? He hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require [it]. ¹⁴Thou hast seen [it], for thou thyself beholdest trouble and vexation, to requite by thy hand. The wretched committeth himself unto thee; thou hast been the helper of the fatherless. ¹⁵Break thou the arm of the wicked, and as for the evil man, seek out his wickedness [till] thou find none. ¹⁶Jehovah is King for ever and ever: the nations have perished out of his land. ¹⁷Jehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the meek, thou hast established their heart: thou causest thine ear to hear, ¹⁸To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed one, that the man of the earth may terrify no more.