Judges, who rule the world by laws,

Will ye despise the righteous cause,

When the oppressed before you stands?

Dare ye condemn the righteous poor,

And let rich sinners go secure,

While gold and greatness bribe your hands?

2 Have ye forgot, or never knew,

That God will judge the judges, too?

High in the heavens his justice reigns;

Yet you invade the rights of God,

And send your bold decrees abroad,

To bind the conscience in your chains!

3 The Almighty thunders from the sky—

Their grandeur melts, their titles die—

They perish like dissolving frost;

As empty chaff, when whirlwinds rise,

Before the sweeping tempest flies,

So shall their hopes and names be lost.

4 Thus shall the vengeance of the Lord

Safety and joy to saints afford;

And all that hear shall join and say—

“Sure there’s a God that rules on high,

A God that hears his children cry,

And will their sufferings well repay.”