• Psalm 10Psalms 9 and 10 may originally have been a single acrostic poem in which alternating lines began with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Septuagint they constitute one psalm.

  • 1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
  • 2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak, who are caught in the schemes he devises.
  • 3 He boasts about the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
  • 4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
  • 5 His ways are always prosperous; your laws are rejected by him; he sneers at all his enemies.
  • 6 He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.” He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”
  • 7 His mouth is full of lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue.
  • 8 He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent. His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
  • 9 like a lion in cover he lies in wait. He lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
  • 10 His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength.
  • 11 He says to himself, “God will never notice; he covers his face and never sees.”
  • 12 Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless.
  • 13 Why does the wicked man revile God? Why does he say to himself, “He won’t call me to account”?
  • 14 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.
  • 15 Break the arm of the wicked man; call the evildoer to account for his wickedness that would not otherwise be found out.
  • 16 The Lord is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land.
  • 17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
  • 18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror.