The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 God, are you avoiding me? Where are you when I need you?
1
Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 Full of hot air, the wicked are hot on the trail of the poor. Trip them up, tangle them up in their fine-tuned plots.
2
In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
3 The wicked are windbags, the swindlers have foul breath.
3
For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord.
4 The wicked snub God, their noses stuck high in the air. Their graffiti are scrawled on the walls: "Catch us if you can!" "God is dead."
4
In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God. ”
5 They care nothing for what you think; if you get in their way, they blow you off.
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His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them.
6 They live (they think) a charmed life: "We can't go wrong. This is our lucky year!"
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He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity. ”
7 They carry a mouthful of hexes, their tongues spit venom like adders.
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His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.
8 They hide behind ordinary people, then pounce on their victims.
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He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless;
9 They mark the luckless, then wait like a hunter in a blind; When the poor wretch wanders too close, they stab him in the back.
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he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 The hapless fool is kicked to the ground, the unlucky victim is brutally axed.
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The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.
11 He thinks God has dumped him, he's sure that God is indifferent to his plight.
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He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it. ”
12 Time to get up, God - get moving. The luckless think they're Godforsaken.
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Arise, O Lord; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted.
13 They wonder why the wicked scorn God and get away with it, Why the wicked are so cocksure they'll never come up for audit.
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Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”?
14 But you know all about it - the contempt, the abuse. I dare to believe that the luckless will get lucky someday in you. You won't let them down: orphans won't be orphans forever.
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But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the wicked right arms, break all the evil left arms. Search and destroy every sign of crime.
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Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.
16 God's grace and order wins; godlessness loses.
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The Lord is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land.
17 The victim's faint pulse picks up; the hearts of the hopeless pump red blood as you put your ear to their lips.
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O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear
18 Orphans get parents, the homeless get homes. The reign of terror is over, the rule of the gang lords is ended.
18
to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025