Revised Standard Version RSV
Good News Translation GNT
1 O LORD, thou God of vengeance, thou God of vengeance, shine forth!
1
Lord, you are a God who punishes; reveal your anger!
2 Rise up, O judge of the earth; render to the proud their deserts!
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You are the judge of us all; rise and give the proud what they deserve!
3 O LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult?
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How much longer will the wicked be glad? How much longer, Lord?
4 They pour out their arrogant words, they boast, all the evildoers.
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How much longer will criminals be proud and boast about their crimes?
5 They crush thy people, O LORD, and afflict thy heritage.
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They crush your people, Lord; they oppress those who belong to you.
6 They slay the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless;
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They kill widows and orphans, and murder the strangers who live in our land.
7 and they say, "The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive."
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They say, "The Lord does not see us; the God of Israel does not notice."
8 Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise?
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My people, how can you be such stupid fools? When will you ever learn?
9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see?
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God made our ears - can't he hear? He made our eyes - can't he see?
10 He who chastens the nations, does he not chastise? He who teaches men knowledge,
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He scolds the nations - won't he punish them? He is the teacher of us all - hasn't he any knowledge?
11 the LORD, knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath.
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The Lord knows what we think; he knows how senseless our reasoning is.
12 Blessed is the man whom thou dost chasten, O LORD, and whom thou dost teach out of thy law
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Lord, how happy are those you instruct, the ones to whom you teach your law!
13 to give him respite from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked.
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You give them rest from days of trouble until a pit is dug to trap the wicked.
14 For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage;
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The Lord will not abandon his people; he will not desert those who belong to him.
15 for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
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Justice will again be found in the courts, and all righteous people will support it.
16 Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers?
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Who stood up for me against the wicked? Who took my side against the evildoers?
17 If the LORD had not been my help, my soul would soon have dwelt in the land of silence.
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If the Lord had not helped me, I would have gone quickly to the land of silence.
18 When I thought, "My foot slips," thy steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.
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I said, "I am falling"; but your constant love, O Lord, held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many, thy consolations cheer my soul.
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Whenever I am anxious and worried, you comfort me and make me glad.
20 Can wicked rulers be allied with thee, who frame mischief by statute?
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You have nothing to do with corrupt judges, who make injustice legal,
21 They band together against the life of the righteous, and condemn the innocent to death.
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who plot against good people and sentence the innocent to death.
22 But the LORD has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.
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But the Lord defends me; my God protects me.
23 He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the LORD our God will wipe them out.
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He will punish them for their wickedness and destroy them for their sins; the Lord our God will destroy them.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.