Thi Thiên 10

Why do you keep so far away?

¹LORD, why do you keep so far away? Why do you hide yourself when trouble comes? ²In their arrogance the wicked hunt down the poor. Let them be trapped in the very schemes they have dreamed up!^{a 3}The wicked brag about what they crave; the greedy bless themselves while they treat the LORD with contempt.^{b 4}With their noses in the air, the wicked never seek God. All their scheming says, “There is no God.” ⁵Their ways always seem to succeed; your judgments are high above them, out of their sight; they sneer at all their enemies. ⁶“Nothing can shake me,” they tell themselves; “I will never come to harm, now or ever.” ⁷Their mouths are full of curses, lies and threats; they keep mischief and wrongdoing ready under the tongue. ⁸They lie in wait near the villages and murder the innocent from hiding; their eyes are on the lookout for the helpless. ⁹They crouch in hiding like a lion in its thicket, waiting to grab the poor; they grab them and haul them away in their nets. ¹⁰The weak are crushed and bowed down; the helpless fall into their strong grip.^{c 11}They tell themselves, “God has forgotten; he has turned his face away and will never see.” ¹²Rise up, LORD! God, raise your hand! Do not forget those who suffer. ¹³Why do the wicked treat God with contempt and tell themselves, “You will not call us to account”? ¹⁴But you do see! You take note of trouble and grief and take the matter into your own hands. The helpless entrust themselves to you; you have always helped the orphan. ¹⁵Break the power of the wicked and the evildoer; hunt down their wickedness until there is none left to find. ¹⁶The LORD reigns as King for all time; the nations are gone from his land. ¹⁷LORD, you have heard what the humble long for; you steady their hearts and bend down to listen, ¹⁸to give justice to the orphan and the oppressed, so that mere mortals made of earth will strike terror no more.