³ How long will you assault me?
Would all of you throw me down−
this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
⁴ Surely they intend to topple me
from my lofty place;
they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse.^[b]

⁵ Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
⁶ Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
⁷ My salvation and my honor depend on God^[c];
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
⁸ Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.

⁹ Surely the lowborn are but a breath,
the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance, they are nothing;
together they are only a breath.
¹⁰ Do not trust in extortion
or put vain hope in stolen goods;
though your riches increase,
do not set your heart on them.

¹¹ One thing God has spoken,
two things I have heard:
"Power belongs to you, God,
¹²  and with you, Lord, is unfailing love";
and, "You reward everyone
according to what they have done."

² I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
³ Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
⁴ I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
⁵ I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

⁶ On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
⁷ Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
⁸ I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.

⁹ Those who want to kill me will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
¹⁰ They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals.

¹¹ But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God will glory in him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

² Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,
from the plots of evildoers.
³ They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim cruel words like deadly arrows.
⁴ They shoot from ambush at the innocent;
they shoot suddenly, without fear.

⁵ They encourage each other in evil plans,
they talk about hiding their snares;
they say, "Who will see it^[f]?"
⁶ They plot injustice and say,
"We have devised a perfect plan!"
Surely the human mind and heart are cunning.

⁷ But God will shoot them with his arrows;
they will suddenly be struck down.
⁸ He will turn their own tongues against them
and bring them to ruin;
all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
⁹ All people will fear;
they will proclaim the works of God
and ponder what he has done.

¹⁰ The righteous will rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him;
all the upright in heart will glory in him!

² "Listen carefully to my words;
let this be the consolation you give me.
³ Bear with me while I speak,
and after I have spoken, mock on.

⁴ "Is my complaint directed to a human being?
Why should I not be impatient?
⁵ Look at me and be appalled;
clap your hand over your mouth.
⁶ When I think about this, I am terrified;
trembling seizes my body.
⁷ Why do the wicked live on,
growing old and increasing in power?
⁸ They see their children established around them,
their offspring before their eyes.
⁹ Their homes are safe and free from fear;
the rod of God is not on them.
¹⁰ Their bulls never fail to breed;
their cows calve and do not miscarry.
¹¹ They send forth their children as a flock;
their little ones dance about.
¹² They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre;
they make merry to the sound of the pipe.
¹³ They spend their years in prosperity
and go down to the grave in peace.^[a]
14 Yet they say to God, ’Leave us alone!
We have no desire to know your ways.
¹⁵ Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him?
What would we gain by praying to him?’
¹⁶ But their prosperity is not in their own hands,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.

¹⁷ "Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out?
How often does calamity come upon them,
the fate God allots in his anger?
¹⁸ How often are they like straw before the wind,
like chaff swept away by a gale?
¹⁹ It is said, ’God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’
Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it!
²⁰ Let their own eyes see their destruction;
let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty.
²¹ For what do they care about the families they leave behind
when their allotted months come to an end?

²² "Can anyone teach knowledge to God,
since he judges even the highest?
²³ One person dies in full vigor,
completely secure and at ease,
²⁴ well nourished in body,^[b]
bones rich with marrow.
²⁵ Another dies in bitterness of soul,
never having enjoyed anything good.
²⁶ Side by side they lie in the dust,
and worms cover them both.

²⁷ "I know full well what you are thinking,
the schemes by which you would wrong me.
²⁸ You say, ’Where now is the house of the great,
the tents where the wicked lived?’
²⁹ Have you never questioned those who travel?
Have you paid no regard to their accounts−
³⁰ that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,
that they are delivered from^[c] the day of wrath?
³¹ Who denounces their conduct to their face?
Who repays them for what they have done?
³² They are carried to the grave,
and watch is kept over their tombs.
³³ The soil in the valley is sweet to them;
everyone follows after them,
and a countless throng goes^[d] before them.

³⁴ "So how can you console me with your nonsense?
Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!"

² "Can a man be of benefit to God?
Can even a wise person benefit him?
³ What pleasure would it give the Almighty if you were righteous?
What would he gain if your ways were blameless?

⁴ "Is it for your piety that he rebukes you
and brings charges against you?
⁵ Is not your wickedness great?
Are not your sins endless?
⁶ You demanded security from your relatives for no reason;
you stripped people of their clothing, leaving them naked.
⁷ You gave no water to the weary
and you withheld food from the hungry,
⁸ though you were a powerful man, owning land −
an honored man, living on it.
⁹ And you sent widows away empty-handed
and broke the strength of the fatherless.
¹⁰ That is why snares are all around you,
why sudden peril terrifies you,
¹¹ why it is so dark you cannot see,
and why a flood of water covers you.

¹² "Is not God in the heights of heaven?
And see how lofty are the highest stars!
¹³ Yet you say, ’What does God know?
Does he judge through such darkness?
¹⁴ Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us
as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’
¹⁵ Will you keep to the old path
that the wicked have trod?
¹⁶ They were carried off before their time,
their foundations washed away by a flood.
¹⁷ They said to God, ’Leave us alone!
What can the Almighty do to us?’
¹⁸ Yet it was he who filled their houses with good things,
so I stand aloof from the plans of the wicked.
¹⁹ The righteous see their ruin and rejoice;
the innocent mock them, saying,
²⁰ ’Surely our foes are destroyed,
and fire devours their wealth.’

²¹ "Submit to God and be at peace with him;
in this way prosperity will come to you.
²² Accept instruction from his mouth
and lay up his words in your heart.
²³ If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored:
If you remove wickedness far from your tent
²⁴ and assign your nuggets to the dust,
your gold of Ophir to the rocks in the ravines,
²⁵ then the Almighty will be your gold,
the choicest silver for you.
²⁶ Surely then you will find delight in the Almighty
and will lift up your face to God.
²⁷ You will pray to him, and he will hear you,
and you will fulfill your vows.
²⁸ What you decide on will be done,
and light will shine on your ways.
²⁹ When people are brought low and you say, ’Lift them up!’
then he will save the downcast.
³⁰ He will deliver even one who is not innocent,
who will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands."