Online Bible

Why ^ado You stand far away, O LORD?Why ^bdo You hide Yourself, veiling Your eyes in times of trouble?2 In ^apride and arrogance the wicked hotly pursue and persecute the afflicted;Let them be ^bcaught in the plots which they have devised.

3 For the wicked ^aboasts and sings the praises of his ^bheart’s desire,And the greedy man curses and ^cspurns and even despises the LORD.4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his face, ^awill not seek nor inquire for Him;All his thoughts are, “^bThere is no God so there is no accountability or punishment.”

5 His ways ^aprosper at all times;Your judgments LORD are on high, ^bout of his sight so he never thinks about them;As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.6 He says to himself, “^aI will not be moved;For throughout all generations ^bI will not be in adversity for nothing bad will happen to me.”7 His ^amouth is full of curses and deceit (fraud) and ^boppression;^cUnder his tongue is mischief and wickedness injustice and sin.8 He lurks in ^aambush in the villages;In hiding places he ^bkills the innocent;He lies in wait for the ^cunfortunate the unhappy, the poor, the helpless.9 He lurks in a hiding place like ^aa lion in his lair;He ^blies in wait to catch ^cthe afflicted;He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his ^dnet.10 He crushes his prey and crouches;And the unfortunate fall by his mighty claws.11 He ^asays to himself, “God has quite forgotten;He has hidden His face; He will never see my deed.”

12 Arise, O LORD! O God, ^alift up Your hand in judgment;^bDo not forget the suffering.13 Why has the wicked ^aspurned and shown disrespect to God?He has said to himself, “You will not require me to account.”14 You have seen it, for You have noted ^amischief and vexation (irritation) to take it into Your hand.The ^bunfortunate commits himself to You;You are the ^chelper of the fatherless.15 ^aBreak the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,^bSeek out his wickedness until You find no more.

16 The LORD is ^aKing forever and ever;The ^bnations will perish from His land.17 O LORD, You have heard the ^adesire of the humble and oppressed;You will ^bstrengthen their heart, ^cYou will incline Your ear to hear,18 To vindicate and obtain justice for the ^afatherless and the ^boppressed,So that man who is of the earth will no longer ^cterrify them.