Psalms 10
1 Why standest thou farre off, O Lord, and hidest thee in due time, euen in affliction?
Lord, why are you so distant? Why do you hide from me in times of trouble?
2 The wicked with pride doeth persecute the poore: let them be taken in the craftes that they haue imagined.
The wicked chase down the poor with impunity. May they be trapped by the evil schemes they themselves invented.
3 For the wicked hath made boast of his owne heartes desire, and the couetous blesseth himselfe: he contemneth the Lord.
For the wicked boast about what they want to do. They praise the greedy, but treat the Lord with contempt.
4 The wicked is so proude that hee seeketh not for God: hee thinketh alwayes, There is no God.
The wicked are too proud to come to God. In all their thinking they never consider God.
5 His wayes alway prosper: thy iudgements are hie aboue his sight: therefore defieth he all his enemies.
What they do always seems to go well. They're unaware of God's judgments. They ridicule all their enemies.
6 He saith in his heart, I shall neuer be moued, nor be in danger.
They tell themselves, “Nothing bad is going to happen to me. I'll never be in trouble!”
7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceite and fraude: vnder his tongue is mischiefe and iniquitie.
Their speech is full of cursing, lies, and threats; their tongues are always ready to spread trouble and cause evil.
8 He lieth in waite in the villages: in the secret places doeth hee murder the innocent: his eyes are bent against the poore.
They hide out in ambush in the villages, ready to kill innocent passers-by. They are always on the lookout for their next victim.
9 He lyeth in waite secretly, euen as a lyon in his denne: he lyeth in waite to spoyle the poore: he doeth spoyle the poore, when he draweth him into his net.
They lie in ambush like a lion ready to attack, ready to leap out from their hiding place to seize their victim. They capture the helpless, throwing a net over them.
10 He croucheth and boweth: therefore heaps of the poore doe fall by his might.
Their victims are knocked down, laid low. They fall under the strength of the wicked.
11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten, he hideth away his face, and will neuer see.
They tell themselves, “God won't notice. He's looking the other way. He won't ever see anything.”
12 Arise, O Lord God: lift vp thine hande: forget not the poore.
Take a stand, Lord! Raise your hand to strike! Don't forget those who can't defend themselves.
13 Wherefore doeth the wicked contemne God? he saith in his heart, Thou wilt not regard.
Why do the wicked think they can treat God with such contempt? Why do they think that God won't make them accountable?
14 Yet thou hast seene it: for thou beholdest mischiefe and wrong, that thou mayest take it into thine handes: the poore committeth himselfe vnto thee: for thou art the helper of the fatherlesse.
But you do see the trouble and grief they cause. Take it into your own hands. The helpless trust in you; you defend the orphans.
15 Breake thou the arme of the wicked and malicious: searche his wickednes, and thou shalt finde none.
Destroy the power of the wicked, those evil people! Call each of them to account until there are none left!
16 The Lord is King for euer and euer: the heathen are destroyed foorth of his land.
Lord, you are King forever and ever! The nations will vanish from their lands.
17 Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the poore: thou preparest their heart: thou bendest thine eare to them,
Lord, you have heard the longing cries of those who are suffering. You will encourage them, for you will listen to them.
18 To iudge the fatherlesse and poore, that earthly man cause to feare no more.
You will defend the rights of orphans and the oppressed so that those who are mere human beings here on earth will never terrorize them again.
