Psalms 94
1 Yahweh, you are able to get revenge [on your enemies]. [So] show them that you are going to punish them!
O GOD of avenging—Yahweh, GOD of avenging, shine forth:
2 You are the one who judges all [people on] the earth; [so] arise, and give/punish the proud [leaders of our] people like they deserve.
Lift up thyself, O judge of the earth, Render a recompense unto the proud.
3 Yahweh, how long will those wicked [people] be glad/happy? It is not right that [RHQ] they continue being glad!
How long shall the lawless, O Yahweh, How long shall the lawless exult?
4 They do evil things, and they boast about doing them; how long will they [be allowed to] continue doing that?
They pour forth [words], they speak arrogantly, All the workers of iniquity, do boast:
5 Yahweh, [it is as though] those wicked people crush [us], your people; they (oppress/treat cruelly) those who belong to you [DOU].
Thy people, O Yahweh, they will crush, And, thine inheritance, tread down;
6 They murder widows and orphans and people from other countries who [think it is safe to] live in our land.
The widow and sojourner, they will slay, And, the fatherless, murder.
7 Those wicked people say, “Yahweh does not see anything; [so] the God whom those Israelis [worship] does not see [the evil things that we do].”
Yet have they said—Yah, doth not see, The God of Jacob, doth not understand.
8 You evil people [who rule Israel], you are foolish and stupid; when will you become wise [RHQ]?
Understand, ye brutish among the people, And, ye dullards, when will ye show discretion?
9 God made our ears; so [do you think that] he cannot hear [what you say] [RHQ]? He created our eyes; so do you think that he cannot see [the evil things that you do] [RHQ]?
He that planteth the ear, shall he not hear? Or, that fashioneth the eye, shall he not have power to see?
10 He also scolds [the leaders of other] nations; so do you think that he will not punish [you] [RHQ]? He is the one who knows everything; [so why do you think that he does not know what you do] [RHQ]?
He that correcteth nations, shall he not reprove? He that teacheth man knowledge!
11 Yahweh knows [everything] that people are thinking; he knows that what they think ([is useless/vanishes as quickly as]) smoke [MET].
Yahweh, knoweth the plans of men, That, they, are a breath!
12 Yahweh, you are pleased with people who [want you to] discipline/correct them, those who [want you to] teach them your laws.
How happy the man whom thou correctest, O Yah! And whom, out of thy law, thou instructest!
13 When those people have had troubles, you cause those troubles to cease, and some day [it will be as though] you will dig pits for wicked people, and they will fall into those pits [and die].
That thou mayest give him rest from the days of misfortune, Until there be digged—for the lawless one—a pit.
14 Yahweh will not abandon his people; he will not desert like that those who belong to him [DOU].
For Yahweh, will not abandon, his people, And, his inheritance, will he not forsake;
15 [Some day] judges will decide matters fairly for people, and all honest/righteous people will be pleased about that.
For, unto righteousness, shall the judicial sentence return, Then shall follow it—all the upright in heart.
16 But when wicked [people] ([oppressed me/treated me cruelly]), (who defended me?/no one defended me.) [RHQ] No one stood up to testify for me against those evil people [RHQ].
Who will rise up for me, against the evil-doers? Who will make a stand for me, against the workers of iniquity?
17 If Yahweh had not helped me [at that time], [I would have been executed], [and] my soul/spirit would have gone to the place where [dead people] say nothing.
If, Yahweh, had not been a help to me, Soon had sunk into silence—my soul!
18 I said/thought [to myself], “I am about to die,” but Yahweh, you held me up by faithfully loving me.
If I say, My foot, hath slipped, Thy lovingkindness, O Yahweh, supporteth me.
19 Whenever I am very worried, you comfort/encourage me and cause me to be happy.
In the multitude of my cares within me, Thy consolations, delight my soul.
20 You have nothing to do with wicked judges, who establish laws that allow people to do what is not legal.
Shall the throne that inflicteth ruin, have fellowship with thee, That frameth oppression, by statute?
21 They plan to get rid of righteous [people], and they declare that (innocent people/people who have not done what is wrong) must be executed.
They make an attack on the life of the righteous one, —And, innocent blood, they condemn.
22 But Yahweh (has become [like] my fortress/protects me) [MET]; my God is [like a huge] rock under which I am protected/safe [MET].
But, Yahweh, hath become for me a high tower, And my God, my rock of refuge.
23 He will punish those wicked leaders in return for the wicked things that they have done, and will get rid of them for the sins that they have committed; [yes], Yahweh our God will (wipe them out/destroy them completely).
Thus hath he brought back on them their iniquity, And, by their own wickedness, will he destroy them, Destroy them, will Yahweh our God.
