The Lord Will Not Forsake His People

¹O Lord, God of pvengeance,

O God of vengeance, qshine forth!

²rRise up, O sjudge of the earth;

repay to the tproud what they deserve!

³O Lord, uhow long shall the wicked,

how long shall vthe wicked exult?

⁴They pour out their warrogant words;

all xthe evildoers boast.

⁵They ycrush your people, O Lord,

and afflict your heritage.

⁶They kill zthe widow and the sojourner,

and murder zthe fatherless;

⁷aand they say, “The Lord does not see;

the God of Jacob does not perceive.”

⁸bUnderstand, O dullest of the people!

Fools, when will you be wise?

⁹cHe who planted the ear, does he not hear?

He who formed the eye, does he not see?

¹⁰He who ddisciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?

He who eteaches man knowledge—

¹¹fthe Lord—knows the thoughts of man,

that they are gbut a breath.1

¹²hBlessed is the man whom you idiscipline, O Lord,

and whom you teach out of your law,

¹³to give him jrest from kdays of trouble,

until la pit is dug for the wicked.

¹⁴mFor the Lord will not forsake his npeople;

he will not abandon his nheritage;

¹⁵for ojustice will return to the righteous,

and all the upright in heart will pfollow it.

¹⁶qWho rises up for me against the wicked?

Who stands up for me against evildoers?

¹⁷rIf the Lord had not been my help,

my soul would soon have lived in the land of ssilence.

¹⁸When I thought, t“My foot slips,”

your steadfast love, O Lord, uheld me up.

¹⁹When the cares of my heart are many,

your consolations cheer my soul.

²⁰Can wwicked rulers be allied with you,

those who frame2 injustice by xstatute?

²¹They yband together against the life of the righteous

and condemn zthe innocent to death.3

²²But the Lord has become my astronghold,

and my God bthe rock of my crefuge.

²³He will bring back on them dtheir iniquity

and ewipe them out for their wickedness;

the Lord our God will wipe them out.