Bible Gateway passage: Psalm 10 - New International Version (2024)

Psalm 10^[a]

¹Why, Lord, do you stand far off?^(A)
Why do you hide yourself^(B) in times of trouble?

²In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,^(C)
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
³He boasts^(D) about the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.^(E)
4In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.^(F)
5His ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected by^[b] him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
⁶He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”^(G)

⁷His mouth is full^(H) of lies and threats;^(I)
trouble and evil are under his tongue.^(J)
8He lies in wait^(K) near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent.^(L)
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
⁹like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;^(M)
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.^(N)
10His victims are crushed,^(O) they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
¹¹He says to himself, “God will never notice;^(P)
he covers his face and never sees.”^(Q)

¹²Arise,^(R) Lord! Lift up your hand,^(S) O God.
Do not forget the helpless.^(T)
13Why does the wicked man revile God?^(U)
Why does he say to himself,
“He won’t call me to account”?^(V)
14But you, God, see the trouble^(W) of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;^(X)
you are the helper^(Y) of the fatherless.
¹⁵Break the arm of the wicked man;^(Z)
call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.

¹⁶The Lord is King for ever and ever;^(AA)
the nations^(AB) will perish from his land.
¹⁷You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;^(AC)
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,^(AD)
18defending the fatherless^(AE) and the oppressed,^(AF)
so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 10:1 Psalms 9 and 10 may originally have been a single acrostic poem in which alternating lines began with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Septuagint they constitute one psalm.
2. Psalm 10:5 See Septuagint; Hebrew / they are haughty, and your laws are far from

Cross references

1. Psalm 10:1 : Ps 22:1, 11; 35:22; 38:21; 71:12
2. Psalm 10:1 : Ps 13:1
3. Psalm 10:2 : ver 9; S Job 20:19
4. Psalm 10:3 : Ps 49:6; 94:4; Jer 48:30
5. Psalm 10:3 : S Job 1:5
6. Psalm 10:4 : Ps 36:1
7. Psalm 10:6 : Rev 18:7
8. Psalm 10:7 : Ro 3:14*
9. Psalm 10:7 : Ps 73:8; 119:134; Ecc 4:1; Isa 30:12
10. Psalm 10:7 : S Job 20:12
11. Psalm 10:8 : Ps 37:32; 59:3; 71:10; Pr 1:11; Jer 5:26; Mic 7:2
12. Psalm 10:8 : Hos 6:9
13. Psalm 10:9 : S ver 2
14. Psalm 10:9 : S Job 18:8
15. Psalm 10:10 : S Job 9:17
16. Psalm 10:11 : Job 22:13; Ps 42:9; 77:9
17. Psalm 10:11 : S Job 22:14
18. Psalm 10:12 : Ps 3:7
19. Psalm 10:12 : Ps 17:7; 20:6; 106:26; Isa 26:11; Mic 5:9
20. Psalm 10:12 : Ps 9:12
21. Psalm 10:13 : ver 3
22. Psalm 10:13 : S Job 31:14
23. Psalm 10:14 : ver 7; Ps 22:11
24. Psalm 10:14 : Ps 37:5
25. Psalm 10:14 : S Dt 33:29
26. Psalm 10:15 : S Job 31:22
27. Psalm 10:16 : S Ex 15:18
28. Psalm 10:16 : S Dt 8:20
29. Psalm 10:17 : S Ps 9:12
30. Psalm 10:17 : S Ex 22:23
31. Psalm 10:18 : S Dt 24:17; Ps 146:9
32. Psalm 10:18 : S Ps 9:9