1 W hy standest thou afar off, O Jehovah? Why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

2 I n the pride of the wicked the poor is hotly pursued; Let them be taken in the devices that they have conceived.

3 F or the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, And the covetous renounceth, yea, contemneth Jehovah.

4 T he wicked, in the pride of his countenance, saith, He will not require it. All his thoughts are, There is no God.

5 H is ways are firm at all times; Thy judgments are far above out of his sight: As for all his adversaries, he puffeth at them.

6 H e saith in his heart, I shall not be moved; To all generations I shall not be in adversity.

7 H is mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression: Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.

8 H e sitteth in the lurking-places of the villages; In the secret places doth he murder the innocent; His eyes are privily set against the helpless.

9 H e lurketh in secret as a lion in his covert; He lieth in wait to catch the poor: He doth catch the poor, when he draweth him in his net.

10 H e croucheth, he boweth down, And the helpless fall by his strong ones.

11 H e saith in his heart, God hath forgotten; He hideth his face; he will never see it.

12 A rise, O Jehovah; O God, lift up thy hand: Forget not the poor.

13 W herefore doth the wicked contemn God, And say in his heart, Thou wilt not require it?

14 T hou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: The helpless committeth himself unto thee; Thou hast been the helper of the fatherless.

15 B reak thou the arm of the wicked; And as for the evil man, seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

16 J ehovah is King for ever and ever: The nations are perished out of his land.

17 J ehovah, thou hast heard the desire of the meek: Thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear;

18 T o judge the fatherless and the oppressed, That man who is of the earth may be terrible no more.