Psalm 94
The full text of Psalm 94 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 O LORD, God of vengeance,
God of vengeance, shine forth!
2 Rise up, O judge of the earth;
repay to the proud what they deserve.
3 How long, O LORD, shall the wicked—
how long shall the wicked exult?
4 They pour out their arrogant words;
all the evildoers boast.
5 They crush your people, O LORD,
and afflict your heritage.
6 They kill the widow and the sojourner,
and murder the fatherless.
7 And they say, "The LORD does not see;
the God of Jacob does not perceive."
8 Understand, you dullest of the people!
Fools, when will you be wise?
9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
10 He who disciplines nations, does he not rebuke?
He who teaches mankind knowledge—
11 the LORD knows the thoughts of mortals,
that they are a breath.
12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O LORD,
and whom you teach out of your law,
13 to give him rest from days of trouble,
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the LORD will not abandon his people;
he will not forsake his heritage.
15 For justice will return to the righteous,
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?
Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 If the LORD had not been my help,
my soul would soon have dwelt in the land of silence.
18 When I thought, "My foot is slipping,"
your faithful love, O LORD, held me up.
19 When anxious thoughts multiply within me,
your consolations delight my soul.
20 Can a throne of destruction be allied with you,
one that devises mischief by statute?
21 They band together against the life of the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the LORD has become my stronghold,
and my God the rock of my refuge.
23 He will bring back on them their iniquity
and wipe them out for their wickedness;
the LORD our God will wipe them out.
Translation notes (5)
- Psalm 94:6a The widow, the sojourner (ger, גֵּר), and the fatherless (yatom, יָתוֹם) form a traditional triad of persons under special legal protection in the Torah (Exodus 22:21-22; Deuteronomy 10:18; 24:17). The psalmist charges the wicked with attacking precisely those whom God's law most explicitly defends, sharpening the appeal for divine judgment.
- Psalm 94:9a Hebrew nataʿ (נטע), 'to plant', is an agricultural verb applied unexpectedly to the ear, while yatsar (יצר), 'to form', is the potter's word used of the shaping of man in Genesis 2:7. Both questions begin with an interrogative particle that anticipates an emphatic yes: the Maker of the organs of perception cannot lack perception himself.
- Psalm 94:11a Hevel (הֶבֶל), 'breath', is the word rendered 'vanity' throughout Ecclesiastes, marking human designs as fleeting and insubstantial. When Paul quotes this verse in 1 Corinthians 3:20 he follows the Septuagint but substitutes 'the wise' for 'mortals', sharpening the psalm's point against the pretensions of worldly wisdom.
- Psalm 94:17a The phrase renders Hebrew dumah (דּוּמָה), 'silence', a poetic name for Sheol, the realm of the dead. The same word occurs in Psalm 115:17, where the dead are said not to praise the LORD but 'go down into silence'; the image is of the grave as a place where all speech and praise have ceased.
- Psalm 94:20a Hebrew kisse hawwot (כִּסֵּא הַוּוֹת), literally 'throne of ruins', pairs the seat of judicial authority with hawwah, a term for destructive greed or ruin. The following clause, yotser amal ale-choq, 'devising mischief by statute', makes the point explicit: the psalmist indicts rulers who give injustice the form of law, and asks whether such power can claim fellowship with God.
About this translation
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