Read the Bible

¹ The Lord is a God who punishes people.
    God, come punish them.
² You are the judge of the whole earth.
    Give proud people the punishment they deserve.
³ Lord, how long will the wicked have their fun?
    How much longer?
⁴ How much longer will those criminals
    brag about the evil they did?
⁵ Lord, they hurt your people
    and make them suffer.
⁶ They kill widows and foreigners living in our country.
    They murder orphans.
⁷ And they say the Lord does not see them doing these evil things!
    They say the God of Jacob does not know what is happening.

⁸ You evil people are foolish.
    When will you learn your lesson?
You are so stupid!
    You must try to understand.
⁹ God made our ears,
    so surely he can hear what is happening!
He made our eyes,
    so surely he can see you!
¹⁰ The one who disciplines nations will surely correct you.
    He is the one who teaches us everything.
¹¹ The Lord knows what people are thinking.
    He knows that their thoughts are like a puff of wind.

¹² Lord, great blessings belong to those you discipline,
    to those you teach from your law.
¹³ You help them stay calm when trouble comes.
    You will help them until the wicked are put in their graves.
¹⁴ The Lord will not leave his people.
    He will not leave them without help.
¹⁵ Justice will return and bring fairness.
    And those who want to do right will be there to see it.

¹⁶ No one helped me fight against the wicked.
    No one stood with me against those who do evil.
¹⁷ And if the Lord had not helped me,
    I would have been silenced by death.
¹⁸ I know I was ready to fall,
    but, Lord, your faithful love supported me.
¹⁹ I was very worried and upset,
    but you comforted me and made me happy!

²⁰ You don't help crooked judges.
    They use the law to make life hard for the people.
²¹ They attack those who do right.
    They say innocent people are guilty and put them to death.
²² But the Lord is my place of safety, high on the mountain.
    God, my Rock, is my safe place!
²³ He will punish those evil judges for the bad things they did.
    He will destroy them because they sinned.
    The Lord our God will destroy them.