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 those 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. He knows what people are thinking. He knows that their thoughts are like a puff of wind.
12. Lord, what blessings there are for those you discipline, for 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.