Psalms 94
1 O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.
2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.
3 LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?
4 How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?
5 They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.
7 Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.
8 Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?
9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?
10 He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?
11 The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;
13 That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.
14 For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
15 But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.
18 When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.
20 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.
22 But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.
23 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.
World Behind This Chapter
Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Psalms 94.
What stands out about a plea to the God of vengeance against arrogant oppressors in Psalm 94?
Psalm 94 builds its movement around a plea to the God of vengeance against arrogant oppressors, with wisdom about discipline. Tracking repeated words, parallel lines, changes of speaker, and image clusters shows how the poem develops before assigning a later interpretation.
What world does Psalm 94 ask the reader to picture?
The poem evokes community under unjust rulers. Those settings may be literal, remembered, ritual, or metaphorical; distinguishing those possibilities is part of reading Hebrew poetry carefully.
Research PathsCurated links for exploring this chapter 2
Language & Literature2
- Psalm 94 in Hebrew and EnglishMechon Mamre
Presents the complete Hebrew poem beside an English translation. Useful for following the repeated language of justice, boasting, oppression, seeing and hearing, instruction, discipline, anxiety, law, refuge, and wrongdoing returning upon its perpetrators.
- Psalm 94: NET Bible Translation NotesNET Bible
Translation notes clarify the title God of vengeance as an appeal for judicial redress, the boastful speech of oppressors, violence against widows, foreigners, and orphans, the claim that God does not see, discipline and instruction, and wrongdoing carried out through law.
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