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 [until when]
shall the wicked,
how long [until when]
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 [scrutinize]?
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.

* NOTE: On Opening and Closing Comments in the Psalms.
[Some commentators take the Psalm in Habakkuk 3 to be a standard model for the Psalms.
Habakkuk's Psalm begins with the name of the composer (Habakkuk) and a musical notation ("upon Shigionoth").
It closes with a dedication or a "send to" notice ("To the chief singer on my stringed instruments").
I have arranged similar material, where it is found in the Psalter, in accord with the model in Habakkuk.]