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The Folly of the Godless and God’s Final Triumph

For the music director. Of David.[a]

14 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt.
They do abominable deeds.
There is none who does good.
Yahweh looks down from heaven upon the children of humankind
to see whether there is one who has insight,
one who cares about God.
All have gone astray;
they are altogether corrupt.
There is not one who does good;
there is not even one.
All who do evil—do they not know,
they who eat my people as though they were eating bread?
They do not call on Yahweh.
There they are very fearful[b]
because God is with the generation of the righteous.
You would put to shame the plan of the poor,
because[c] Yahweh is his refuge.
Oh that from Zion[d] would come salvation for Israel!
When Yahweh returns the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be happy.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 14:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm
  2. Psalm 14:5 Literally “they feared a fear”
  3. Psalm 14:6 Or “but”
  4. Psalm 14:7 Literally “Who will give that from Zion”

Psalm 14(A)

For the director of music. Of David.

The fool[a] says in his heart,
    “There is no God.”(B)
They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;
    there is no one who does good.

The Lord looks down from heaven(C)
    on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,(D)
    any who seek God.(E)
All have turned away,(F) all have become corrupt;(G)
    there is no one who does good,(H)
    not even one.(I)

Do all these evildoers know nothing?(J)

They devour my people(K) as though eating bread;
    they never call on the Lord.(L)
But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
    for God is present in the company of the righteous.
You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
    but the Lord is their refuge.(M)

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!(N)
    When the Lord restores(O) his people,
    let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 14:1 The Hebrew words rendered fool in Psalms denote one who is morally deficient.