Foolishness and Wickedness of People.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

14 The fool has (A)said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed detestable acts;
There is (B)no one who does good.
The Lord has (C)looked down from heaven upon the sons of mankind
To see if there are any who [a](D)understand,
Who (E)seek God.
They have all (F)turned aside, together they are corrupt;
There is (G)no one who does good, not even one.

Do all the workers of injustice (H)not know,
Who (I)devour my people as they eat bread,
And (J)do not call upon the Lord?
There they are in great dread,
For God is with a (K)righteous generation.
You would put to shame the plan of the poor,
But the Lord is his (L)refuge.

Oh, that (M)the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord (N)restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 14:2 Or act wisely

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.

14 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.

They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord.

There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous.

Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge.

Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.