Psalm

Confidence in Yahweh’s Righteousness

For the music director. Of David.[a]

11 
In Yahweh I have taken refuge;

how can you say to my soul,

“Flee to your mountain like a bird”?

For look: The wicked string the bow.[b]

They have fitted their arrow to the string,

to shoot from the darkness

at the upright of heart.

When the foundations are destroyed

what can the righteous do?[c]

Yahweh is in his holy temple;

Yahweh is in the heavens on his throne.

His eyelids see;

they test the children of humankind.

Yahweh tests the righteous,

but the wicked and the lover of violence

his soul hates.

He will rain coals[d] on the wicked.

Burning sulfur and scorching wind

will be the portion of their cup.

For Yahweh is righteous;

he loves righteous deeds.

The upright shall see his face.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 11:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm
  2. Psalm 11:2 Literally “tread the bow,” that is, placing the foot on the bow to bend and string it
  3. Psalm 11:3 Or “what has the righteous done”
  4. Psalm 11:6 According to Symmachus (compare also Targum Psalms) a form slightly different from the MT’s “snares”