Psalm 11
Easy-to-Read Version
To the director: A song of David.
11 I trust in the Lord, so why did you tell me to run and hide?
Why did you say, “Fly like a bird to your mountain?”
2 Like hunters, the wicked hide in the dark.
They get their bows ready and aim their arrows.
They shoot at good, honest people.
3 What would good people do
if the wicked destroyed all that is good?[a]
4 The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord sits on his throne in heaven.
He sees everything that happens.
He watches people closely.
5 The Lord examines those who are good and those who are wicked;
he hates those who enjoy hurting others.
6 He will make hot coals and burning sulfur fall like rain on the wicked.
They will get nothing but a hot, burning wind.
7 The Lord always does what is right, and he loves seeing people do right.
Those who live good lives will be with him.[b]
Footnotes
- Psalm 11:3 Or “What if the foundations of society were really destroyed?”
- Psalm 11:7 Those … him Literally, “They will see his face.”
Psalm 11
Authorized (King James) Version
Psalm 11
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.
1 In the Lord put I my trust:
how say ye to my soul,
Flee as a bird to your mountain?
2 For, lo, the wicked bend their bow,
they make ready their arrow upon the string,
that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.
3 If the foundations be destroyed,
what can the righteous do?
4 The Lord is in his holy temple,
the Lord’s throne is in heaven:
his eyes behold,
his eyelids try, the children of men.
5 The Lord trieth the righteous:
but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.
6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares,
fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest:
this shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness;
his countenance doth behold the upright.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.