Psalm 82
New Living Translation
Chapter overview
Psalm 82 indicts rulers who favor the wicked while the weak, orphaned, poor, and oppressed remain vulnerable. Their injustice shakes society's foundations, prompting an appeal for the true judge to restore right order.
JusticeVulnerableJudgmentLeadership
1God presides over heaven’s court; he pronounces judgment on the heavenly beings:
2“How long will you hand down unjust decisions by favoring the wicked? Interlude
3“Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.
4Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people.
5But these oppressors know nothing; they are so ignorant! They wander about in darkness, while the whole world is shaken to the core.
6I say, ‘You are gods; you are all children of the Most High.
7But you will die like mere mortals and fall like every other ruler.’”
8Rise up, O God, and judge the earth, for all the nations belong to you.
New Living Translation — Licensed through API.Bible, non-commercial use only, no derivatives. Where these translations come from.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Text unchanged, provided through API.Bible.