My heart melts within me,
And my soul despairs.
Where once there was a pretense of righteousness,
A false denial of wickedness,
Now there is open avowal,
And the great evil has been uncovered.

How long, O Lord, will the palaces of corruption rule the land?
And when shall time erase the stain?
The rulers are indiscreet and yet remain,
Yea, the people rejoice in unrighteousness.
For the trivial, they do commit murder,
But for the abominable, they avert their eyes.

The deceitful are hardened in their machinations, O Lord,
And intimidation is the tool of the schemer.
To relieve themselves, they burden the innocent.
Yea, they slander the upright, and justify corruption.
For lack of leadership and righteous indignation, the people languish,
For the wicked conspire while vengeance sleeps.

Have my enemies prevailed, O Lord,
And shall their ways be found true?
Shall I concede that man is born depraved from the womb,
And unable to keep himself from iniquity?
How long shall your righteous ones pine away,
And your holy ones remain unheard?

Pour out Your unmixed wrath, we beseech You,
>From Your cup of justice let vindication stream.
Rise up, O Judge of the earth, and recompense,
Humble the proud with the due penalty of their error.
Crush those who afflict Your heritage, O God,
And punish the destroyers of the innocent.

My heart melts within me
And my soul despairs.
For wickedness saturates both high and low places,
And their vices cannot be sated.
The prodigious evil presages great distress,
And connivance portends judgment.

Yet I will wait upon the Lord
In patience I will seek Him.
Never shall I abandon my hope,
And my wings they cannot clip.
For the Lord is my Rock,
And He shall not be moved.

Great is God's faithfulness to His people,
And His mercy to each generation.
The wicked shall perish
And the righteous shall reign.
For the Lord has sealed the wicked for destruction,
But upon the hearts of the righteous, He has engraved eternity.
Selah.