PSALM 52 (GOODNEWS BIBLE) ALSO PSALM 53 AND PSALM 54

PSALM 52

1. Why do you boast, great one, of your evil? God's faithfulness is eternal. 2 You make plans to ruin others; your tongue is like a sharp razor. You are always inventing lies. 3 You love evil more than good and falsehood more than truth. 4 You love to hurt people with your words, you liar! 5 So God will ruin you forever; he will take hold of you and snatch you from your home; he will remove you from the world of the living. 6 Righteous people will see this and be afraid; then they will laugh at you and say, 7 "Look, here is someone who did not depend on God for safety, but trusted instead in great wealth and looked for security in being wicked." 8 But I am like an olive tree growing in the house of God; I trust in his constant love forever and ever. 9 I will always thank you, God, for what you have done; in the presence of your people I will proclaim that you are good.

Psalm 53

 Chapter Parallel Compare

1 Fools say to themselves, "There is no God." They are all corrupt, and they have done terrible things; there is no one who does what is right. 2 God looks down from heaven at people to see if there are any who are wise, any who worship him. 3 But they have all turned away; they are all equally bad. Not one of them does what is right, not a single one. 4 "Don't they know?" God asks. "Are these evildoers ignorant? They live by robbing my people, and they never pray to me." 5 But then they will become terrified, as they have never been before, for God will scatter the bones of the enemies of his people. God has rejected them, and so Israel will totally defeat them. 6 How I pray that victory will come to Israel from Zion. How happy the people of Israel will be when God makes them prosperous again!

Psalm 54

 Chapter Parallel Compare

1 Save me by your power, O God; set me free by your might! 2 Hear my prayer, O God; listen to my words! 3 Proud people are coming to attack me; cruel people are trying to kill me - those who do not care about God. 4 But God is my helper. The Lord is my defender. 5 May God use their own evil to punish my enemies. He will destroy them because he is faithful. 6 I will gladly offer you a sacrifice, O Lord; I will give you thanks because you are good. 7 You have rescued me from all my troubles, and I have seen my enemies defeated.