The Folly of the Godless and Salvation for Israel

¹ For the music director, according to Mahalath. A maskil of David.¹ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt and they have done abominable iniquity. There is none who does good.

1. The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one

² God looks down from heaven upon the children of humankind to see whether there is one who has insight, one who seeks God.

³ ⌞All of them⌟¹ have turned back. They are altogether corrupt. There is none who does good; there is not even one.

1. Literally “The whole of it,” i.e. all of humankind

⁴ Do not evildoers know, they who eat my people as though they were eating bread? They do not call on God.

⁵ There ⌞they are very fearful⌟¹ where no fear had been, because God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you. You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.

1. Literally “they feared a fear”

⁶ ⌞Oh, that from Zion⌟¹ would come salvation for Israel! When God returns the fortunes² of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

1. Literally “Who will give that from Zion”
2. Or “captivity”