12. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man whom You discipline and instruct, O Lord, and teach out of Your law,
13. That You may give him power to keep himself calm in the days of adversity, until the [inevitable] pit of corruption is dug for the wicked.
14. For the Lord will not cast off nor spurn His people, neither will He abandon His heritage.
15. For justice will return to the [uncompromisingly] righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17. Unless the Lord had been my help, I would soon have dwelt in [the land where there is] silence.
18. When I said, My foot is slipping, Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, held me up.
19. In the multitude of my [anxious] thoughts within me, Your comforts cheer and delight my soul!
20. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with You–they who frame and hide their unrighteous doings under [the sacred name of] law?
21. They band themselves together against the life of the [consistently] righteous and condemn the innocent to death.