Psalms 10:15

Break the arm ¹  of the wicked and evil man! Hold him accountable for his wicked deeds, ²  which he thought you would not discover. ³ 

Break the arm of the wicked and evil man; call him to account for his wickedness that would not be found out.

Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, Seek out his wickedness until You find none.

Break the arms of these wicked, evil people! Go after them until the last one is destroyed!

Break the wicked right arms, break all the evil left arms. Search and destroy every sign of crime.

Let the arm of the sinner and the evil-doer be broken; go on searching for his sin till there is no more.

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoers; seek out their wickedness until you find none.

Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man ; Seek out his wickedness until You find none.

Break the arm ¹  of the wicked and evil man! Hold him accountable for his wicked deeds, ²  which he thought you would not discover. ³ 

¹ sn The arm symbolizes the strength of the wicked, which they use to oppress and exploit the weak.

² tn Heb “you seek his wickedness.” As in v. 13, the verb דָרַשׁ (darash, “seek”) is used here in the sense of “seek an accounting.” One could understand the imperfect as describing a fact, “you hold him accountable,” or as anticipating divine judgment, “you will hold him accountable.” However, since the verb is in apparent parallelism with the preceding imperative (“break”), it is better to understand the imperfect as expressing the psalmist’s desire or request.

³ tn Heb “you will not find.” It is uncertain how this statement relates to what precedes. Some take בַל (bal), which is used as a negative particle in vv. 4, 6, 11, 18, as asseverative here, “Indeed find (i.e., judge his wickedness).” The translation assumes that the final words are an asyndetic relative clause which refers back to what the wicked man boasted in God’s face (“you will not find [i.e., my wickedness]”). See v. 13.