Psalms 58
1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?
For the Chief Musician; [set to] Al-tashheth. [A Psalm] of David. Michtam. Do ye indeed in silence speak righteousness? Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
2 No, in your hearts you devise injustice; with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.
Nay, in heart ye work wickedness; Ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.
The wicked are estranged from the womb: They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,
Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: [They are] like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear,
5 refusing to hear the tune of the charmer who skillfully weaves his spell.
Which hearkeneth not to the voice of charmers, Charming never so wisely.
6 O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.
Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Jehovah.
7 May they vanish like water that runs off; when they draw the bow, may their arrows be blunted.
Let them melt away as water that runneth apace: When he aimeth his arrows, let them be as though they were cut off.
8 Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, like a woman’s stillborn child, may they never see the sun.
[Let them be] as a snail which melteth and passeth away, [Like] the untimely birth of a woman, that hath not seen the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the burning thorns— whether green or dry— He will sweep them away.
Before your pots can feel the thorns, He will take them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.
10 The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;
11 Then men will say, “There is surely a reward for the righteous! There is surely a God who judges the earth!”
So that men shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.
