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 end. Destroy not: by David, for a memorial. If ye do indeed speak righteousness, [then] do ye judge rightly, ye sons of men.
2 No, in your hearts you devise injustice; with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.
For ye work iniquities in [your] hearts in the earth: your hands plot unrighteousness.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.
Sinners have gone astray from the womb: they go astray from the belly: they speak lies.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,
Their venom is like [that] of a serpent; as [that] of a deaf asp, and that stops her ears;
5 refusing to hear the tune of the charmer who skillfully weaves his spell.
which will not hear the voice of charmers, nor [heed] the charm prepared skillfully by the wise.
6 O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.
God has crushed their teeth in their mouth: God has broken the cheek-teeth of the lions.
7 May they vanish like water that runs off; when they draw the bow, may their arrows be blunted.
They shall utterly pass away like water running through: he shall bend his bow till they shall fail.
8 Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, like a woman’s stillborn child, may they never see the sun.
They shall be destroyed as melted wax: the fire has fallen and they have not seen the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the burning thorns— whether green or dry— He will sweep them away.
Before your thorns feel the white thorn, he shall swallow you up as living, as in his wrath.
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 sees the vengeance of the ungodly: he shall wash his hands in the blood of the sinner.
11 Then men will say, “There is surely a reward for the righteous! There is surely a God who judges the earth!”
And a man shall say, Verily then there is a reward for the righteous: verily there is a God that judges them in the earth.
