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?
To the Chief Musician. "Do not Destroy." A precious Psalm, of David. Are ye, indeed, silent [when] righteousness, ye should speak? When, with equity, ye should judge, O ye sons of men?
2 No, in your hearts you devise injustice; with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.
Aye! ye all do work, perversity, —Throughout the land, your hands, weigh out, violence!
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.
Lawless men have been estranged from birth, They have gone astray from their nativity, speaking falsehood;
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,
Their poison, is like unto the poison of a serpent, Like the deaf adder, that stoppeth his ear;
5 refusing to hear the tune of the charmer who skillfully weaves his spell.
That will not hearken to the voice of whisperers, Though the wise one try to bind him with spells.
6 O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.
O God! break away their teeth in their mouth, The biters of the young lions, knock thou out, O Yahweh!
7 May they vanish like water that runs off; when they draw the bow, may their arrows be blunted.
Let such men flow away like waters that disperse themselves: He prepareth his arrow, Like [grass] let them be cut down:
8 Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, like a woman’s stillborn child, may they never see the sun.
Like a snail, which melteth away as it goeth, An untimely birth of a woman, which 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 kettles can perceive the [kindled] bramble, Be he green or be he withered, he shall be swept away.
10 The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
The righteous man will rejoice when he hath seen an avenging, His feet, will he bathe in the blood of the lawless one: —
11 Then men will say, “There is surely a reward for the righteous! There is surely a God who judges the earth!”
So that a son of earth may say—Surely there is fruit for the righteous man! Surely there are gods who judge in the earth!
