< Psalms 58 >

1 Unto the end, destroy not, for David, for an inscription of a title. If in very deed you speak justice: judge right things, ye sons of men.
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?
2 For in your heart you work iniquity: your hands forge injustice in the earth.
No, in your hearts you devise injustice; with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.
3 The wicked are alienated from the womb; they have gone astray from the womb: they have spoken false things.
The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.
4 Their madness is according to the likeness of a serpent: like the deaf asp that stoppeth her ears:
Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,
5 Which will not hear the voice of the charmers; nor of the wizard that charmeth wisely.
refusing to hear the tune of the charmer who skillfully weaves his spell.
6 God shall break in pieces their teeth in their mouth: the Lord shall break the grinders of the lions.
O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.
7 They shall come to nothing, like water running down; he hath bent his bow till they be weakened.
May they vanish like water that runs off; when they draw the bow, may their arrows be blunted.
8 Like wax that melteth they shall be taken away: fire hath fallen on them, and they shall not see the sun.
Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, like a woman’s stillborn child, may they never see the sun.
9 Before your thorns could know the brier; he swalloweth them up, as alive, in his wrath.
Before your pots can feel the burning thorns— whether green or dry— He will sweep them away.
10 The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge: he shall wash his hands in the blood of the sinner.
The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 And man shall say: If indeed there be fruit to the just: there is indeed a God that judgeth them on the earth.
Then men will say, “There is surely a reward for the righteous! There is surely a God who judges the earth!”

< Psalms 58 >