Psalms 58
1 For the music director. According to “Do Not Destroy.” A psalm (miktam) of David. You leaders, do you really say what is right? Do you judge people fairly?
Unto the end. May you not destroy. Of David, with the inscription of a title. If, truly and certainly, you speak justice, then judge what is right, you sons of men.
2 No, for in your minds you plan evil. You cause violence everywhere!
For, even in your heart, you work iniquity. Your hands construct injustice on the earth.
3 The wicked are sinners from birth; from the moment they're born they tell lies.
Sinners have become foreigners from the womb; they have gone astray from conception. They have been speaking falsehoods.
4 They have venom like that of a poisonous snake, and just like a cobra they stop listening,
Their fury is similar to that of a serpent; it is like a deaf asp, who even blocks her ears,
5 refusing to hear the voice of the snake charmers or the spellbinders.
who will not listen to the voice of charmers, nor even to the enchanter who chants wisely.
6 God, break their teeth, and smash the jaws of these lions, Lord.
God will crush their teeth within their own mouth. The Lord will break the molars of the lions.
7 May they vanish like water that flows away; when they shoot their arrows may they miss their mark.
They will come to nothing, like water flowing away. He has aimed his bow, while they are being weakened.
8 May they be like the slime of snails that dissolves away, like a stillborn child that never saw the light of day.
Like wax that flows, they will be carried away. Fire has fallen upon them, and they will not see the sun.
9 Before the cooking pot is hot from burning thorns, whether fresh or dry, God will blow them away.
Before your thorns could know the brier, he consumes them alive, as if in rage.
10 Those who live right will be happy when they see there is punishment; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
The just one will rejoice when he sees vindication. He will wash his hands in the blood of the sinner.
11 They will say, “There is definitely a reward for those who live right; there is certainly a God who judges fairly on earth.”
And man will say, “If the just one is fruitful, then, truly, there is a God judging them on earth.”
