Psalms 58
1 TO THE OVERSEER. “DO NOT DESTROY.” A MIKTAM OF DAVID. Is it true, O silent one, that you speak righteously? Do you judge uprightly, O 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 Even in heart you work iniquities, In the land you ponder the violence of your hands.
No, in your hearts you devise injustice; with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.
3 The wicked have been estranged from the womb, They have erred from the belly, speaking lies.
The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.
4 Their poison [is] as poison of a serpent, As a deaf cobra shutting its ear,
Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,
5 Which does not listen to the voice of whisperers, A charmer of most skillful charms.
refusing to hear the tune of the charmer who skillfully weaves his spell.
6 O God, break their teeth in their mouth, Break down the jaw-teeth of young lions, O YHWH.
O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.
7 They are melted as waters, They go up and down for themselves, His arrow proceeds as they cut themselves off.
May they vanish like water that runs off; when they draw the bow, may their arrows be blunted.
8 He goes on as a snail that melts, [As] an untimely birth of a woman, They have not seen 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 pots discern the bramble, As living, He whirls away in His burning anger.
Before your pots can feel the burning thorns— whether green or dry— He will sweep them away.
10 The righteous rejoices that he has seen vengeance, He washes his steps in the blood of the wicked.
The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 And man says: “Surely fruit [is] for the righteous: Surely there is a God judging in the earth!”
Then men will say, “There is surely a reward for the righteous! There is surely a God who judges the earth!”
