Psalms 58
1 To the Overseer. — 'Destroy not.' — A secret treasure, by David. Is it true, O dumb one, righteously ye speak? Uprightly ye judge, 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 ye work iniquities, In the land the violence of your hands ye ponder.
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 asp shutting its ear,
Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,
5 Which hearkeneth not to the voice of whisperers, A charmer of charms most skilful.
refusing to hear the tune of the charmer who skillfully weaves his spell.
6 O God, break their teeth in their mouth, The jaw-teeth of young lions break down, O Jehovah.
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 proceedeth as they cut themselves off.
May they vanish like water that runs off; when they draw the bow, may their arrows be blunted.
8 As a snail that melteth he goeth on, [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 well the raw as the heated He whirleth away.
Before your pots can feel the burning thorns— whether green or dry— He will sweep them away.
10 The righteous rejoiceth that he hath seen vengeance, His steps he washeth 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 saith: '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!”
