Psalms 58
Psalm 581
For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style;2 a prayer3 of David.
58:1 Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions?4
Do you judge people5 fairly?
58:2 No!6 You plan how to do what is unjust;7
you deal out violence in the earth.8
58:3 The wicked turn aside from birth;9
liars go astray as soon as they are born.10
58:4 Their venom is like that of a snake,11
like a deaf serpent12 that does not hear,13
58:5 that does not respond to14 the magicians,
or to a skilled snake-charmer.
58:6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths!
Smash the jawbones of the lions, O Lord!
58:7 Let them disappear15 like water that flows away!16
Let them wither like grass!17
58:8 Let them be18 like a snail that melts away as it moves along!19
Let them be like20 stillborn babies21 that never see the sun!
58:9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots,22
he23 will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat.24
58:10 The godly25 will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out;
they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
58:11 Then26 observers27 will say,
“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded!28
Yes indeed, there is a God who judges29 in the earth!”