For the director of music. To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy’. Of David. A miktam.
1Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge people with equity?[1]2No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.3Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.4Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,5that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skilful the enchanter may be.6Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!7Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.8May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along, like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.9Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns – whether they be green or dry – the wicked will be swept away.[2]10The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.11Then people will say, ‘Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.’
Psalm 58
King James Version
1To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David. Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?2Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.3The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.4Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;5Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.6Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.7Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.8As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.9Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.10The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.11So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.