Chapter 58

To the leader: Do Not Destroy. Of David. A Miktam. ¹

Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? ^b Or because Do you judge people fairly? ² No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.

³

The wicked go astray from the womb; they err from their birth, speaking lies. ⁴ They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear, ⁵ so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.

⁶

O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD! ⁷ Let them vanish like water that runs away; like grass let them be trodden down ^c Cn: Heb are aflame for and wither. ⁸ Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun. ⁹ Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns, whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!

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The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked. ¹¹ People will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.”