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Psalm 58

For the director of music. To the tune of "Do Not Destroy." Of David. A miktam.t

1 Do you rulers indeed speak justly?
Do you judge people with equity?

2 No, in your heart you devise injustice,
and your hands mete out violence on the earth.

3 Even from birth the wicked go astray;
from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.

4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,

5 that will not heed the tune of the charmer,
however skillful the enchanter may be.

6 Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;
Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!

7 Let them vanish like water that flows away;
when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.

8 May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,
like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.

9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.t

10 The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,
when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.

11 Then people will say,
"Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
surely there is a God who judges the earth."

Psalm 58

1 Do ye indeed in silence speak righteousness? Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?

2 Nay, in heart ye work wickedness; Ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.

3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear,

5 Which hearkeneth not to the voice of charmers, Charming never so wisely.

6 Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Jehovah.

7 Let them melt away as water that runneth apace: When he aimeth his arrows, let them be as though they were cut off.

8  Let them be as a snail which melteth and passeth away, Like the untimely birth of a woman, that hath not seen the sun.

9 Before your pots can feel the thorns, He will take them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.

10 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;

11 So that men shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.

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