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(A special psalm by David for the music leader. To the tune “Don't Destroy.”[a])

A Prayer When All Goes Wrong

Do you mighty people[b] talk
only to oppose justice?[c]
    Don't you ever judge fairly?
You are always planning evil,
    and you are brutal.
You have done wrong and lied
    from the day you were born.
Your words spread poison
    like the bite of a cobra
that refuses to listen
    to the snake charmer.

My enemies are fierce
    as lions, Lord God!
Shatter their teeth.
    Snatch out their fangs.
Make them disappear
like leaking water,
    and make their arrows miss.
Let them dry up like snails
or be like a child that dies
    before seeing the sun.
Wipe them out quicker
than a pot can be heated
    by setting thorns on fire.[d]

10 Good people will be glad
when they see the wicked
    getting what they deserve,
and they will wash their feet
    in their enemies' blood.
11 Everyone will say, “It's true!
    Good people are rewarded.
God does indeed rule the earth
    with justice.”

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 58 Don't Destroy: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  2. 58.1 mighty people: Or “mighty rulers” or “mighty gods.”
  3. 58.1 Do … justice: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  4. 58.9 Wipe … fire: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

Salmo 58

Plegaria pidiendo el castigo de los malos

Para el director del coro; según tonada de «No destruyas». Mictam de David.

58 ¿Hablan ustedes en verdad justicia, oh poderosos[a]?
¿Juzgan rectamente(A), hijos de los hombres?
No, pues en el corazón cometen iniquidad(B);
La violencia de sus manos reparten en la tierra(C).
Desde la matriz están desviados los impíos(D);
Desde su nacimiento se descarrían los que hablan mentiras(E).
Tienen veneno como veneno de serpiente(F);
Son como una cobra sorda que cierra su oído,
Que no oye(G) la voz de los que encantan(H),
Ni siquiera al más diestro encantador.
¶Oh Dios, rompe los dientes de su boca(I);
Quiebra las muelas de los leoncillos, Señor.
Que se diluyan como las aguas(J) que corren;
Cuando disparen sus flechas(K), que sean como si estuvieran sin punta.
Que sean como el caracol, que se disuelve según se arrastra,
Como los que nacen muertos, que nunca ven el sol(L).
Antes que las ollas de ustedes puedan sentir el fuego de los espinos(M),
Tanto los verdes como los que arden, los barrerá Él con torbellino(N).
10 ¶El justo se alegrará(O) cuando vea la venganza(P),
Se lavará los pies en la sangre de los impíos(Q);
11 Entonces los hombres dirán: «Ciertamente hay recompensa para el justo(R),
Ciertamente hay un Dios que juzga en la tierra(S)».

Footnotes

  1. 58:1 O jueces, o dioses.

There Is a God Who Judges on Earth

For the choir director. [a]Al-tashheth. Of David. A [b]Mikhtam.

58 Do you indeed [c]speak righteousness, O [d]gods?
Do you (A)judge [e]with equity, O sons of men?
No, in heart you (B)work unrighteousness;
On earth you [f](C)prepare a path for the violence of your hands.
The wicked are estranged (D)from the womb;
These who speak falsehood (E)wander in error from [g]birth.
They have venom like the (F)venom of a serpent;
Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,
So that it (G)does not hear the voice of [h](H)charmers,
Or a skillful caster of spells.

O God, (I)shatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Yahweh.
Let them (J)flow away like water that runs off;
When he [i](K)aims his arrows, let them be as [j]headless shafts.
Let them be as a snail which [k]melts away as it goes along,
Like the (L)miscarriages of a woman which never behold the sun.
Before your (M)pots can feel the fire of thorns
He will (N)sweep them away with a whirlwind, the living and the burning alike.

10 The (O)righteous will be glad when he (P)beholds the vengeance;
He will (Q)wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 And men will say, “Surely there is a [l](R)reward for the righteous;
Surely there is a God who (S)judges [m]on earth!”

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 58 Title Lit Do Not Destroy
  2. Psalm 58 Title Possibly Epigrammatic Poem, Atonement Psalm
  3. Psalm 58:1 Or speak righteousness in silence
  4. Psalm 58:1 Or mighty ones, judges
  5. Psalm 58:1 Or uprightly the sons of men
  6. Psalm 58:2 Lit make level
  7. Psalm 58:3 Lit stomach
  8. Psalm 58:5 Or whisperers
  9. Psalm 58:7 Lit bends
  10. Psalm 58:7 Lit though they were cut off
  11. Psalm 58:8 Secretes slime
  12. Psalm 58:11 Lit fruit
  13. Psalm 58:11 Or in

Psalm 58[a]

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.[b]

Do you rulers indeed speak justly?(A)
    Do you judge people with equity?
No, in your heart you devise injustice,(B)
    and your hands mete out violence on the earth.(C)

Even from birth the wicked go astray;
    from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.
Their venom is like the venom of a snake,(D)
    like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
that will not heed(E) the tune of the charmer,(F)
    however skillful the enchanter may be.

Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;(G)
    Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!(H)
Let them vanish like water that flows away;(I)
    when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.(J)
May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,(K)
    like a stillborn child(L) that never sees the sun.

Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns(M)
    whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.[c](N)
10 The righteous will be glad(O) when they are avenged,(P)
    when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.(Q)
11 Then people will say,
    “Surely the righteous still are rewarded;(R)
    surely there is a God who judges the earth.”(S)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 58:1 In Hebrew texts 58:1-11 is numbered 58:2-12.
  2. Psalm 58:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
  3. Psalm 58:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.

58 Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?

Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.

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

Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;

Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.

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

Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.

As 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.

Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.

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

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