Psalm 58
New Life Version
Prayer for God to Punish the Sinful
58 Do you speak what is right and good, O you powerful ones? Are you always right in how you judge, O sons of men? 2 No, in your heart you do what is wrong. You use your hands to hurt and destroy in the land. 3 The sinful go wrong as soon as they are born. Those who speak lies go the wrong way from birth. 4 Their poison is like the poison of a snake. They are like a cobra that cannot or will not listen. 5 It does not hear the voice of the man who has power over it, even if the man is very good in his work.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouth. Break out the teeth of the young lions, O Lord. 7 Let them flow away like water that pours. When he uses his arrows, let them have no heads. 8 Let them be like a snail that melts away as it goes. Like a baby born dead, may they never see the sun. 9 Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns, He will blow them away with a storm, both the green and the burning ones.
10 The one who is right and good will be full of joy when he sees the sinful punished. He will wash his feet in their blood. 11 And men will say, “For sure there is pay for those who are right and good. For sure there is a God Who says who is guilty or not on the earth.”
Psalm 58
Revised Standard Version
Prayer for Vengeance
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David.
58 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?[a]
Do you judge the sons of men uprightly?
2 Nay, 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 and wither.[b]
8 Let them be like the snail which 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!
10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”
Footnotes
- Psalm 58:1 Or mighty lords
- Psalm 58:7 Cn: Heb uncertain
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Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.