Psalm 58
GOD’S WORD Translation
For the choir director; al tashcheth; a miktam by David.
58 Do you rulers really give fair verdicts?
Do you judge Adam’s descendants fairly?
2 No, you invent new crimes on earth,
and your hands spread violence.
3 ⌞Even⌟ inside the womb wicked people are strangers ⌞to God⌟.
From their birth liars go astray.
4 They have poisonous venom like snakes.
They are like a deaf cobra that shuts its ears
5 so that it cannot hear the voice of a snake charmer
or of anyone trained to cast spells.
6 O God, knock the teeth out of their mouths.
Break the young lions’ teeth, O Lord.
7 Let them disappear like water that drains away.
When they aim their bows, let their arrows miss the target.
8 Let them become like a snail that leaves behind a slimy trail
or like a stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9 Let ⌞God⌟ sweep them away
faster than a cooking pot is heated by burning twigs.
10 Righteous people will rejoice when they see ⌞God⌟ take revenge.
They will wash their feet in the blood of wicked people.
11 Then people will say,
“Righteous people certainly have a reward.
There is a God who judges on earth.”
Psalm 58
New King James Version
The Just Judgment of the Wicked
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David.
58 Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones?
Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?
2 No, in heart you work wickedness;
You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 (A)The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 (B)Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,
5 Which will not (C)heed the voice of charmers,
Charming ever so skillfully.
6 (D)Break[b] their teeth in their mouth, O God!
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 (E)Let them flow away as waters which run continually;
When he bends his bow,
Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.
8 Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes,
(F)Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
9 Before your (G)pots can feel the burning thorns,
He shall take them away (H)as with a whirlwind,
As in His living and burning wrath.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the (I)vengeance;
(J)He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
11 (K)So that men will say,
“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely He is God who (L)judges in the earth.”
Footnotes
- Psalm 58:1 Heb. Al Tashcheth
- Psalm 58:6 Break away
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
