¹³ “Their throats are open graves;
    their tongues practice deceit.”^[a](A)
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”^[b](B)

⁴ I am in the midst of lions;^(A)
    I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts—
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
    whose tongues are sharp swords.^(B)

²¹ His talk is smooth as butter,^(A)
    yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,^(B)
    yet they are drawn swords.^(C)

³ They sharpen their tongues like swords^(A)
    and aim cruel words like deadly arrows.^(B)
4 They shoot from ambush at the innocent;^(C)
    they shoot suddenly, without fear.^(D)

⁷ See what they spew from their mouths^(A)—
    the words from their lips are sharp as swords,^(B)
    and they think, “Who can hear us?”^(C)

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