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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

To the Director: A special Davidic psalm[a] to the tune of[b] “Do Not Destroy”.

A Prayer for Justice

58 How is it that by remaining silent you can speak righteously?
    How can you judge people fairly?
As a matter of fact, in your heart you plan iniquities!
    In the land your hands are violent!

The wicked go astray from the womb;
    they go astray, telling lies even from birth.
Their venom is like a poisonous snake;
    even like a deaf serpent that shuts its ears,
refusing to hear the voice of the snake charmer,
    the cunning enchanter.

God, shatter their teeth in their mouths;
    Lord, break the fangs of the young lions!
May they flow away like rain water that runs off,
    may they become like someone who shoots broken arrows.
May they be like a snail that dries up as it crawls;
    like a woman’s stillborn baby, who never saw the sun.
Before your clay pots are placed on a fire of burning[c] thorns—
    whether green or ablaze—
        wrath will sweep them away like a storm.

10 The righteous person will rejoice when he sees your[d] vengeance;
    when he washes his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 A person will say,
    “Certainly, the righteous are rewarded;
        certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 58:1 The Heb. reads miktam
  2. Psalm 58:1 Lit. David according to
  3. Psalm 58:9 The Heb. lacks a fire of burning
  4. Psalm 58:10 The Heb. lacks your