Psalm 58
New Living Translation
Psalm 58
For the choir director: A psalm[a] of David, to be sung to the tune “Do Not Destroy!”
1 Justice—do you rulers[b] know the meaning of the word?
Do you judge the people fairly?
2 No! You plot injustice in your hearts.
You spread violence throughout the land.
3 These wicked people are born sinners;
even from birth they have lied and gone their own way.
4 They spit venom like deadly snakes;
they are like cobras that refuse to listen,
5 ignoring the tunes of the snake charmers,
no matter how skillfully they play.
6 Break off their fangs, O God!
Smash the jaws of these lions, O Lord!
7 May they disappear like water into thirsty ground.
Make their weapons useless in their hands.[c]
8 May they be like snails that dissolve into slime,
like a stillborn child who will never see the sun.
9 God will sweep them away, both young and old,
faster than a pot heats over burning thorns.
10 The godly will rejoice when they see injustice avenged.
They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then at last everyone will say,
“There truly is a reward for those who live for God;
surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.”
Psalm 58
Legacy Standard Bible
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?
2 No, in heart you (B)work unrighteousness;
On earth you [f](C)prepare a path for the violence of your hands.
3 The wicked are estranged (D)from the womb;
These who speak falsehood (E)wander in error from [g]birth.
4 They have venom like the (F)venom of a serpent;
Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,
5 So that it (G)does not hear the voice of [h](H)charmers,
Or a skillful caster of spells.
6 O God, (I)shatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Yahweh.
7 Let them (J)flow away like water that runs off;
When he [i](K)aims his arrows, let them be as [j]headless shafts.
8 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.
9 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
- Psalm 58 Title Lit Do Not Destroy
- Psalm 58 Title Possibly Epigrammatic Poem, Atonement Psalm
- Psalm 58:1 Or speak righteousness in silence
- Psalm 58:1 Or mighty ones, judges
- Psalm 58:1 Or uprightly the sons of men
- Psalm 58:2 Lit make level
- Psalm 58:3 Lit stomach
- Psalm 58:5 Or whisperers
- Psalm 58:7 Lit bends
- Psalm 58:7 Lit though they were cut off
- Psalm 58:8 Secretes slime
- Psalm 58:11 Lit fruit
- Psalm 58:11 Or in
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