Psalm 58
World English Bible
For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David.
58 Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones?
Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men?
2 No, in your heart you plot injustice.
You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked go astray from the womb.
They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a snake,
like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
5 which doesn’t listen to the voice of charmers,
no matter how skillful the charmer may be.
6 Break their teeth, God, in their mouth.
Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away.
When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt.
8 Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away,
like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns,
he will sweep away the green and the burning alike.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance.
He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
11 so that men shall say, “Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous.
Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”
Psalm 58
Lexham English Bible
Judgment on the Wicked
For the music director, according to Do not Destroy.
Of David. A miktam.[a]
58 Do you really speak what is right when silent?[b]
Do you judge fairly the children of humankind?[c]
2 No, in your heart you plan injustices;
in the land[d] you weigh out the violence of your hands.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb.
They go astray from the belly, speaking lies.
4 Their venom is like snake venom;
They are like a deaf viper that closes its ear
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or the skilled caster of spells.
6 O God, break their teeth in their mouth.
Break off the fangs of the young lions, O Yahweh.
7 Let them run away like water that runs off.
When he bends the bow, let his arrows be as though they were cut off.[e]
8 Let them be like a snail that melts away as it goes;
like the stillborn of woman that do not see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of a thornbush,
whether green or dry,[f] he will sweep it away.[g]
10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 And people[h] will say, “Surely there is a reward[i] for the righteous.
Surely there is a God who judges in the land.”[j]
Footnotes
- Psalm 58:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one
- Psalm 58:1 A slight emendation of the Hebrew text yields “what is right, O gods,” or “O mighty ones”
- Psalm 58:1 Or “Do you judge fairly, O sons of humankind?”
- Psalm 58:2 Or “on the earth”
- Psalm 58:7 Or “as though they were withered stalks”
- Psalm 58:9 Literally “burning”
- Psalm 58:9 The Hebrew of this verse is difficult to interpret
- Psalm 58:11 Hebrew “a person”
- Psalm 58:11 Literally “fruit”
- Psalm 58:11 Or “on the earth”
by Public Domain. The name "World English Bible" is trademarked.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software