Psalm 58
New American Standard Bible
Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.
For the music director; set to [a]Al-tashheth. A [b]Mikhtam of David.
58 Do you indeed [c]speak righteousness, you [d]gods?
Do you (A)judge [e]fairly, you sons of mankind?
2 No, in heart you (B)practice injustice;
On earth you (C)clear a way for the violence of your hands.
3 The wicked have turned away (D)from the womb;
These who speak lies (E)go astray from [f]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 [g](H)charmers,
Or a skillful caster of spells.
6 God, (I)shatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, Lord.
7 May they (J)flow away like water that runs off;
When he [h](K)aims his arrows, may they be as [i]headless shafts.
8 May they be like a snail which goes along in slime,
Like the (L)miscarriage of a woman that never sees the sun.
9 Before your (M)pots can feel the fire of thorns
He will (N)sweep them away with a whirlwind, the [j]green and the burning alike.
10 The (O)righteous will rejoice when he (P)sees vengeance;
He will (Q)wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 And people will say, “There certainly is [k](R)a reward for the righteous;
There certainly is a God who (S)judges on the earth!”
Footnotes
- Psalm 58 Title Lit Do Not Destroy
- Psalm 58 Title Possibly Epigrammatic Poem or Atonement Psalm
- Psalm 58:1 Another reading is speak righteousness in silence
- Psalm 58:1 Or mighty ones; or judges
- Psalm 58:1 Or mankind fairly?
- Psalm 58:3 Lit the womb
- Psalm 58:5 Or whisperers
- Psalm 58:7 Lit bends
- Psalm 58:7 Lit though they were cut off
- Psalm 58:9 Lit living
- Psalm 58:11 Lit fruit
Psalm 58
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 58
Prayer for Vengeance
To the leader: Do Not Destroy. Of David. A Miktam.
1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?
Do you judge people fairly?(A)
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands deal out violence on earth.(B)
3 The wicked go astray from the womb;
they err from their birth, speaking lies.(C)
4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,(D)
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.(E)
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!(F)
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away;
like grass let them be trodden down[a] and wither.(G)
8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.(H)
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!(I)
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New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.