Psalms 58

1 When you mighty men speak, you never say what is right; you never decide things about people justly [RHQ]!

[For the Chief Musician. To the tune of "Do Not Destroy." A poem by David.] Do you rulers indeed speak righteousness? Do you judge blamelessly, you descendants of Adam?

2 No, in your inner beings you think only about doing what is wrong, and you commit violent crimes in this land [of Israel].

No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth.

3 Wicked people do wrong things and tell lies from the time that they are born [DOU].

The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

4 God, show in the heavens how great you are! And show your glory to people all over the earth! What wicked people say [injures people like] the venom of a snake [MET]; They refuse to listen to good advice, [as though they were] cobras that were deaf [MET]!

Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; like a deaf viper that stops its ear,

5 As a result, [like a snake that does not respond when] a charmer plays a flute or when someone sings magic songs, [they do not pay attention when others rebuke them].

which doesn't listen to the voice of charmers, no matter how skillful the charmer may be.

6 God, as for these enemies who [want to attack me like] young lions, break their teeth!

Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, YHWH.

7 Cause them to disappear like water disappears [in dry ground]! Cause the arrows that they shoot to have no (heads/sharp points)!

Let them vanish as water that flows away. When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt.

8 Cause them to become like snails that disappear in the slime; cause them to be like babies that are born dead!

Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away, like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun.

9 Get rid of them [as fast as] thornbushes are blown away [after they are cut] (OR, [as fast as] a fire heats a pot over burning thorns).

Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns, he will sweep away the green and the burning alike.

10 Righteous people will rejoice when they see wicked people being punished as they deserve; they will wash their feet in the blood of wicked people.

The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;

11 [Then] people will say, “It is true that there is a reward for righteous people; and there is indeed a God who judges people justly here on the earth!”

so that men shall say, "Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous. Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth."