Psalms 58

1 To the Overseer. — 'Destroy not.' — A secret treasure, by David. Is it true, O dumb one, righteously ye speak? Uprightly ye judge, O sons of men?

For the chief musician; set to Al Tashheth. A psalm of David. A michtam. Do you rulers speak righteousness? Do you judge uprightly, you people?

2 Even in heart ye work iniquities, In the land the violence of your hands ye ponder.

No, you commit wickedness in your heart; you distribute violence throughout the land with your hands.

3 The wicked have been estranged from the womb, They have erred from the belly, speaking lies.

The wicked go astray even when they are in the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

4 Their poison [is] as poison of a serpent, As a deaf asp shutting its ear,

Their poison is like a snake's poison; they are like a deaf adder that stops up its ears,

5 Which hearkeneth not to the voice of whisperers, A charmer of charms most skilful.

that pays no attention to the voice of charmers, no matter how skillful they are.

6 O God, break their teeth in their mouth, The jaw-teeth of young lions break down, O Jehovah.

Break their teeth in their mouths, God; break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.

7 They are melted as waters, They go up and down for themselves, His arrow proceedeth as they cut themselves off.

Let them melt away as water that runs off; when they shoot their arrows, let them be as though they had no points.

8 As a snail that melteth he goeth on, [As] an untimely birth of a woman, They have not seen the sun.

Let them be like a snail that melts and passes away, like the untimely-born child of a woman that never sees the sunlight.

9 Before your pots discern the bramble, As well the raw as the heated He whirleth away.

Before your pots can feel the thorn's burning heat, he will take them away with a whirlwind, the green thorns and the burning thorns alike.

10 The righteous rejoiceth that he hath seen vengeance, His steps he washeth in the blood of the wicked.

The righteous will rejoice when he sees God's vengeance; he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,

11 And man saith: 'Surely fruit [is] for the righteous: Surely there is a God judging in the earth!'

so that men will say, “Truly, there is a reward for the righteous person; truly there is a God who judges the earth.”