Psalms 58 · God Judges the Earth

1For the leader; al tashḥeth. Of David. A michtam.

2O mighty ones, do you really decree what is just?Do you judge humankind with equity?

3In your minds you devise wrongdoing in the land;with your hands you deal out lawlessness.

4The wicked are defiant from birth;the liars go astray from the womb.

5Their venom is like that of a snake,a deaf viper that stops its ears

6so as not to hear the voice of charmersor the expert mutterer of spells.

7O God, smash their teeth in their mouth;shatter the fangs of lions, O ETERNAL One;

8let them melt, let them vanish like water—aim Your arrows that they be cut down—

9like a snail that melts away as it moves; like a woman’s stillbirth—may they never see the sun!

10Before the thorns grow into a bramble,whirl them away alive in fury.

11The righteous will rejoice when they see revenge;they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.

12People will say,“There is, then, a reward for the righteous;there is, indeed, divine justice on earth.”