Psalm 58
Do You Rulers Speak Justly?
Heading
For the choir director. “Do Not Destroy.”[a] By David. A miktam.
Unjust Rulers
1 Do you “gods” really speak righteously?[b]
Do you sons of Adam judge rightly?
2 No, in your heart you commit injustices.
On the earth your hands distribute violence.
3 The wicked go off course already from the womb.
From the belly they go astray. They speak lies.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like a deaf cobra that has stopped its ears,
5 that will not listen to the sound of the charmers,
however skillful the spellbinder may be.
The Curse on Unjust Rulers
6 O God, break their teeth in their mouths.
Tear out the fangs of the young lions, Lord!
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away.
When he draws his bow, let his arrows be cut off.[c]
8 As a slug melts away as it crawls along, so let him disappear.
Like a stillborn child may they not see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
whether the thorns are green or dry—they will be swept away.[d]
The Joy of the Righteous
10 The righteous one will be glad when he sees vengeance.
He will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then people will say, “Surely there is fruit for the righteous.
Surely there is a God judging on the earth.”
Footnotes
- Psalm 58:1 This may be the name of the tune.
- Psalm 58:1 This translation follows a correction of the text followed by most modern versions. The Hebrew and Greek read: Do you really speak justice in silence?
- Psalm 58:7 The text and its meaning are uncertain. Literally it seems to read: he treads his arrows like they are cut off/dry up.
- Psalm 58:9 The meaning is uncertain. Literally it seems to read: like living, like burning anger he will sweep it away.