Psalm 58

New International Version

Psalm 58^[a]

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.^[b]

¹Do you rulers indeed speak justly?^(A)
Do you judge people with equity?
²No, in your heart you devise injustice,^(B)
and your hands mete out violence on the earth.^(C)

³Even from birth the wicked go astray;
    from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.
⁴Their venom is like the venom of a snake,^(D)
    like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
⁵that will not heed^(E) the tune of the charmer,^(F)
    however skillful the enchanter may be.

⁶Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;^(G)
    Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!^(H)
⁷Let them vanish like water that flows away;^(I)
    when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.^(J)
⁸May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,^(K)
    like a stillborn child^(L) that never sees the sun.

⁹Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns^(M)—
    whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.^[c]^(N)
¹⁰The righteous will be glad^(O) when they are avenged,^(P)
    when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.^(Q)
¹¹Then people will say,
    “Surely the righteous still are rewarded;^(R)
    surely there is a God who judges the earth.”^(S)