Psalm 58

A Cry against Injustice

For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.”[a] A Davidic Miktam.

Do you really speak righteously, you mighty ones?[b]
Do you judge people fairly?(A)
No, you practice injustice in your hearts;
with your hands you weigh out violence in the land.(B)

The wicked go astray from the womb;
liars err from birth.(C)
They have venom like the venom of a snake,
like the deaf cobra that stops up its ears,(D)
that does not listen to the sound of the charmers
who skillfully weave spells.(E)

God, knock the teeth out of their mouths;
Lord, tear out the young lions’ fangs.(F)
They will vanish like water that flows by;
they will aim their useless arrows.[c][d](G)
Like a slug that moves along in slime,
like a woman’s miscarried child,
they will not see the sun.(H)

Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
whether green or burning—
He will sweep them away.[e](I)
10 The righteous one will rejoice
when he sees the retribution;(J)
he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.(K)
11 Then people will say,
“Yes, there is a reward for the righteous!
There is a God who judges on earth!”(L)

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 58:1 Possibly a tune
  2. Psalm 58:1 Or Can you really speak righteousness in silence?
  3. Psalm 58:7 Or their arrows as if they were circumcised; Hb obscure
  4. Psalm 58:7 Or they wither like trampled grass
  5. Psalm 58:9 Or thorns, He will sweep it away, whether raw or cooking, or thorns, He will sweep him away alive in fury

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