Psalm 58

God Who Judges the Earth

1Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?[#58:1 Or you mighty lords (by revocalization; Hebrew]

Do you judge the children of man uprightly?

2No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

your hands deal out violence on earth.

3The wicked are estranged from the womb;[#Ps. 51:5; Isa. 48:8]

they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

4They have venom like the venom of a serpent,[#Ps. 140:3; Deut. 32:33]

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

5so that it does not hear the voice of charmers[#Jer. 8:17]

or of the cunning enchanter.

6O God, break the teeth in their mouths;[#Ps. 3:7; Job 4:10; 29:17]

tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord !

7Let them vanish like water that runs away;[#Ps. 112:10; Josh. 7:5]

when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.

8Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,[#7]

like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.

9Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,[#Ps. 118:12; Eccles. 7:6]

whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!

10The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;[#Deut. 32:43; Job 22:19]

he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.

11Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;[#Isa. 3:10]

surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Published by: Crossway / Good News Publishers