Psalm 58

Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.

¹Do you indeed speak righteousness, you gods?[#58:1 Another reading is speak righteousness in silence; #58:1 Or mighty ones; or judges]

Do you judge fairly, you sons of mankind?

²No, in heart you practice injustice;

On earth you clear a way for the violence of your hands.

³The wicked have turned away from the womb;

These who speak lies go astray from birth.

⁴They have venom like the venom of a serpent;

Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,

⁵So that it does not hear the voice of charmers,[#58:5 Or whisperers]

Or a skillful caster of spells.

⁶¶God, shatter their teeth in their mouth;

Break out the fangs of the young lions, Lord .

⁷May they flow away like water that runs off;

When he aims his arrows, may they be as headless shafts.

⁸May they be like a snail which goes along in slime,

Like the miscarriage of a woman that never sees the sun.

⁹Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns

He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.

¹⁰¶The righteous will rejoice when he sees vengeance;

He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

¹¹And people will say, “There certainly is a reward for the righteous;[#58:11 Lit fruit]

There certainly is a God who judges on the earth!”