Psalm 58
Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.
For the choir director; set to †Al-tashheth. A •Mikhtam of David.
1 Do you indeed 1speak righteousness, O 2gods?
Do you ajudge 3uprightly, O sons of men?
2 No, in heart you awork unrighteousness;
On earth you bweigh out the violence of your hands.
3 The wicked are estranged afrom the womb;
These who speak lies bgo astray from 1birth.
4 They have venom like the avenom of a serpent;
Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,
5 So that it adoes not hear the voice of 1bcharmers,
Or a skillful caster of spells.
6 O God, ashatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.
7 Let them aflow away like water that runs off;
When he 1baims his arrows, let them be as 2headless shafts.
8 Let them be as a snail which 1melts away as it goes along,
Like the amiscarriages of a woman which never see the sun.
9 Before your apots can feel the fire of thorns
He will bsweep them away with a whirlwind, the 1green and the burning alike.
10 The arighteous will rejoice when he bsees the vengeance;
He will cwash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 And men will say, “Surely there is a 1areward for the righteous;