Psalm 58

A David Psalm

^1–258Is this any way to run a country?

Is there an honest politician in the house?

Behind the scenes you brew cauldrons of evil,

behind closed doors you make deals with demons.

^3–5The wicked crawl from the wrong side of the cradle;

their first words out of the womb are lies.

Poison, lethal rattlesnake poison,

drips from their forked tongues—

Deaf to threats, deaf to charm,

decades of wax built up in their ears.

^6–9God, smash their teeth to bits,

leave them toothless tigers.

Let their lives be buckets of water spilled,

all that’s left, a damp stain in the sand.

Let them be trampled grass

worn smooth by the traffic.

Let them dissolve into snail slime,

be a miscarried fetus that never sees sunlight.

Before what they cook up is half-done, God,

throw it out with the garbage!

^10–11The righteous will call up their friends

when they see the wicked get their reward,

Serve up their blood in goblets

as they toast one another,

Everyone cheering, “It’s worth it to play by the rules!

God’s handing out trophies and tending the earth!”