Psalm 58:6–11

O God, break the teeth in their mouths;

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

Let them vanish like water that runs away;

when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.

Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,

like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.

Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,

whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!

The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

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

Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;

surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;

Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!

Let them vanish like water that flows away;

when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.

May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,

like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.

Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—

whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.

The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,

when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.

Then people will say,

“Surely the righteous still are rewarded;

surely there is a God who judges the earth.”

God, knock the teeth out of their mouths;

Lord, tear out the young lions’ fangs.

May they vanish like water that flows by;

may they aim their blunted arrows.

Like a slug that moves along in slime,

like a woman’s miscarried child,

may they not see the sun.

Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—

whether green or burning—

he will sweep them away.

The righteous one will rejoice

when he sees the retribution;

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

Then people will say,

“Yes, there is a reward for the righteous!

There is a God who judges on earth!”

Break off their fangs, O God!

Smash the jaws of these lions, O Lord!

May they disappear like water into thirsty ground.

Make their weapons useless in their hands.

May they be like snails that dissolve into slime,

like a stillborn child who will never see the sun.

God will sweep them away, both young and old,

faster than a pot heats over burning thorns.

The godly will rejoice when they see injustice avenged.

They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.

Then at last everyone will say,

“There truly is a reward for those who live for God;

surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.”

O God, break their teeth in their mouth.

Break off the fangs of the young lions, O Yahweh.

Let them run away like water that runs off.

When he bends the bow, let his arrows be as though they were cut off.

Let them be like a snail that melts away as it goes;

like the stillborn of woman that do not see the sun.

Before your pots can feel the heat of a thornbush,

whether green or dry, he will sweep it away.

The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

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

And people will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous.

Surely there is a God who judges in the land.”

Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth:

Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord.

Let them melt away as waters which run continually:

When he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.

As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away:

Like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

Before your pots can feel the thorns,

He shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.

The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance:

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

So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous:

Verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.