Psalm 58

Psalm 58

Prayer for Vengeance

To the leader: Do Not Destroy. Of David. A Miktam.

¹Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?

Do you judge people fairly?^*

²No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

your hands deal out violence on earth.^*

³The wicked go astray from the womb;

they err from their birth, speaking lies.^*

⁴They have venom like the venom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,^*

⁵so that it does not hear the voice of charmers

or of the cunning enchanter.^*

⁶O God, break the teeth in their mouths;

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

⁷Let them vanish like water that runs away;

like grass let them be trodden down^p and wither.^*

⁸Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,

like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.^*

⁹Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,

whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!^*

¹⁰The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done;

they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.^*

¹¹People will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;

surely there is a God who judges^q on earth.”^*