Judgment on the Wicked

58 For the music director, according to Do not Destroy.

Of David. A miktam.a

1 Do you really speak what is right when silent?b

Do you judge fairly the children of humankind?c

2 No, in your heart you plan injustices;

in the landd you weigh out the violence of your hands.

3 The wicked are estranged from the womb.

They go astray from the belly, speaking lies.

4 Their venom is like snake venom;

They are like a deaf viper that closes its ear

5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers

or the skilled caster of spells.

6 O God, break their teeth in their mouth.

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

7 Let them run away like water that runs off.

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

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

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

9 Before your pots can feel the heat of a thornbush,

whether green or ⌊dry⌋,f he will sweep it away.g

10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

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

11 And peopleh will say, “Surely there is a ⌊reward⌋i for the righteous.

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