Psalm 5823

For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style;24 a prayer25 of David.

58:1 Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions?1

Do you judge people2 fairly?

58:2 No!3 You plan how to do what is unjust;4

you deal out violence in the earth.5

58:3 The wicked turn aside from birth;6

liars go astray as soon as they are born.7

58:4 Their venom is like that of a snake,8

like a deaf serpent9 that does not hear,10

58:5 that does not respond to11 the magicians,

or to a skilled snake-charmer.

58:6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths!

Smash the jawbones of the lions, O Lord!

58:7 Let them disappear12 like water that flows away!13

Let them wither like grass!14

58:8 Let them be15 like a snail that melts away as it moves along!16

Let them be like17 stillborn babies18 that never see the sun!

58:9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots,19

he20 will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat.21

58:10 The godly22 will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out;

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

58:11 Then23 observers24 will say,

“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded!25

Yes indeed, there is a God who judges26 in the earth!”