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 jawbones12
of the lions, O LORD!
58:7 Let them disappear13
like water that flows away!14
Let them wither like grass!15
58:8 Let them be16
like a snail that melts away as it moves along!17
Let them be like18
stillborn babies19
that never see the sun!
58:9 Before the kindling is even placed in your
pots,20
he21
will sweep away it away along with both the raw and cooked meat.22
58:10 The godly23
will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out,
they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
58:11 Then24
observers25
will say,
“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded!26
Yes indeed, there is a God who judges27
in the earth!”