Psalm 58

For the music director. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David.

Do y’all truly speak righteousness, mighty ones? Do y’all judge blamelessly, children of humanity? No, in your* hearts y’all plot injustice. Y’all weigh out the violence of your* hands in the earth. The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a snake, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear, which doesn’t listen to the voice of charmers, no matter how skillful the charmer may be. Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, YHWH. Let them vanish like water that flows away. When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt. Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away, like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun. Before y’all’s pots can feel the heat of the thorns, the green and the burning will be swept away. The righteous will rejoice when they sees the vengeance. They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked, so that people will say, “Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous. Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”