1 Falais verdadeiramente justiça, ó juízes?

Julgais com retidão os filhos dos homens?

2 Longe disso; antes, no íntimo engendrais iniquidades

e distribuís na terra a violência de vossas mãos.

3 Desviam-se os ímpios desde a sua concepção;

nascem e já se desencaminham, proferindo mentiras.

4 Têm peçonha semelhante à peçonha da serpente;

são como a víbora surda, que tapa os ouvidos,

5 para não ouvir a voz dos encantadores,

do mais fascinante em encantamentos.

6 Ó Deus, quebra-lhes os dentes na boca;

arranca, Senhor, os queixais aos leõezinhos.

7 Desapareçam como águas que se escoam;

ao dispararem flechas, fiquem elas embotadas.

8 Sejam como a lesma, que passa diluindo-se;

como o aborto de mulher, não vejam nunca o sol.

9 Como espinheiros, antes que vossas panelas sintam deles o calor,

tanto os verdes como os que estão em brasa

serão arrebatados como por um redemoinho.

10 Alegrar-se-á o justo quando vir a vingança;

banhará os pés no sangue do ímpio.

11 Então, se dirá: Na verdade, há recompensa para o justo;

há um Deus, com efeito, que julga na terra.

1 Do ye indeed in silence speak righteousness?

Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?

2 Nay, in heart ye work wickedness;

Ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.

3 The wicked are estranged from the womb:

They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent:

They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear,

5 Which hearkeneth not to the voice of charmers,

Charming never so wisely.

6 Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth:

Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Jehovah.

7 Let them melt away as water that runneth apace:

When he aimeth his arrows, let them be as though they were cut off.

8 Let them be as a snail which melteth and passeth away,

Like the untimely birth of a woman, that hath not seen the sun.

9 Before your pots can feel the thorns,

He will take them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.

10 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance:

He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;

11 So that men shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous:

Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.

1 Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge people with equity?

2 No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.

3 Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.

4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,

5 that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be.

6 Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; LORD, tear out the fangs of those lions!

7 Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.

8 May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along, like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.

9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns — whether they be green or dry —the wicked will be swept away. [^1]

10 The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.

11 Then people will say, "Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth."