Psalm 58

God Who Judges the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to #See Ps. 57, title Do Not Destroy. A #See Ps. 16, titleMiktam#58:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term of David.

1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?*58:1 Or you mighty lords (by revocalization; Hebrew in silence)

Do you judge the children of man uprightly?

2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;

your hands *[Ps. 94:20]deal out violence on earth.

3 The wicked are *Ps. 51:5;Isa. 48:8estranged from the womb;

they go astray from birth, speaking lies.

4 *Ps. 140:3;[Deut. 32:33]They have venom like the venom of a serpent,

like the deaf adder that stops its ear,

5 so that it *Jer. 8:17does not hear the voice of charmers

or of the cunning enchanter.

6 O God, *Ps. 3:7;Job 4:10;29:17break the teeth in their mouths;

tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!

7 Let them *Ps. 112:10;Josh. 7:5vanish like water that runs away;

when he *Ps. 64:3aims his arrows, let them be blunted.

8 Let them be like the snail *[See ver. 7above] that dissolves into slime,

like *See Job 3:16the stillborn child who never sees the sun.

9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of *Ps. 118:12;Eccles. 7:6thorns,

whether green or ablaze, may he *[Job 27:21;See Prov. 10:25]sweep them away!*58:9 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain

10 *Deut. 32:43;See Job 22:19The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

he will *Ps. 68:23bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.

11 Mankind will say, "Surely there is *Isa. 3:10a reward for the righteous;

surely there is a God who *Ps. 67:4;94:2;Gen. 18:25;Job 19:29;Eccles. 12:14judges on earth."