Psa 58 | HCSB | STEP | For the choir director : “Do Not Destroy .” A Davidic Miktam . Do you really speak righteously , you mighty ones ? Do you judge people fairly ?

Psalms 58

A Cry against Injustice

1 For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.” ^{▼▼Possibly a tune} A Davidic ^{▼▼Miktam: A musical term of uncertain meaning, possibly denoting a plaintive style}Miktam.

Do you really speak righteously, you mighty ones? ^{▼▼Or Can you really speak righteousness in silence?}
Do you judge ^{▼▼people: Literally sons of man or sons of Adam}people fairly? ^e
2 No, you practice injustice in your hearts;
with your hands you weigh out violence in the land. ^f

3 The wicked go astray from the womb;
liars err from birth. ^g
4 They have venom like the venom of a snake,
like the deaf cobra that stops up its ears ^h
5 that does not listen to the sound of the charmers
who skillfully weave spells. ⁱ

6 God, knock the teeth out of their mouths;
Lord, tear out the young lions’ fangs. ^j
7 They will vanish like water that flows by;
they will aim their useless arrows. ^{▼▼Or their arrows as if they were circumcised; Hb obscure
,} ^{▼▼Or they wither like trampled grass
,} ^m
8 Like a slug that moves along in slime,
like a woman’s miscarried child,
they will not see the sun. ⁿ

9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns –
whether green or burning –
He will sweep them away. ^{▼▼Or thorns, He will sweep it away, whether raw or cooking, or thorns, He will sweep him away alive in fury
,} ^p
10 The righteous one will rejoice
when he sees the retribution; ^q
he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. ^r
11 Then people will say,
“Yes, there is a reward for the righteous!
There is a God who judges on earth!” ^s