A Cry against Injustice

1 For the choir director: “Do Not Destroy.”(a) A Davidic Miktam.
Do you really speak righteously, you mighty ones?(b)
Do you judge people fairly?(A)
2
No, you practice injustice in your hearts;
with your hands you weigh out violence in the land.(B)
3
The wicked go astray from the womb;
liars err from birth.(C)
4
They have venom like the venom of a snake,
like the deaf cobra that stops up its ears,(D)
5
that does not listen to the sound of the charmers
who skillfully weave spells.(E)
6
God, knock the teeth out of their mouths;
Lord, tear out the young lions’ fangs.(F)
7
They will vanish like water that flows by;
they will aim their useless arrows.(c)(d)(G)
8
Like a slug that moves along in slime,
like a woman’s miscarried child,
they will not see the sun.(H)
9
Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
whether green or burning—
He will sweep them away.(e)(I)
10
The righteous one will rejoice
when he sees the retribution;(J)
he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.(K)
11
Then people will say,
“Yes, there is a reward for the righteous!
There is a God who judges on earth!”(L)

Footnotes:

a. Psalm 58:1: Possibly a tune
b. Psalm 58:1: Or Can you really speak righteousness in silence?
c. Psalm 58:7: Or their arrows as if they were circumcised; Hb obscure
d. Psalm 58:7: Or they wither like trampled grass
e. Psalm 58:9: Or thorns, He will sweep it away, whether raw or cooking, or thorns, He will sweep him away alive in fury

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