Psalm 58

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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)

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2}

No, you practice injustice in your hearts;
with your hands you weigh out violence in the land.^(B)

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3}

The wicked go astray from the womb;
liars err from birth.^(C)

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4}

They have venom like the venom of a snake,
like the deaf cobra that stops up its ears,^(D)

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5}

that does not listen to the sound of the charmers
who skillfully weave spells.^(E)

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6}

God, knock the teeth out of their mouths;
Lord, tear out the young lions’ fangs.^(F)

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7}

They will vanish like water that flows by;
they will aim their useless arrows.^(c)^(d)^(G)

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8}

Like a slug that moves along in slime,
like a woman’s miscarried child,
they will not see the sun.^(H)

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9}

Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
whether green or burning—
He will sweep them away.^(e)^(I)

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10}

The righteous one will rejoice
when he sees the retribution;^(J)
he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.^(K)

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11}

Then people will say,
“Yes, there is a reward for the righteous!
There is a God who judges on earth!”^(L)

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

A. Psalm 58:1: Psalm 82:2

B. Psalm 58:2: Psalm 94:20; Isaiah 10:1; Malachi 3:15

C. Psalm 58:3: Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 48:8

D. Psalm 58:4: Deuteronomy 32:33; Psalm 140:3

E. Psalm 58:5: Ecclesiastes 10:11; Jeremiah 8:17

F. Psalm 58:6: Job 4:10; Job 29:17; Psalm 3:7

G. Psalm 58:7: Joshua 7:5; Psalm 112:10; Ezekiel 21:7

H. Psalm 58:8: Job 3:16; Ecclesiastes 6:3

I. Psalm 58:9: Job 27:21; Proverbs 10:25; Ecclesiastes 7:6

J. Psalm 58:10: Job 22:19

K. Psalm 58:10: Psalm 68:23; Jeremiah 11:20; Jeremiah 20:12

L. Psalm 58:11: Psalm 9:8; Psalm 67:4; Psalm 75:7