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Psalm 58
Common English Bible
Psalm 58
Common English Bible
Psalm 58
For the music leader. Do not destroy. A psalm of David, a miktam.[a]
58 Do you really speak what is right, you gods?
Do you really judge humans fairly?
2 No: in your hearts you plan injustice;
your hands do violence on the earth.
3 The wicked backslide from the womb;
liars go astray from birth.
4 Their venom is like a snake’s venom—
like a deaf cobra’s—one that shuts its ears
5 so it can’t hear the snake charmer’s voice
or the spells of a skillful enchanter.
6 God, break their teeth out of their mouths!
Tear out the lions’ jawbones, Lord!
7 Let them dissolve like water flowing away.
When they bend the bow,
let their arrows be like headless shafts.[b]
8 Like the snail that dissolves into slime,
like a woman’s stillborn child,
let them never see the sun.
9 Before your pots feel the thorns,
whether green or burned up,
God will sweep them away![c]
10 But the righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done,
when they wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then it will be said:
“Yes, there is a reward for the righteous!
Yes, there is a God who judges people on the earth.”
Footnotes
- Psalm 58:1 Perhaps inscription
- Psalm 58:7 Heb uncertain
- Psalm 58:9 Heb uncertain
Psalm 58
New International Version
Psalm 58
New International Version
Psalm 58[a]
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.[b]
1 Do you rulers indeed speak justly?(A)
Do you judge people with equity?
2 No, in your heart you devise injustice,(B)
and your hands mete out violence on the earth.(C)
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,(D)
like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
5 that will not heed(E) the tune of the charmer,(F)
however skillful the enchanter may be.
6 Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;(G)
Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!(H)
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away;(I)
when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.(J)
8 May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,(K)
like a stillborn child(L) that never sees the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns(M)—
whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.[c](N)
10 The righteous will be glad(O) when they are avenged,(P)
when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.(Q)
11 Then people will say,
“Surely the righteous still are rewarded;(R)
surely there is a God who judges the earth.”(S)
Footnotes
- Psalm 58:1 In Hebrew texts 58:1-11 is numbered 58:2-12.
- Psalm 58:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
- Psalm 58:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.
Psalm 58
King James Version
Psalm 58
King James Version
58 Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
2 Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be 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 will not hearken 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 Lord.
7 Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
8 As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.