Psalms 58

1Do ye indeed in silence speak righteousness? Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?

1Do you leaders really speak justly? Do you judge people fairly?

2Nay, in heart ye work wickedness; Ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.

2No, in your hearts you dream up injustice; you use your hands to spread violence throughout the land.

3The wicked are estranged from the womb: They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

3Even from birth, the wicked turn away; they go astray from the womb, telling lies.

4Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear,

4Their venom is like the venom of a snake; they are like a cobra that has shut its ears,

5Which hearkeneth not to the voice of charmers, Charming never so wisely.

5that will not listen to the voice of the charmers, no matter how skillfully they play.

6Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Jehovah.

6O God, break the teeth in their mouths; Lord, tear out the fangs of these lions!

7Let them melt away as water that runneth apace: When he aimeth his arrows, let them be as though they were cut off.

7Let them disappear like water that flows away; when they draw their bows, let their arrows be blunt.

8Let them beas a snail which melteth and passeth away, Likethe untimely birth of a woman, that hath not seen the sun.

8Let them be like a snail that dissolves into slime as it moves, or like a stillborn baby who never sees the sun.

9Before your pots can feel the thorns, He will take them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.

9Before your cooking pots can feel the heat of the burning thorns, God will sweep them away in a whirlwind, whether the fuel is green or dry.

10The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;

10The righteous will be glad when they see justice done; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.

11So that men shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth.

11Then people will say, 'Surely the godly are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.'