Psalms 58
58
For the Music Director. To the melody of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David.
1Do you truly speak righteousness, O heavenly gods?
Do you judge uprightly, O earthly men?
2#Ps 63:1; 84:2 Indeed, in the heart you work wickedness;
you weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
3#Ps 79:10; 80:5 The wicked are estranged from the womb onward;
those who speak lies go astray from birth.
4#Isa 30:29; Ps 62:8 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
they are like the deaf adder that plugs its ear,
5#Ps 42:11; 43:5 and will not listen to the voice of charmers,
even the best and wisest enchanter.
6#2Sa 17:22; Dt 3:8–9 Break their teeth in their mouth, O God;
break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord.
7#Ps 88:7; Jnh 2:3 May they melt away as waters which run continually;
when he bends his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be trodden under.
8#Job 35:10; Ps 63:6 May they become as a snail that melts as it goes,
like the untimely birth of a woman, may they not see the sun.
9#Ps 38:6; 18:2 Before your pots can feel the thorns’ heat, green or burning,
may He sweep them away.
10#Ps 42:3; Joel 2:17 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;
11#Ps 42:5; 43:5 and people will say,
“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on the earth.”
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Psalms 58: MEV
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Military Bible Association
Psalms 58
58
The Dethroning of Unjust Rulers
1For the leader. Do not destroy.#Do not destroy: probably the title of the melody to which the Psalm was to be sung. A miktam of David.
I
2Do you indeed pronounce justice, O gods;#Gods: the Bible sometimes understands pagan gods to be lesser divine beings who are assigned by Israel’s God to rule the foreign nations. Here they are accused of injustice, permitting the human judges under their patronage to abuse the righteous, cf. Ps 82.
do you judge fairly you children of Adam?#Ps 82:2; Dt 16:19.
3No, you freely engage in crime;
your hands dispense violence to the earth.
II
4The wicked have been corrupt since birth;
liars from the womb, they have gone astray.
5#The image is that of a poisonous snake that is controlled by the voice or piping of its trainer.Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like that of a serpent stopping its ears,#Ps 64:4; 140:3; Rom 3:13.
6So as not to hear the voice of the charmer
or the enchanter with cunning spells.
III
7O God, smash the teeth in their mouths;
break the fangs of these lions, Lord!#Ps 3:7.
8Make them vanish like water flowing away;#Wis 16:29.
trodden down, let them wither like grass.#Ps 37:2.
9Let them dissolve like a snail that oozes away,#A snail that oozes away: empty shells suggested to ancients that snails melted away as they left a slimy trail.
like an untimely birth that never sees the sun.#Jb 3:16.
10Suddenly, like brambles or thistles,
have the whirlwind snatch them away.#Jb 21:18; Hos 13:3; Na 1:10.
11Then the just shall rejoice to see the vengeance
and bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.#Ps 68:24; Is 63:1–6.
12Then people will say:
“Truly there is a reward for the just;
there is a God who is judge on earth!”
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc