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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Psalms 58: NABRE
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Psalms 58
58
PSALM 58.
1Unto the end, destroy not, for David for an inscription of It title, when Saul sent and watched his house to kill him#1 Kings 19..
2Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; and defend me from them that rise up against me.
3Deliver me from them that work iniquity, and save me from bloody men.
4For behold they have caught my soul: the mighty have rushed in upon me:
5Neither is it my iniquity, nor my sin, O Lord: without iniquity have I run, and directed my steps.
6Rise up thou to meet me, and behold: even thou, O Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel. Attend to visit all the nations: have no mercy on all them that work iniquity.
7They shall return at evening, and shall suffer hunger like dogs: and shall go round about the city.
8Behold they shall speak with their mouth, and a sword is in their lips: for who, say they, hath heard us?
9But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them: thou shalt bring all the nations to nothing.
10I will keep my strength to thee: for thou art my protector:
11my God, his mercy shall prevent me.
12God shall let me see over my enemies: slay them not, lest at any time my people forget. Scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord, my protector:
13For the sin of their mouth, and the word of their lips: and let them be taken in their pride. And for their cursing and lying they shall be talked of,
14when they are consumed: when they are consumed by thy wrath, and they shall be no more. And they shall know that God will rule Jacob, and all the ends of the earth.
15They shall return at evening and shall suffer hunger like dogs: and shall go round about the city.
16They shall be scattered abroad to eat, and shall murmur if they be not filled.
17But I will sing thy strength: and will extol thy mercy in the morning. For thou art become my support, and my refuge, in the day of my trouble.
18Unto thee, O my helper, will I sing, for thou art God my defence: my God my mercy.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.