Psalms 58
58
Judgment on the Wicked
For the music director, according to Do not Destroy.
Of David. A miktam.#The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one
1Do you really speak what is right when silent?#A slight emendation of the Hebrew text yields “what is right, O gods,” or “O mighty ones”
Do you judge fairly the children of humankind?#Or “Do you judge fairly, O sons of humankind?”
2No, in your heart you plan injustices;
in the land#Or “on the earth” you weigh out the violence of your hands.
3The wicked are estranged from the womb.
They go astray from the belly, speaking lies.
4Their venom is like snake venom;
They are like a deaf viper that closes its ear
5so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or the skilled caster of spells.
6O God, break their teeth in their mouth.
Break off the fangs of the young lions, O Yahweh.
7Let them run away like water that runs off.
When he bends the bow, let his arrows be as though they were cut off.#Or “as though they were withered stalks”
8Let them be like a snail that melts away as it goes;
like the stillborn of woman that do not see the sun.
9Before your pots can feel the heat of a thornbush,
whether green or dry,#Literally “burning” he will sweep it away.#The Hebrew of this verse is difficult to interpret
10The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11And people#Hebrew “a person” will say, “Surely there is a reward#Literally “fruit” for the righteous.
Surely there is a God who judges in the land.”#Or “on the earth”
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Psalms 58: LEB
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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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