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God Who Judges the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam^[a] of David.

 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?^[b]
   Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
² No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
   your hands deal out violence on earth.

³ The wicked are estranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
⁴ They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
⁵ so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.

⁶ O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
⁷ Let them vanish like water that runs away;
when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
⁸ Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
⁹ Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he sweep them away!^[c]

¹⁰ The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
¹¹ Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 58:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
2. Psalm 58:1 Or you mighty lords (by revocalization; Hebrew in silence)
3. Psalm 58:9 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain

Cross references:

1. Psalm 58:1 : See Ps. 57, title
2. Psalm 58:1 : See Ps. 16, title
3. Psalm 58:2 : [Ps. 94:20]
4. Psalm 58:3 : Ps. 51:5; Isa. 48:8
5. Psalm 58:4 : Ps. 140:3; [Deut. 32:33]
6. Psalm 58:5 : Jer. 8:17
7. Psalm 58:6 : Ps. 3:7; Job 4:10; 29:17
8. Psalm 58:7 : Ps. 112:10; Josh. 7:5
9. Psalm 58:7 : Ps. 64:3
10. Psalm 58:8 : [See ver. 7 above]; Ps. 112:10; Josh. 7:5
11. Psalm 58:8 : See Job 3:16
12. Psalm 58:9 : Ps. 118:12; Eccles. 7:6
13. Psalm 58:9 : [Job 27:21; See Prov. 10:25]
14. Psalm 58:10 : Deut. 32:43; See Job 22:19
15. Psalm 58:10 : Ps. 68:23
16. Psalm 58:11 : Isa. 3:10
17. Psalm 58:11 : Ps. 67:4; 94:2; Gen. 18:25; Job 19:29; Eccles. 12:14