For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David. ¹ Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods?
Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men? ² No, in heart you work unrighteousness;
On earth you weigh out the violence of your hands. ³ The wicked are estranged from the womb;
These who speak lies go astray from birth. ⁴ They have venom like the venom of a serpent;
Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear, ⁵ So that it does not hear the voice of charmers,
Or a skillful caster of spells. ⁶ O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD. ⁷ Let them flow away like water that runs off;
When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts. ⁸ Let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along,
Like the miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun. ⁹ Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns
He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike. ¹⁰ The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. ¹¹ And men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely there is a God who judges on earth!”