58
Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.
To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Do Not Destroy.” A Mikhtam of David. [A record of memorable thoughts of David].
1 Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods (heavenly beings)?
Do you judge fairly, O sons of men? [Ps 82:1, 2]
2 No, in your heart you devise wrongdoing;
On earth you deal out the violence of your hands.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
These go astray from birth, speaking lies [even twisted partial truths].
4 Their poison is like the venom of a serpent;
They are like the deaf horned viper that stops up its ear,
5 So that it does not listen to the voice of charmers,
Or of the skillful enchanter casting [cunning] spells.
6 O God, break their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Loʀᴅ.
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 (secretes slime) as it goes along,
Like the miscarriage of a woman which never sees the sun.
9 Before your cooking pots can feel the fire of thorns [burning under them as fuel],
He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning ones alike.
10 The [unyieldingly] righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance [of God];
He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely there is a God who judges on the earth.”