Psalm 58

Common English Bible

³ The wicked backslide from the womb;
    liars go astray from birth.
⁴ Their venom is like a snake’s venom—
    like a deaf cobra’s—one that shuts its ears
⁵         so it can’t hear the snake charmer’s voice
        or the spells of a skillful enchanter.

⁶ God, break their teeth out of their mouths!
    Tear out the lions’ jawbones, Lord!
⁷ Let them dissolve like water flowing away.
    When they bend the bow,
    let their arrows be like headless shafts.^[b]
8 Like the snail that dissolves into slime,
    like a woman’s stillborn child,
    let them never see the sun.
⁹ Before your pots feel the thorns,
    whether green or burned up,
    God will sweep them away!^[c]

¹⁰ But the righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done,
    when they wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
¹¹ Then it will be said:
“Yes, there is a reward for the righteous!
    Yes, there is a God who judges people on the earth.”