For the director of music. To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy’. Of David. A miktam.
1Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge people with equity?[1]2No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.3Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.4Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,5that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skilful the enchanter may be.6Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!7Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.8May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along, like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.9Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns – whether they be green or dry – the wicked will be swept away.[2]10The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.11Then people will say, ‘Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.’