PSALMS. Chapter 58. For the choir director; al tashcheth; a miktam by David. Do you rulers really give fair verdicts? Do you judge Adam’s descendants fairly? No, you invent new crimes on earth, and your hands spread violence. ⌞Even⌟ inside the womb wicked people are strangers ⌞to God⌟. From their birth liars go astray. They have poisonous venom like snakes. They are like a deaf cobra that shuts its ears so that it cannot hear the voice of a snake charmer or of anyone trained to cast spells. O God, knock the teeth out of their mouths. Break the young lions’ teeth, O Lord. Let them disappear like water that drains away. When they aim their bows, let their arrows miss the target. Let them become like a snail that leaves behind a slimy trail or like a stillborn child who never sees the sun. Let ⌞God⌟ sweep them away faster than a cooking pot is heated by burning twigs. Righteous people will rejoice when they see ⌞God⌟ take revenge. They will wash their feet in the blood of wicked people. Then people will say, “Righteous people certainly have a reward. There is a God who judges on earth.”