1 For the leader. Set to "Do Not
Destroy." By David, a mikhtam: [Rulers,] does your silence really speak
justice? Are you judging people fairly?
2 [No!] In your hearts you devise
wrongs, your hands dispense violence in the land.
3 From the womb, the wicked are
estranged, liars on the wrong path since birth.
4 Their venom is like snake's venom;
they are like a serpent that stops its ears,
5 so as not to hear the voice of the
charmer, no matter how well he plays.
6 God, break their teeth in their
mouth! Shatter the fangs of these lions, ADONAI!
7 May they vanish like water that
drains away. May their arrows be blunted when they aim their bows.
8 May they be like a slug that melts as
it moves, like a stillborn baby that never sees the sun.
9 Before your cook-pots feel the heat
of the burning thorns, may he blow them away, green and blazing alike.
10 The righteous will rejoice to see
vengeance done, they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked;
11 and people will say, "Yes, the
righteous are rewarded; there is, after all, a God who judges the earth."
