Psalm 58: A Rebuke of Unjust Judges
A sharp confrontation of corrupt rulers and a plea for God's justice.
Psalm 58 questions a 'congregation' of judges who work wickedness instead of righteousness, describing the wicked as 'estranged from the womb' and comparing them to 'the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear.' The tone contrasts with the settled praise closing Psalms 57.
Do ye indeed speak righteousness in silence? Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
No! In heart ye work wickedness. Ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
The wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
Their poison is like the poison of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops her ear,
which hearkens not to the voice of charmers, charming ever so wisely.
Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Jehovah.
Let them melt away as water that runs with haste. When he aims his arrows, let them be as though they were cut off,
as a snail which melts and passes away, as the untimely birth of a woman, that has not seen the sun.
Before your pots can feel the thorns, he will take them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.
A righteous man shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
so that men shall say, Truly there is a reward for the righteous man. Truly there is a God who judges in the earth.