| | 1 | For the director of music. To the tune of"Do Not Destroy." Of David. A miktam. Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge uprightly among men? | |
| | 2 | No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth. | |
| | 3 | Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies. | |
| | 4 | Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears, | |
| | 5 | that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be. | |
| | 6 | Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; tear out, O LORD, the fangs of the lions! | |
| | 7 | Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows be blunted. | |
| | 8 | Like a slug melting away as it moves along, like a stillborn child, may they not see the sun. | |
| | 9 | Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns--whether they be green or dry--the wicked will be swept away. | |
| | 10 | The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked. | |
| | 11 | Then men will say, "Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth." | |
