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?

No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.

Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies.

Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,

that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be.

Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; tear out, O LORD, the fangs of the lions!

Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows be blunted.

Like a slug melting away as it moves along, like a stillborn child, may they not see the sun.

Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns--whether they be green or dry--the wicked will be swept away.

The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.

Then men will say, "Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth."