King James Version
Psalm 58
Delivering a direct indictment against corrupt judges, Psalm 58 belongs to the category of prophetic laments and imprecatory prayers. The text confronts rulers who weigh violence instead of administering justice, comparing their stubborn dishonesty to venomous serpents. Using vivid imagery of melting snails and swept away thorns, the speaker asks for the complete dismantling of oppressive authority so that moral order is vindicated. The psalm assures readers that ethical choices matter in history. A crucial key verse confirms this theme: "Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth."
1 Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
2 Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
5 Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.
6 Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.
7 Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
8 As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.
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