Psalm 58 :: New International Version (NIV)

Psa 58:1

Psa 58:1 [fn]For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.[fn] Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge people with equity?

Psa 58:2

Psa 58:2No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.

Psa 58:3

Psa 58:3Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.

Psa 58:4

Psa 58:4Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,

Psa 58:5

Psa 58:5that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be.

Psa 58:6

Psa 58:6Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; LORD, tear out the fangs of those lions!

Psa 58:7

Psa 58:7Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.

Psa 58:8

Psa 58:8May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along, like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.

Psa 58:9

Psa 58:9Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns— whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.[fn]

Psa 58:10

Psa 58:10The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.

Psa 58:11

Psa 58:11Then people will say, “Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.”

See the NIV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NIV Footnotes

(58:1)

In Hebrew texts 58:1-11 is numbered 58:2-12.

(58:1)

Title: Probably a literary or musical term

(58:9)

The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.

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For more information on this translation, see the NIV Preface.