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 people with equity?
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, spreading 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; Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!
7 - Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.
8 - May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along, like a stillborn child that never sees 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 dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 - Then people will say, "Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth."