Psalms 58

KJV · Chapter 58/150

1Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?

2Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.

3The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.

4Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;

5Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.

6Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord.

7Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.

8As 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.

9Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.

10The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

11So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

David denounces corrupt judges who have practiced violence from birth and likens their wickedness to serpent venom, asking God to break their power so that justice will finally be recognized on earth.

Explanation

This is another imprecatory psalm directed specifically against corrupt judicial authorities ('O congregation,' probably referring to judges or leaders who should uphold justice but do the opposite). The comparison to the 'deaf adder that stoppeth her ear' so as not to hear the charmers refers to real snake-charming practices known in the ancient world, used here as a metaphor for moral corruption that refuses to hear any correction. The psalm's conclusion ('there is a God that judgeth in the earth') affirms that, despite the appearance of impunity, there is a final justice that corrects what human systems fail to correct.

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