Psalm 58

For the director of music.  Destroy not.  A miktam of David

St. Michel's [Goshen], C.M.D.

	1 You may be gods, but can you claim That you speak righteousness? And do you judge the sons of men In truth and uprightness? 2 No, even in your very heart You wickedness produce; On earth you weigh out with your hands Your violent abuse.
	3 The wicked from their day of birth Are strangers to the way; They from the womb come speakng lies; They wander far astray. 4 They have the venom of a snake; They have an adder's ear Which they have closed 5 to charmers' songs; Skilled charmers they'll not hear.
	6 O God, inside their opened mouths Break off their cruel teeth; The fangs of these young lions, LORD, Tear out by roots beneath. 7 Let them like runoff waters be That leave the ground soon dry. Let arrows that he aims become Like headless shafts that fly.
	8 Let them be like the snails that melt Along the course they run; Or like one prematurely born Who never sees the sun. 9 They are like blazing thorns which you Beneath your kettles lay, Whose heat is scarcely felt before A wind sweeps them away.
	10 The just rejoices when he sees That vengeance is complete, For in the blood of wicked men He then will wash his feet. 11 They'll say, "There surely is reward For righteous ones of worth; There surely is a living God Who judges in the earth."