1. [For the choir director: "Do Not Destroy." A Davidic Miktam.] Do you really speak righteously, you mighty ones? Do you judge people fairly?

2. No, you practice injustice in your hearts; with your hands you weigh out violence in the land.

3. The wicked go astray from the womb; liars err from birth.

4. They have venom like the venom of a snake, like the deaf cobra that stops up its ears,

5. that does not listen to the sound of the charmers who skillfully weave spells.

6. God, knock the teeth out of their mouths; LORD, tear out the young lions' fangs.

7. They will vanish like water that flows by; they will aim their useless arrows.

8. Like a slug that moves along in slime, like a woman's miscarried [child], they will not see the sun.

9. Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns-- whether green or burning-- He will sweep them away.

10. The righteous will rejoice when he sees the retribution; he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

11. Then people will say, "Yes, there is a reward for the righteous! There is a God who judges on earth!"