1 D o you indeed speak righteousness, O gods? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?

Do you indeed in silence speak righteousness, O you mighty ones? Do you judge fairly and uprightly, O you sons of men?

2 N o, in heart you work unrighteousness; On earth you weigh out the violence of your hands.

No, in your heart you devise wickedness; you deal out in the land the violence of your hands.

3 T he wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth.

The ungodly are perverse and estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.

4 T hey have venom like the venom of a serpent; Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,

Their poison is like the venom of a serpent; they are like the deaf adder or asp that stops its ear,

5 S o that it does not hear the voice of charmers, Or a skillful caster of spells.

Which listens not to the voice of charmers or of the enchanter never casting spells so cunningly.

6 O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth; Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.

Break their teeth, O God, in their mouths; break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.

7 L et them flow away like water that runs off; When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts.

Let them melt away as water which runs on apace; when he aims his arrows, let them be as if they were headless or split apart.

8 L et them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along, Like the miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun.

Let them be as a snail dissolving slime as it passes on or as a festering sore which wastes away, like a woman gives untimely birth that has not seen the sun.

9 B efore your pots can feel the fire of thorns He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.

Before your pots can feel the thorns, He will take them away as with a whirlwind, the green and the burning ones alike.

10 T he righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.

11 A nd men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely there is a God who judges on earth!”

Men will say, Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God Who judges on the earth.