1 T o the Overseer. -- `Destroy not.' -- A secret treasure, by David. Is it true, O dumb one, righteously ye speak? Uprightly ye judge, O sons of men?

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

2 E ven in heart ye work iniquities, In the land the violence of your hands ye ponder.

No, in heart you work unrighteousness; On earth you weigh out the violence of your hands.

3 T he wicked have been estranged from the womb, They have erred from the belly, speaking lies.

The wicked are estranged from the womb; These who speak lies go astray from birth.

4 T heir poison as poison of a serpent, As a deaf asp shutting its ear,

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

5 W hich hearkeneth not to the voice of whisperers, A charmer of charms most skilful.

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

6 O God, break their teeth in their mouth, The jaw-teeth of young lions break down, O Jehovah.

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

7 T hey are melted as waters, They go up and down for themselves, His arrow proceedeth as they cut themselves off.

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

8 A s a snail that melteth he goeth on, an untimely birth of a woman, They have not seen the sun.

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

9 B efore your pots discern the bramble, As well the raw as the heated He whirleth away.

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

10 T he righteous rejoiceth that he hath seen vengeance, His steps he washeth in the blood of the wicked.

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

11 A nd man saith: `Surely fruit for the righteous: Surely there is a God judging in the earth!'

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