To the chief Musician, Altaschith
, Michtam
of David
. Do ye indeed
speak
righteousness
, O congregation
? do ye judge
uprightly
, O ye sons
of men
?
Yea, in heart ye work
wickedness
; ye weigh
the violence
of your hands
in the earth
.
The wicked are estranged
from the womb
: they go astray
as soon as they be born
, speaking
lies
.
Their poison is like
the poison
of a serpent
: they are like the deaf
adder
that stoppeth
her ear
;
Which will not hearken to the voice
of charmers
, charming
never so wisely
.
Break their teeth
, O God
, in their mouth
: break out
the great teeth
of the young lions
, O LORD
.
Let them melt away as waters
which run continually
: when he bendeth
his bow to shoot his arrows
, let them be as cut in pieces
.
As 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
.
Before your pots can feel
the thorns
, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind
, both living
, and in his wrath
.
The righteous shall rejoice
when he seeth
the vengeance
: he shall wash
his feet
in the blood
of the wicked
.
So that a man shall say
, Verily there is a reward
for the righteous
: verily he is
a God
that judgeth
in the earth
.