Psalms 58
58
Judge of the Judges
For the Pure and Shining One
King David’s golden song of instruction
To the tune of “Do Not Destroy”
1-2God’s justice? You high and mighty politicians
know nothing about it!
Which one of you has walked in justice toward others?
Which one of you has treated everyone right and fair?
Not one! You only give “justice” in exchange for a bribe.
For the right price you let others get away with murder.
3-4Wicked wanderers even from the womb—that’s who you are!
You lie with your words, and your teaching is poison. # 58:3–4 The Hebrew reads “venom of a serpent,” which is a clear metaphor for wrong teaching.
5Like cobras closing their ears to the most expert of the charmers,
you strike out against all who are near.
6O God, break their fangs;
shatter the teeth of these ravenous lions!
7Let them disappear like water falling on thirsty ground.
Let all their weapons be useless.
8Let them be like snails dissolving into the slime.
Let them be cut off, never seeing the light of day!
9God will sweep them away so fast
that they’ll never know what hit them. # 58:9 The Hebrew here is recognized by nearly every scholar to be one of the most difficult verses in the Psalms to translate.
10The godly will celebrate in the triumph of good over evil,
and the lovers of God will trample
the wickedness of the wicked under their feet!
11Then everyone will say, “There is a God who judges the judges”
and “There is a great reward in loving God!”
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Psalms 58: TPT
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Learn More About The Passion TranslationPsalms 58
58
The Dethroning of Unjust Rulers
1For the leader. Do not destroy.#Do not destroy: probably the title of the melody to which the Psalm was to be sung. A miktam of David.
I
2Do you indeed pronounce justice, O gods;#Gods: the Bible sometimes understands pagan gods to be lesser divine beings who are assigned by Israel’s God to rule the foreign nations. Here they are accused of injustice, permitting the human judges under their patronage to abuse the righteous, cf. Ps 82.
do you judge fairly you children of Adam?#Ps 82:2; Dt 16:19.
3No, you freely engage in crime;
your hands dispense violence to the earth.
II
4The wicked have been corrupt since birth;
liars from the womb, they have gone astray.
5#The image is that of a poisonous snake that is controlled by the voice or piping of its trainer.Their venom is like the venom of a snake,
like that of a serpent stopping its ears,#Ps 64:4; 140:3; Rom 3:13.
6So as not to hear the voice of the charmer
or the enchanter with cunning spells.
III
7O God, smash the teeth in their mouths;
break the fangs of these lions, Lord!#Ps 3:7.
8Make them vanish like water flowing away;#Wis 16:29.
trodden down, let them wither like grass.#Ps 37:2.
9Let them dissolve like a snail that oozes away,#A snail that oozes away: empty shells suggested to ancients that snails melted away as they left a slimy trail.
like an untimely birth that never sees the sun.#Jb 3:16.
10Suddenly, like brambles or thistles,
have the whirlwind snatch them away.#Jb 21:18; Hos 13:3; Na 1:10.
11Then the just shall rejoice to see the vengeance
and bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.#Ps 68:24; Is 63:1–6.
12Then people will say:
“Truly there is a reward for the just;
there is a God who is judge on earth!”
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