GOD'S WORD Translation GW
New International Version NIV
1 Do you rulers really give fair verdicts? Do you judge Adam's descendants fairly?
1
Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge people with equity?
2 No, you invent new crimes on earth, and your hands spread violence.
2
No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.
3 [Even] inside the womb wicked people are strangers [to God]. From their birth liars go astray.
3
Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.
4 They have poisonous venom like snakes. They are like a deaf cobra that shuts its ears
4
Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
5 so that it cannot hear the voice of a snake charmer or of anyone trained to cast spells.
5
that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be.
6 O God, knock the teeth out of their mouths. Break the young lions' teeth, O LORD.
6
Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; LORD, tear out the fangs of those lions!
7 Let them disappear like water that drains away. When they aim their bows, let their arrows miss the target.
7
Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.
8 Let them become like a snail that leaves behind a slimy trail or like a stillborn child who never sees the sun.
8
May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along, like a stillborn child that never sees the sun.
9 Let [God] sweep them away faster than a cooking pot is heated by burning twigs.
9
Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns— whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.
10 Righteous people will rejoice when they see [God] take revenge. They will wash their feet in the blood of wicked people.
10
The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then people will say, "Righteous people certainly have a reward. There is a God who judges on earth."
11
Then people will say, “Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.”
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.