The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 For the leader. Set to "Do Not Destroy." By David, a mikhtam: [Rulers,] does your silence really speak justice? Are you judging people fairly?
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<To the chief music-maker; put to Al-tashheth. Michtam. Of David.> Is there righteousness in your mouths, O you gods? are you upright judges, O you sons of men?
2 [No!] In your hearts you devise wrongs, your hands dispense violence in the land.
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The purposes of your hearts are evil; your hands are full of cruel doings on the earth.
3 From the womb, the wicked are estranged, liars on the wrong path since birth.
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The evil-doers are strange from the first; from the hour of their birth they go out of the true way, saying false words.
4 Their venom is like snake's venom; they are like a serpent that stops its ears,
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Their poison is like the poison of a snake; they are like the adder, whose ears are shut;
5 so as not to hear the voice of the charmer, no matter how well he plays.
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Who will not be moved by the voice of the wonder-worker, however great are his powers.
6 God, break their teeth in their mouth! Shatter the fangs of these lions, ADONAI!
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O God, let their teeth be broken in their mouths; let the great teeth of the young lions be pulled out, O Lord.
7 May they vanish like water that drains away. May their arrows be blunted when they aim their bows.
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Let them be turned to liquid like the ever-flowing waters; let them be cut off like the grass by the way.
8 May they be like a slug that melts as it moves, like a stillborn baby that never sees the sun.
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Let them be like an after-birth which is turned to water and comes to an end; like the fruit of a woman who gives birth before her time, let them not see the sun.
9 Before your cook-pots feel the heat of the burning thorns, may he blow them away, green and blazing alike.
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Before they are conscious of it, let them be cut down like thorns; let a strong wind take them away like waste growth.
10 The righteous will rejoice to see vengeance done, they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked;
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The upright man will be glad when he sees their punishment; his feet will be washed in the blood of the evil-doer.
11 and people will say, "Yes, the righteous are rewarded; there is, after all, a God who judges the earth."
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So that men will say, Truly there is a reward for righteousness; truly there is a God who is judge on the earth.