Good News Translation GNT
World English Bible WEB
1 Do you rulers ever give a just decision? Do you judge everyone fairly?
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<<For the Chief Musician. To the tune of "Do Not Destroy." A poem by David.>> Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones? Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men?
2 No! You think only of the evil you can do, and commit crimes of violence in the land.
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No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 Evildoers go wrong all their lives; they tell lies from the day they are born.
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The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 They are full of poison like snakes; they stop up their ears like a deaf cobra,
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Their poison is like the poison of a snake; Like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
5 which does not hear the voice of the snake charmer, or the chant of the clever magician.
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Which doesn't listen to the voice of charmers, No matter how skillful the charmer may be.
6 Break the teeth of these fierce lions, O God.
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Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.
7 May they disappear like water draining away; may they be crushed like weeds on a path.
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Let them vanish as water that flows away. When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt.
8 May they be like snails that dissolve into slime; may they be like a baby born dead that never sees the light.
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Let them be as a snail which melts and passes away, Like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun.
9 Before they know it, they are cut down like weeds; in his fierce anger God will blow them away while they are still living.
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Before your pots can feel the thorns, He will sweep away, the green and the burning alike.
10 The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished; they will wade through the blood of the wicked.
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The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;
11 People will say, "The righteous are indeed rewarded; there is indeed a God who judges the world."
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So that men shall say, "Most assuredly there is a reward for the righteous. Most assuredly there is a God who judges the earth."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.