The Message Bible MSG
World English Bible WEB
1 Is this any way to run a country? Is there an honest politician in the house?
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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 Behind the scenes you brew cauldrons of evil, behind closed doors you make deals with demons.
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No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked crawl from the wrong side of the cradle; their first words out of the womb are lies.
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The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 Poison, lethal rattlesnake poison, drips from their forked tongues -
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Their poison is like the poison of a snake; Like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
5 Deaf to threats, deaf to charm, decades of wax built up in their ears.
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Which doesn't listen to the voice of charmers, No matter how skillful the charmer may be.
6 God, smash their teeth to bits, leave them toothless tigers.
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Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.
7 Let their lives be buckets of water spilled, all that's left, a damp stain in the sand. Let them be trampled grass worn smooth by the traffic.
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Let them vanish as water that flows away. When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt.
8 Let them dissolve into snail slime, be a miscarried fetus that never sees sunlight.
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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 what they cook up is half-done, God, throw it out with the garbage!
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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 call up their friends when they see the wicked get their reward, Serve up their blood in goblets as they toast one another,
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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 Everyone cheering, "It's worth it to play by the rules! God's handing out trophies and tending the earth!"
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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."
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The World English Bible is in the public domain.