1To the chief musician, "Do not destroy." Of David, a Michtam.
2Do you indeed decree righteousness in silence? Do you judge uprightly the sons of man (adam)?
3Yes, in heart you work iniquities; in the earth you weigh out the violence of your hands.
4The wicked are estranged from the womb; the speakers of lies go astray from the belly.
5Their venom is like the likeness of the venom of a serpent; like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
6which does not listen to the voice of charmers, the most skillful weaver of spells.
7O God, break their teeth in their mouth; the fangs of the young lions tear down, YHWH.
8Let them melt away like waters that flow off for themselves; when he aims his arrows, let them be as if cut off.
9Like a snail that melts away as it goes, like the stillbirth of a woman (ishah) that has not seen the sun.
10Before your pots feel the bramble, whether living (chai) or aflame, He will sweep it away with a whirlwind.
11The righteous one rejoices when he sees vengeance; he bathes his feet in the blood of the wicked.
12And man (adam) will say, "Surely there is fruit for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges in the earth."