58

Do you rulers indeed speak justly?
Do you judge people with equity?
No, in your heart you devise injustice
And your hands mete out violence on the earth and inequity

Even from birth the wicked go astray
From the womb they are wayward, spreading lies
Their venom is like the venom of a snake
Like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears

That will not heed the tune of the charmer
However skillful the enchanter may be
Break the teeth in their mouths, O God
Tear out the fangs of those lions for us to see!

Let them vanish like water that flows away
When they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short, to target - none
May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along
Like a stillborn child that never sees the sun

Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns—
Whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away
The righteous will be glad when they are avenged
When they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked and from heart pray

Then people will say “Surely the righteous still are rewarded
Surely there is a God who judges the earth
We now know it
And ready for what will come forth”