Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.

To the Chief Musician; set to [the tune of] “Do Not Destroy.” A Mikhtam of David. [A record of memorable thoughts of David].

1Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods (heavenly beings)?

Do you judge fairly, O sons of men?

2No, in your heart you devise wrongdoing;

On earth you deal out the violence of your hands.

3The wicked are estranged from the womb;

These go astray from birth, speaking lies [even twisted partial truths].

4Their poison is like the venom of a serpent;

They are like the deaf horned viper that stops up its ear,

5So that it does not listen to the voice of charmers,

Or of the skillful enchanter casting [cunning] spells.

6O God, break their teeth in their mouth;

Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD.

7Let them flow away like water that runs off;

When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts.

8Let them be as a snail which melts away (secretes slime) as it goes along,

Like the miscarriage of a woman which never sees the sun.

9Before your cooking pots can feel the fire of thorns [burning under them as fuel],

He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning ones alike.

10The [unyieldingly] righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance [of God];

He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

11Men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;

Surely there is a God who judges on the earth.”