| King James Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David. Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? | 1For the choir director: "Do Not Destroy." A Davidic Miktam. Do you really speak righteously, you mighty ones? Do you judge people fairly? |
| 2Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth. | 2No, you practice injustice in your hearts; with your hands you weigh out violence in the land. |
| 3The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. | 3The wicked go astray from the womb; liars err from birth. |
| 4Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; | 4They have venom like the venom of a snake, like the deaf cobra that stops up its ears, |
| 5Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely. | 5that does not listen to the sound of the charmers who skillfully weave spells. |
| 6Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD. | 6God, knock the teeth out of their mouths; LORD, tear out the young lions' fangs. |
| 7Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. | 7They will vanish like water that flows by; they will aim their useless arrows. |
| 8As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun. | 8Like a slug that moves along in slime, like a woman's miscarried child, they will not see the sun. |
| 9Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath. | 9Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns-- whether green or burning-- He will sweep them away. |
| 10The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. | 10The righteous one will rejoice when he sees the retribution; he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. |
| 11So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth. | 11Then people will say," Yes, there is a reward for the righteous! There is a God who judges on earth!" |
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