| NET Bible | New International Version |
| 1For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; a prayer of David. Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions? Do you judge people fairly? | 1For the director of music. To the tune of "Do Not Destroy." Of David. A miktam. Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge people with equity? |
| 2No! You plan how to do what is unjust; you deal out violence in the earth. | 2No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth. |
| 3The wicked turn aside from birth; liars go astray as soon as they are born. | 3Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies. |
| 4Their venom is like that of a snake, like a deaf serpent that does not hear, | 4Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears, |
| 5that does not respond to the magicians, or to a skilled snake-charmer. | 5that will not heed the tune of the charmer, however skillful the enchanter may be. |
| 6O God, break the teeth in their mouths! Smash the jawbones of the lions, O LORD! | 6Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; LORD, tear out the fangs of those lions! |
| 7Let them disappear like water that flows away! Let them wither like grass! | 7Let them vanish like water that flows away; when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short. |
| 8Let them be like a snail that melts away as it moves along! Let them be like stillborn babies that never see the sun! | 8May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along, like a stillborn child that never sees the sun. |
| 9Before the kindling is even placed under your pots, he will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat. | 9Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns-- whether they be green or dry--the wicked will be swept away. |
| 10The godly will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked. | 10The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked. |
| 11Then observers will say, "Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded! Yes indeed, there is a God who judges in the earth!" | 11Then people will say, "Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth." |
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