| New Living Translation | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Justice—do you rulers know the meaning of the word? Do you judge the people fairly? | 1For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men? |
| 2No! You plot injustice in your hearts. You spread violence throughout the land. | 2No, in your hearts you devise injustice; with your hands you mete out violence on the earth. |
| 3These wicked people are born sinners; even from birth they have lied and gone their own way. | 3The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth. |
| 4They spit venom like deadly snakes; they are like cobras that refuse to listen, | 4Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears, |
| 5ignoring the tunes of the snake charmers, no matter how skillfully they play. | 5refusing to hear the tune of the charmer who skillfully weaves his spell. |
| 6Break off their fangs, O God! Smash the jaws of these lions, O LORD! | 6O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions. |
| 7May they disappear like water into thirsty ground. Make their weapons useless in their hands. | 7May they vanish like water that runs off; when they draw the bow, may their arrows be blunted. |
| 8May they be like snails that dissolve into slime, like a stillborn child who will never see the sun. | 8Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, like a woman’s stillborn child, may they never see the sun. |
| 9God will sweep them away, both young and old, faster than a pot heats over burning thorns. | 9Before your pots can feel the burning thorns—whether green or dry—He will sweep them away. |
| 10The godly will rejoice when they see injustice avenged. They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked. | 10The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked. |
| 11Then at last everyone will say, “There truly is a reward for those who live for God; surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.” | 11Then men will say, “There is surely a reward for the righteous! There is surely a God who judges the earth!” |
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