Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.

For the choir director; set to Al-tashheth. A Mikhtam of David.

1 Do you indeed speak righteousness, O gods?
          Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?

2 No, in heart you work unrighteousness;
          On earth you weigh out the violence of your hands.

3 The wicked are estranged from the womb;
          These who speak lies go astray from birth.

4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent;
          Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,

5 So that it does not hear the voice of charmers,
          Or a skillful caster of spells.

6 O God, shatter their teeth in their mouth;
          Break out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD.

7 Let them flow away like water that runs off;
          When he aims his arrows, let them be as headless shafts.

8 Let them be as a snail which melts away as it goes along,
          Like the miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun.

9 Before your pots can feel the fire of thorns
          He will sweep them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike.

10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
          He will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

11 And men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
          Surely there is a God who judges on earth!”