Passage

Psalms 58

Book: Psalms · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. ^{For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of David. Michtam.} Do ye indeed in silence speak righteousness? Do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? 2. Nay, in heart ye work wickedness; Ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth. 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb: They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. 4. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear, 5. Which hearkeneth not to the voice of charmers, Charming never so wisely. 6. Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Jehovah. 7. Let them melt away as water that runneth apace: When he aimeth his arrows, let them be as though they were cut off. 8. Let them be as a snail which melteth and passeth away, Like the untimely birth of a woman, that hath not seen the sun. 9. Before your pots can feel the thorns, He will take them away with a whirlwind, the green and the burning alike. 10. The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked; 11. So that men shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth." (Psalms 58:1-11, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David. Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones? Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men? 2. No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth. 3. The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies. 4. Their poison is like the poison of a snake; like a deaf cobra that stops its ear, 5. which doesn’t listen to the voice of charmers, no matter how skillful the charmer may be. 6. Break their teeth, God, in their mouth. Break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh. 7. Let them vanish like water that flows away. When they draw the bow, let their arrows be made blunt. 8. Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away, like the stillborn child, who has not seen the sun. 9. Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns, he will sweep away the green and the burning alike. 10. The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked; 11. so that men shall say, “Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous. Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”" (Psalms 58:1-11, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David. Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? ^{Altaschith: or, Destroy not, A golden Psalm of David} 2. Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth. 3. The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. ^{as soon: Heb. from the belly} 4. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; ^{like the poison: Heb. according to the likeness, etc} ^{adder: or, asp} 5. Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely. ^{charming: or, be the charmer never so cunning} 6. Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD. 7. Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces. 8. As 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. 9. Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath. ^{both: Heb. as living as wrath} 10. The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. 11. So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth. ^{a reward: Heb. fruit of the, etc}" (Psalms 58:1-11, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. To the Overseer., 'Destroy not.', A secret treasure, by David. Is it true, O dumb one, righteously ye speak? Uprightly ye judge, O sons of men? 2. Even in heart ye work iniquities, In the land the violence of your hands ye ponder. 3. The wicked have been estranged from the womb, They have erred from the belly, speaking lies. 4. Their poison [is] as poison of a serpent, As a deaf asp shutting its ear, 5. Which hearkeneth not to the voice of whisperers, A charmer of charms most skilful. 6. O God, break their teeth in their mouth, The jaw-teeth of young lions break down, O Jehovah. 7. They are melted as waters, They go up and down for themselves, His arrow proceedeth as they cut themselves off. 8. As a snail that melteth he goeth on, [As] an untimely birth of a woman, They have not seen the sun. 9. Before your pots discern the bramble, As well the raw as the heated He whirleth away. 10. The righteous rejoiceth that he hath seen vengeance, His steps he washeth in the blood of the wicked. 11. And man saith: 'Surely fruit [is] for the righteous: Surely there is a God judging in the earth!'" (Psalms 58:1-11, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.