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Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming ° never so wisely.
Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD.
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.
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.
Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.
The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

58:3 as soon as they be born. Infants naturally begin “speaking lies” and acting deceptively essentially as soon as they are born, for this is our inborn sin-nature, ever since Adam and Eve. It takes the new birth to give a person a true love and respect for the laws and character of God (Colossians 3:9-10).


58:4 deaf adder. This is believed to be the very poisonous Egyptian cobra.


58:6 in their mouth. This is one of the most graphic imprecations in the imprecatory psalms. See note on Psalm 5.


58:8 snail which melteth. This seems to be a reference to the slimy substance secreted by Palestinian snails as they crawl along the ground, thus apparently melting away, eventually leaving empty shells.

Psalm 59 (title). The reference in the title is probably to I Samuel 19:11, when Saul sent “messengers” to kill David in his own home and he was able to escape with the help of Michal, his wife. This is considered to be another (like Psalm 58) of the imprecatory psalms.


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