You rulers, do you know what justice is?

You rulers, do you know what justice is? Among mankind do you judge uprightly? No, you devise injustice in your hearts And on the earth you mete out cruelty.

Even from birth the wicked go astray And from the womb untruthfully they speak; Their wayward thoughts well up within their hearts And havoc with their lying words they wreak.

Their poison’s like the venom of a snake; They’re like a cobra that has closed its ear— However great the charmer’s skill may be, It pays no heed because it does not hear.

Destroy, O God, the teeth within their mouths; LORD, smite the lion’s jaw a mighty blow. Make them disperse as water flows away, And blunt their arrows when they draw the bow.

May they be like the snail that melts away, Or like a stillborn child that sees no sun. Before a pot can boil on burning thorns, So swiftly shall the wicked be undone.

The just will tread the blood of wicked men; When they’re avenged, the righteous will be glad. Then all will say, “The just have their reward; Surely the judge of all the earth is God.”