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Psalm 58-60
The Message
Psalm 58-60
The Message
58 1-2 Is this any way to run a country?
Is there an honest politician in the house?
Behind the scenes you weave webs of deceit,
behind closed doors you make deals with demons.
3-5 The wicked crawl from the wrong side of the cradle;
their first words out of the womb are lies.
Poison, lethal rattlesnake poison,
drips from their forked tongues—
Deaf to threats, deaf to charm,
decades of wax built up in their ears.
6-9 God, smash their teeth to bits,
leave them toothless tigers.
Let their lives be buckets of water spilled,
all that’s left, a damp stain in the sand.
Let them be trampled grass
worn smooth by the traffic.
Let them dissolve into snail slime,
be a miscarried fetus that never sees sunlight.
Before what they cook up is half-done, God,
throw it out with the garbage!
10-11 The righteous will call up their friends
when they see the wicked get their reward,
Serve up their blood in goblets
as they toast one another,
Everyone cheering, “It’s worth it to play by the rules!
God’s handing out trophies and tending the earth!”
59 1-2 My God! Rescue me from my enemies,
defend me from these mutineers.
Rescue me from their dirty tricks,
save me from their hit men.
3-4 Desperadoes have ganged up on me,
they’re hiding in ambush for me.
I did nothing to deserve this, God,
crossed no one, wronged no one.
All the same, they’re after me,
determined to get me.
4-5 Wake up and see for yourself! You’re God,
God-of-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God!
Get on the job and take care of these pagans,
don’t be soft on these hard cases.
6-7 They return when the sun goes down,
They howl like coyotes, ringing the city.
Then suddenly they’re all at the gate,
Snarling invective, drawn daggers in their teeth.
They think they’ll never get caught.
8-10 But you, God, break out laughing;
you treat the godless nations like jokes.
Strong God, I’m watching you do it,
I can always count on you.
God in dependable love shows up on time,
shows me my enemies in ruin.
11-13 Don’t make quick work of them, God,
lest my people forget.
Bring them down in slow motion,
take them apart piece by piece.
Let all their mean-mouthed arrogance
catch up with them,
Catch them out and bring them down
—every muttered curse
—every barefaced lie.
Finish them off in fine style!
Finish them off for good!
Then all the world will see
that God rules well in Jacob,
everywhere that God’s in charge.
14-15 They return when the sun goes down,
They howl like coyotes, ringing the city.
They scavenge for bones,
And bite the hand that feeds them.
16-17 And me? I’m singing your prowess,
shouting at dawn your largesse,
For you’ve been a safe place for me,
a good place to hide.
Strong God, I’m watching you do it,
I can always count on you—
God, my dependable love.
60 1-2 God! you walked off and left us,
kicked our defenses to bits
And stomped off angry.
Come back. Oh please, come back!
You shook earth to the foundations,
ripped open huge crevasses.
Heal the breaks! Everything’s
coming apart at the seams.
3-5 You made your people look doom in the face,
then gave us cheap wine to drown our troubles.
Then you planted a flag to rally your people,
an unfurled flag to look to for courage.
Now do something quickly, answer right now,
so the one you love best is saved.
6-8 That’s when God spoke in holy splendor,
“Bursting with joy,
I make a present of Shechem,
I hand out Succoth Valley as a gift.
Gilead’s in my pocket,
to say nothing of Manasseh.
Ephraim’s my hard hat,
Judah my hammer;
Moab’s a scrub bucket,
I mop the floor with Moab,
Spit on Edom,
rain fireworks all over Philistia.”
9-10 Who will take me to the thick of the fight?
Who’ll show me the road to Edom?
You aren’t giving up on us, are you, God?
refusing to go out with our troops?
11-12 Give us help for the hard task;
human help is worthless.
In God we’ll do our very best;
he’ll flatten the opposition for good.
Psalm 58-60
New International Version
Psalm 58-60
New International Version
Psalm 58[a]
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.[b]
1 Do you rulers indeed speak justly?(A)
Do you judge people with equity?
2 No, in your heart you devise injustice,(B)
and your hands mete out violence on the earth.(C)
3 Even from birth the wicked go astray;
from the womb they are wayward, spreading lies.
4 Their venom is like the venom of a snake,(D)
like that of a cobra that has stopped its ears,
5 that will not heed(E) the tune of the charmer,(F)
however skillful the enchanter may be.
6 Break the teeth in their mouths, O God;(G)
Lord, tear out the fangs of those lions!(H)
7 Let them vanish like water that flows away;(I)
when they draw the bow, let their arrows fall short.(J)
8 May they be like a slug that melts away as it moves along,(K)
like a stillborn child(L) that never sees the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns(M)—
whether they be green or dry—the wicked will be swept away.[c](N)
10 The righteous will be glad(O) when they are avenged,(P)
when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked.(Q)
11 Then people will say,
“Surely the righteous still are rewarded;(R)
surely there is a God who judges the earth.”(S)
Psalm 59[d]
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” Of David. A miktam.[e] When Saul had sent men to watch David’s house(T) in order to kill him.
1 Deliver me from my enemies, O God;(U)
be my fortress against those who are attacking me.(V)
2 Deliver me from evildoers(W)
and save me from those who are after my blood.(X)
3 See how they lie in wait for me!
Fierce men conspire(Y) against me
for no offense or sin of mine, Lord.
4 I have done no wrong,(Z) yet they are ready to attack me.(AA)
Arise to help me; look on my plight!(AB)
5 You, Lord God Almighty,
you who are the God of Israel,(AC)
rouse yourself(AD) to punish all the nations;(AE)
show no mercy to wicked traitors.[f](AF)
6 They return at evening,
snarling like dogs,(AG)
and prowl about the city.
7 See what they spew from their mouths(AH)—
the words from their lips are sharp as swords,(AI)
and they think, “Who can hear us?”(AJ)
8 But you laugh at them, Lord;(AK)
you scoff at all those nations.(AL)
9 You are my strength,(AM) I watch for you;
you, God, are my fortress,(AN)
10 my God on whom I can rely.
God will go before me
and will let me gloat over those who slander me.
11 But do not kill them, Lord our shield,[g](AO)
or my people will forget.(AP)
In your might uproot them
and bring them down.(AQ)
12 For the sins of their mouths,(AR)
for the words of their lips,(AS)
let them be caught in their pride.(AT)
For the curses and lies they utter,
13 consume them in your wrath,
consume them till they are no more.(AU)
Then it will be known to the ends of the earth
that God rules over Jacob.(AV)
14 They return at evening,
snarling like dogs,
and prowl about the city.
15 They wander about for food(AW)
and howl if not satisfied.
16 But I will sing(AX) of your strength,(AY)
in the morning(AZ) I will sing of your love;(BA)
for you are my fortress,(BB)
my refuge in times of trouble.(BC)
17 You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
you, God, are my fortress,
my God on whom I can rely.(BD)
Psalm 60[h](BE)
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A miktam[i] of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim[j] and Aram Zobah,[k] and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.(BF)
1 You have rejected us,(BG) God, and burst upon us;
you have been angry(BH)—now restore us!(BI)
2 You have shaken the land(BJ) and torn it open;
mend its fractures,(BK) for it is quaking.
3 You have shown your people desperate times;(BL)
you have given us wine that makes us stagger.(BM)
4 But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner(BN)
to be unfurled against the bow.[l]
5 Save us and help us with your right hand,(BO)
that those you love(BP) may be delivered.
6 God has spoken from his sanctuary:
“In triumph I will parcel out Shechem(BQ)
and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.(BR)
7 Gilead(BS) is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim(BT) is my helmet,
Judah(BU) is my scepter.(BV)
8 Moab is my washbasin,
on Edom I toss my sandal;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.(BW)”
9 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us
and no longer go out with our armies?(BX)
11 Give us aid against the enemy,
for human help is worthless.(BY)
12 With God we will gain the victory,
and he will trample down our enemies.(BZ)
Footnotes
- Psalm 58:1 In Hebrew texts 58:1-11 is numbered 58:2-12.
- Psalm 58:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
- Psalm 58:9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this verse is uncertain.
- Psalm 59:1 In Hebrew texts 59:1-17 is numbered 59:2-18.
- Psalm 59:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
- Psalm 59:5 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here and at the end of verse 13.
- Psalm 59:11 Or sovereign
- Psalm 60:1 In Hebrew texts 60:1-12 is numbered 60:3-14.
- Psalm 60:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term
- Psalm 60:1 Title: That is, Arameans of Northwest Mesopotamia
- Psalm 60:1 Title: That is, Arameans of central Syria
- Psalm 60:4 The Hebrew has Selah (a word of uncertain meaning) here.
The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.