1 To the chief music-maker; put to Al-tashheth. Michtam. Of David. Is there righteousness in your mouths, O you gods? are you upright judges, O you sons of men? 2 The purposes of your hearts are evil; your hands are full of cruel doings on the earth. 3 The evil-doers are strange from the first; from the hour of their birth they go out of the true way, saying false words. 4 Their poison is like the poison of a snake; they are like the adder, whose ears are shut; 5 Who will not be moved by the voice of the wonder-worker, however great are his powers. 6 O God, let their teeth be broken in their mouths; let the great teeth of the young lions be pulled out, O Lord. 7 Let them be turned to liquid like the ever-flowing waters; let them be cut off like the grass by the way. 8 Let them be like an after-birth which is turned to water and comes to an end; like the fruit of a woman who gives birth before her time, let them not see the sun. 9 Before they are conscious of it, let them be cut down like thorns; let a strong wind take them away like waste growth. 10 The upright man will be glad when he sees their punishment; his feet will be washed in the blood of the evil-doer. 11 So that men will say, Truly there is a reward for righteousness; truly there is a God who is judge on the earth.
Psalms · Bible in Basic English
Psalm 58 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- Greek and Latin Bibles number most Psalms one lower than Hebrew and English Bibles.
Cross references (11)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Psalm 57:1; Isaiah 11:3–5; Psalm 72:1–4; Deuteronomy 16:18–19; Deuteronomy 1:15–16
- 2 Psalm 94:20; Isaiah 10:1; Ecclesiastes 3:16; Micah 3:1–3; Ezekiel 22:27
- 3 Psalm 51:5; Isaiah 48:8; Proverbs 22:15; Ephesians 2:3; Job 15:14
- 4 Psalm 140:3; James 3:8; Jeremiah 8:17; Romans 3:13; Ecclesiastes 10:11
- 5 Jeremiah 8:17; Deuteronomy 18:11; Isaiah 19:3
- 6 Psalm 3:7; Hosea 5:14; Psalm 10:15; Job 29:17; Job 4:10–11
- 7 Psalm 112:10; Joshua 7:5; Isaiah 13:7; Psalm 64:3; Exodus 15:15
- 8 Job 3:16; Ecclesiastes 6:3; Psalm 37:35–36; James 1:10; Matthew 24:35
- 9 Proverbs 10:25; Psalm 118:12; Ecclesiastes 7:6; Isaiah 17:13; Jeremiah 23:19
- 10 Psalm 68:23; Psalm 91:8; Proverbs 11:10; Revelation 11:17–18; Psalm 64:10
- 11 Psalm 67:4; Isaiah 3:10; Psalm 64:9; Psalm 33:18; Malachi 2:17
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Because then this Psalm is singing of the Passion of the Lord, see what is the title that it hath: "at the end." The end is Christ. Why hath He been called end? Not as one that consumeth, but one that consummateth....
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 8 (1888)
As also David says, "The alienated are sinners from the womb: they go astray as soon as they are born." And it was on account of this that he, turning them to their Lord, prepared, in the spirit and power of Elias, a perfect people for the Lord.