Psalms · 11 verses
Psalms 58
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
A cobra may shut its ears, a charmer may weave a spell, and the pots may be swept away before their thorns have warmed them.
The rulers’ silencevv. 1–5
David opens by putting the rulers on trial: do they speak justly and judge uprightly? The answer arrives at once—no. In their hearts they devise injustice, and with their hands they mete out violence. The wicked are then traced back to the womb and birth, their venom compared with that of a snake. Most peculiar of all, the cobra shuts its ears against the charmer, and the spell, however skilfully woven, goes unheard.
Teeth, arrows, and thornsvv. 6–9
The accusation becomes a petition, and it is not a mild one: God is asked to shatter teeth and tear out the lions’ fangs. The wicked are wished away in a series of abrupt dissolutions—running water, blunted arrows, a slug melting in its slime, and a stillborn child never seeing the sun. Then comes the kitchen: before pots can feel the burning thorns, green or dry, He will sweep them away. The distinction is offered without a recipe or explanation, which is very much the psalm’s style.
The feet of the righteousvv. 10–11
The final turn is from the speaker’s fierce wish to the righteous’ rejoicing. Their victory is pictured with disconcerting literalness: they wash their feet in the blood of the wicked. Then men draw the conclusion aloud—there is a reward for the righteous, and there is a God who judges the earth.
The text
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Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Ps 58:1For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?
Ps 58:2No, in your hearts you devise injustice; with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.
Ps 58:3The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.
Ps 58:4Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,
Ps 58:5refusing to hear the tune of the charmer who skillfully weaves his spell.
Ps 58:6O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.
Ps 58:7May they vanish like water that runs off; when they draw the bow, may their arrows be blunted.
Ps 58:8Like a slug that dissolves in its slime, like a woman’s stillborn child, may they never see the sun.
Ps 58:9Before your pots can feel the burning thorns—whether green or dry—He will sweep them away.
Ps 58:10The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
Ps 58:11Then men will say, “There is surely a reward for the righteous! There is surely a God who judges the earth!”
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 125 passages were voted onto 11 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 11Psalms 67:4Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples justly and lead the nations of the earth. Selah
- 11Isaiah 3:10Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
- 3Psalms 51:5Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
- 11Psalms 64:9Then all mankind will fear and proclaim the work of God; so they will ponder what He has done.
- 11Psalms 33:18Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion
- 11Malachi 2:17You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
- 11Malachi 3:14You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?
- 11Romans 2:5But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
- 11Romans 6:21–22What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.
- 6Psalms 3:7Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.
- 10Psalms 68:23that your foot may be dipped in the blood of your foes—the tongues of your dogs in the same.”
- 112 Peter 3:4–10“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”
- 1Isaiah 11:3–5And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,
- 1Psalms 57:1For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David, when he fled from Saul into the cave. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy, for in You my soul takes refuge. In the shadow of Your wings I will take shelter until the danger has passed.
- 3Isaiah 48:8You have never heard; you have never understood; for a long time your ears have not been open. For I knew how deceitful you are; you have been called a rebel from birth.
- 9Proverbs 10:25When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous are secure forever.
Onward