| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1Justice—do you rulers know the meaning of the word? Do you judge the people fairly? | 1For the music director; according to the al-tashcheth style; a prayer of David. Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions? Do you judge people fairly? |
| 2No! You plot injustice in your hearts. You spread violence throughout the land. | 2No! You plan how to do what is unjust; you deal out violence in the earth. |
| 3These wicked people are born sinners; even from birth they have lied and gone their own way. | 3The wicked turn aside from birth; liars go astray as soon as they are born. |
| 4They spit venom like deadly snakes; they are like cobras that refuse to listen, | 4Their venom is like that of a snake, like a deaf serpent that does not hear, |
| 5ignoring the tunes of the snake charmers, no matter how skillfully they play. | 5that does not respond to the magicians, or to a skilled snake-charmer. |
| 6Break off their fangs, O God! Smash the jaws of these lions, O LORD! | 6O God, break the teeth in their mouths! Smash the jawbones of the lions, O LORD! |
| 7May they disappear like water into thirsty ground. Make their weapons useless in their hands. | 7Let them disappear like water that flows away! Let them wither like grass! |
| 8May they be like snails that dissolve into slime, like a stillborn child who will never see the sun. | 8Let them be like a snail that melts away as it moves along! Let them be like stillborn babies that never see the sun! |
| 9God will sweep them away, both young and old, faster than a pot heats over burning thorns. | 9Before the kindling is even placed under your pots, he will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat. |
| 10The godly will rejoice when they see injustice avenged. They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked. | 10The godly will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked. |
| 11Then at last everyone will say, “There truly is a reward for those who live for God; surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.” | 11Then observers will say, "Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded! Yes indeed, there is a God who judges in the earth!" |
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