Psalms 58:2
1 Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- No, in your hearts you devise injustice; with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.
- KJV
- Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
- WEB
- No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands on the earth.
- ASV
- Nay, in heart ye work wickedness; Ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
- DARBY
- Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
- BLB
- Even in the heart you⁺ work iniquities; in the earth you⁺ weigh out the violence of your⁺ hands.
- ÅB
- I hjertet arbeider dere jo på misgjerninger, i landet veier dere ut deres henders vold.
- OTB
- Nei, i hjertet driver dere med urett;
På jorden legger dere en vei for volden i deres hender. - B1930
- I hjertet arbeider I jo på misgjerninger, i landet veier I ut eders henders vold.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Psalms 94:20
Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
Read in contextIsaiah 10:1
Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
Read in contextEcclesiastes 3:16
And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
Read in contextMicah 3:1–3
And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
Read in contextEzekiel 22:27
Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
Read in contextMalachi 3:15
And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
Read in contextJeremiah 22:16–17
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
Read in contextMicah 3:9–12
Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
Read in context