1A David psalm Is this any way to run a country? Is there an honest politician in the house?
2Behind the scenes you brew cauldrons of evil, behind closed doors you make deals with demons.
3The wicked crawl from the wrong side of the cradle; their first words out of the womb are lies.
4Poison, lethal rattlesnake poison, drips from their forked tongues—
5Deaf to threats, deaf to charm, decades of wax built up in their ears.
6God, smash their teeth to bits, leave them toothless tigers.
7Let 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.
8Let them dissolve into snail slime, be a miscarried fetus that never sees sunlight.
9Before what they cook up is half-done, God, throw it out with the garbage!
10The 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,
11Everyone cheering, "It's worth it to play by the rules! God's handing out trophies and tending the earth!"