The big picture
Psalms 58 opens in verse 1 with “Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of…”, reaches its middle movement near verse 6 with “Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions…”, and closes in verse 11 with “So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God…” Repeated or prominent terms include break, earth, poison, righteous, teeth. Together, those details trace this chapter’s own movement from its opening to its conclusion.
Scripture beside the summary
Psalms · King James Version · 11Psalms 58:1-6
1–6: Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly…
Psalms 58:1–6 opens with “Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?” and reaches “Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD .” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on Psalms 58 develops its own movement around break, earth, poison, righteous, teeth, with particular weight carried by break, poison, teeth.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 1 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
Psalms 58:1-6
King James Version1Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
2Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
3The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
4Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
5Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.
6Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O LORD .
Psalms 58:7-11
7–11: Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his…
Psalms 58:7–11 opens with “Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows…” and reaches “So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that…” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on Psalms 58 develops its own movement around break, earth, poison, righteous, teeth, with particular weight carried by righteous, verily, arrows.
Context that brings the passage to life
“Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in…” The line’s distinctive content terms include arrows, bendeth, continually. Its relationship to verses 8 shows what work it does in this passage.
Psalms 58:7-11
King James Version7Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
8As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
9Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.
10The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Psalms 58:1 begins with “Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?”
Where the chapter turns
Psalms 58:1 forms a natural hinge: “Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?”
The final note
Psalms 58:11 leaves the reader with “So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words break, earth, poison, righteous, teeth, verily help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
Text first
Where readers differ
The chapter summary begins with what the passage says and how its parts fit together. It does not assume one denomination has already settled every question. Where a conclusion depends on a tradition, literary theory, or historical reconstruction, that dependence is named openly.
The KJV text is presented first. Interpretive conclusions are labeled, and differences are introduced only when they help a reader understand why serious communities do not always reach the same answer.
Comparative interpretive notes for this chapter are in preparation. Until reviewed notes are ready, this page separates the KJV text from summary and application without claiming that serious readers agree on every question.