God denounces leaders who establish and maintain a corrupt order instead of being agents of his justice.
① 1* 2You gods, are your decrees just, and are your judgments upright?
3No, you willfully commit crimes; you deal in violence and corruption.
4Even from the womb the wicked go astray; from birth they are wayward liars.
5They are poisonous like deadly snakes, deaf as the adder 6that blocks its ears so as not to hear the charmer’s voice casting spells.
7Break the teeth in their mouths, O God; tear out the fangs of the lions, O Lord.
8Let them vanish like spilled water; let them be trodden down like grass that withers.
9Let them be like snails that sink into slime, like untimely births that never see the sun. 10Like green grass that is burned before the thorns are dry – let them be swept away!
11The upright will rejoice when they are avenged; they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
12Then will people say, “Surely the righteous are rewarded; surely there is a God who gives judgment on earth.”
- The rulers and those responsible for social justice are called gods because they represent God in carrying out their functions.
