1 Judges, who rule the world by laws,
will you despise the righteous cause,
when in your court poor victims stand?
Dare you condemn the righteous poor,
and let rich crooks escape secure,
while gold and greatness bribe your hand?

2 Have you forgot, or never knew
that God will judge the judges too?
High in the heav'ns his justice reigns;
yet you invade the rights of God
and send your bold decrees abroad,
to bind the conscience in your chains.

3 A poisoned arrow is your tongue,
the arrow sharp, the poison strong,
and death attends where'er it wounds:
you hear no counsels, cries, or tears,
just as the cobra stops her ears
against the pow'r of charming sounds.

4 Break out their teeth, eternal God—
those teeth of lions dyed in blood—
and crush the serpents in the dust:
as empty chaff when whirlwinds rise
before the sweeping tempest flies,
so let their hopes and names be lost.

5 Th' Almighty thunders from the sky,
their grandeur melts, their titles die,
as hills of snow dissolve and run,
or snails that perish in their slime,
or births that come before their time,
vain births, that never see the sun.

6 Thus shall the vengeance of the LORD
true peace and joy to saints afford,
and all that hear shall join and say,
"There is a God who rules on high,
a God who hears his children cry,
and will their suff'rings well repay."