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Psalm 58:2

No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands on the earth.

1For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A poem by David. Do you indeed speak righteousness, silent ones? Do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men?
2No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands on the earth.
3The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4Their poison is like the poison of a snake, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear,
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Notice

The movement from heart to hands exposes planned violence among people expected to judge with justice, making their abuse of responsibility hard to look past.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What does “measure out” suggest to you about the violence being accused here?

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Where have you seen a gap between someone's responsibility to judge fairly and their actions?

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What remains hidden in the heart, and what becomes visible through the hands in this accusation?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 94:20Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, which brings about mischief by statute?Both passages expose injustice where justice should govern: violence from those questioned about judgment, and mischief enacted through statutes.
Isaiah 10:1Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive decreesBoth passages accuse people responsible for justice of producing harm, through planned violence in the psalm and oppressive decrees in Isaiah.
Ezekiel 22:27Her princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.Both passages expose violence among people with public responsibility; Ezekiel names princes who shed blood for dishonest gain.
Micah 3:1–3I said, “Please listen, you heads of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel: Isn’t it for you to know justice?Micah asks rulers whether they should know justice, matching the psalm’s challenge to people expected to judge without blame.
Ecclesiastes 3:16Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.Both texts confront the presence of wickedness where justice is expected, exposing the corruption of judgment.
Isaiah 59:4–6No one sues in righteousness, and no one pleads in truth. They trust in vanity and speak lies. They conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.Both passages trace wrongdoing to its formation within people: plotting injustice in the heart and conceiving mischief.
Jeremiah 22:16–17He judged the cause of the poor and needy; so then it was well. Wasn’t this to know me?” says the LORD.Both concern the exercise of judgment, contrasting the psalm’s planned injustice with Jeremiah’s account of defending the poor and needy.
Malachi 3:15Now we call the proud happy; yes, those who work wickedness are built up; yes, they tempt God, and escape.’Both name people who practice wickedness; Malachi adds the complaint that such people prosper and escape.
John 11:47–53The chief priests therefore and the Pharisees gathered a council, and said, “What are we doing? For this man does many signs.The supplied council scene shares public responsibility with the psalm’s setting, though it does not itself state a plan for violence.
Psalm 21:11For they intended evil against you. They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.Both psalms name evil as something plotted, with Psalm 21 adding that the plot against its addressee cannot succeed.
Ezekiel 22:12In you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have …Both accuse people of deliberate harm, with Ezekiel specifying bribery for bloodshed and gain through oppression.
Isaiah 26:7The way of the just is uprightness. You who are upright make the path of the righteous level.Both concern justice, though Isaiah describes the upright path of the righteous while the psalm accuses people of plotting injustice.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. leadership weight.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Underline “heart” and “hands” in a copy of Psalm 58:2

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Encouragement

God’s Word speaks without softening the charge: injustice takes shape in the heart and becomes violence through human hands, even among those expected to judge.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 58:2. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 58 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).