Psalms 109
1 God, you are the one whom I praise, [So please] answer [my prayer],
For the music director. A psalm of David. God, the one I praise, please don't remain silent,
2 because wicked people slander me and tell [MTY] lies about me.
because wicked and deceitful people are attacking me, telling lies about me.
3 They are constantly saying that they hate me, and they say evil things about me for no reason.
They surround me with words of hate, fighting against me for no reason.
4 I show them that I want to be their friends and I pray for them, but [instead of being kind to me], they say that I have done evil things.
I love them, but they respond with hostility towards me, even while I'm praying for them!
5 In return for my doing good things for them and loving them, they do evil things to me and hate me.
They pay me back with evil instead of good, with hatred instead of love.
6 They said, “Appoint a wicked [judge] who will judge him, and bring in one of his enemies who will stand up and accuse him.
“Appoint someone wicked over him. Have someone stand as an accuser against him.
7 And cause that when the trial [ends], [the judge will] declare that he is guilty, and that [even] his prayer will be considered to be a sin.
When he is judged and sentenced, may he be found guilty. Let his prayers be counted as sins.
8 [Then], cause that he will soon die and that someone else will have his job/work (OR, possessions).
May his life be short; let someone else take over his position.
9 Cause that his children will not have a father any more and that his wife will become a widow.
May his children be left fatherless, and his wife become a widow.
10 Cause that his children will be forced to leave the ruined homes that they have been living in and wander around begging for food.
May his children be homeless, wandering beggars, driven from their ruined houses.
11 Cause that all the people to whom he owed money will seize all his property; Cause that strangers will take away everything that he worked to acquire.
May creditors seize all that he owns; may strangers take all that he worked for.
12 Cause that [while he is still living] no one will be kind to him, and [after he dies], cause that no one will pity his children.
May no one be kind to him; may no one take pity on his fatherless children.
13 Cause that all his descendants will die and that his grandchildren will not remember who he [MTY] was.
May his descendants die; may his family name be wiped out in the next generation.
14 Yahweh, remember [and do not forgive] his ancestors for the evil things that they did, and do not [even] forgive the sins that his mother committed;
May the Lord be reminded of the sins of his fathers; may his mother's sins not be blotted out.
15 think about his sins continually, and cause that his name will be completely forgotten.
May their sins be constantly before the Lord; may his name be totally forgotten by people.
16 He never was kind to anyone; he (persecuted/cause problems for) poor and needy [people] and even killed helpless [people].
For he didn't think to be kind to others, instead he harassed and killed the poor, the needy, the brokenhearted.
17 He liked to curse [people]. [So] cause those terrible things that he requested to happen to others to happen to him! He did not want to bless [others], [so] cause that no one will bless him!
He loved to put a curse on others—let it come back on him. He had no time for blessings—so may he never receive any.
18 He cursed other people [as often/easily] as he put on his clothes [SIM]; cause that the terrible things that he wanted to happen to others will [happen to him and] enter his body like water [that he drinks] [SIM], like [olive] oil soaks into a person’s bones [when it is rubbed on his skin] [SIM].
He cursed as often as he got dressed. May his curses go into him like the water he drinks, like the olive oil he rubs on his skin that enters his bones.
19 Cause that those terrible things will cling to him like his clothes and be around him like the belt that he wears every day.”
May his curses stick to him like clothing, may they be pulled tight around him like a belt.”
20 Yahweh, I want you to punish all my enemies that way, those who say evil things about me.
May all this be the punishment of the Lord on my enemies, on those who speak evil of me.
21 But Yahweh, my God, do good things for me in order that I may honor you; rescue me [from my enemies] because your faithfully loving me is good.
But treat me well, Lord God, because of your own reputation. Save me because you are faithful and good.
22 [I ask you to do this] because I am poor and needy and my inner being is (full of pain/very troubled/discouraged).
For I am poor and needy, and my heart is breaking.
23 [I think that] my time [to remain alive] is short, like an evening shadow [that will soon disappear] [SIM]. I will be blown away like a locust/grasshopper is blown [by the wind].
I am fading away like an evening shadow; I am like a locust that is shaken off.
24 My knees are weak because I have (fasted/abstained from eating food) very often, and my body has become very thin.
I am so weak from lack of food that my legs give way; my body is just skin and bones.
25 The people who accuse me make fun of me; when they see me, they [insult me by] shaking their heads [at me as though I were an evil man].
People ridicule me—they look at me and shake their heads!
26 Yahweh, my God, help me! Because you faithfully love [me], rescue me!
Help me, Lord my God; save me because of your trustworthy love.
27 [When you save me], cause my enemies to know that you are the one who has done it!
May they recognize that this is what you are doing—that you are the one who saves me.
28 They may curse me, but I ask that you bless me. Cause those who (persecute/cause problems for) me [to be defeated and as a result] to be disgraced/ashamed, and cause me to be glad/happy!
When they curse me, you will bless me. When they attack me, you will defeat them. And I, your servant, will be happy.
29 Cause those who accuse me to be completely disgraced; cause [other people to see] that they are disgraced, as [easily as they see] the clothes that they wear [SIM]!
May those who accuse me be clothed with disgrace; may they cover themselves with a cloak of shame.
30 But I will thank Yahweh very greatly; I will praise him [when I am] among the crowd [of people who are worshiping him].
But I will keep on thanking the Lord, praising him to everyone around me.
31 [I will do that] because he defends [MTY] needy [people like me], and saves us from those who have decided/declared that we must be executed.
For he takes a stand to defend the needy, to save them from those who condemn them.
