Psalms 109
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;
Unto the end. A Psalm of David.
2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
O God, do not be silent toward my praise, for the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful one have been opened against me.
3 They surrounded me also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.
They have spoken against me with deceitful tongues, and they have surrounded me with hateful words, and they fought against me over nothing.
4 For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself to prayer.
Instead of choosing to act on my behalf, they detracted me. But I gave myself to prayer.
5 And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
And they set evil against me, instead of good, and hatred, in return for my love.
6 Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.
Establish the sinner over him, and let the devil stand at his right hand.
7 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.
When he is judged, may he go forth in condemnation, and may his prayer be counted as sin.
8 Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
May his days be few, and let another take his episcopate.
9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
May his sons be orphans, and his wife a widow.
10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
May his sons be carried by those who walk unsteadily, and may they go begging. And may they be cast out of their dwelling places.
11 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let strangers spoil his labour.
May the money lenders scrutinize all his belongings, and let foreigners plunder his labors.
12 Let there be none to extend mercy to him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.
May there be no one to assist him, nor anyone to be compassionate to his orphaned children.
13 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
May his posterity be in utter ruin. In one generation, may his name be wiped away.
14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
May the iniquity of his fathers return in memory before the sight of the Lord, and do not let the sin of his mother be wiped away.
15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
May these be opposite the Lord always, but let their memory perish from the earth.
16 Because that he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.
For certain things are not remembered about them, in order to be merciful.
17 As he loved cursing, so let it come to him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.
And so the destitute man was pursued, with the beggar and the remorseful in heart, so as to be put to death.
18 As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.
And he loved a curse, and it came to him. And he was unwilling to have a blessing, and it went far from him. And he clothed himself with curses like a garment, and it entered his inner self like water, and it entered his bones like oil.
19 Let it be to him as the garment which covereth him, and for a belt with which he is girded continually.
May it be to him like a garment that covers him, and like a belt that always cinches him.
20 Let this be the reward of my adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.
This is the work of those who detract me with the Lord and who speak evils against my soul.
21 But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me.
But as for you, Lord, O Lord: act on my behalf for your name’s sake. For your mercy is sweet.
22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
Free me, for I am destitute and poor, and my heart has been disquieted within me.
23 I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.
I have been taken away like a shadow when it declines, and I have been shaken off like locusts.
24 My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.
My knees have been weakened by fasting, and my flesh has been replaced by oil.
25 I became also a reproach to them: when they looked upon me they shook their heads.
And I have become a disgrace to them. They saw me, and they shook their heads.
26 Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy:
Help me, O Lord, my God. Save me according to your mercy.
27 That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, LORD, hast done it.
And let them know that this is your hand, and that you, O Lord, have done this.
28 Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice.
They will curse, and you will bless. May those who rise up against me be confounded. But your servant will rejoice.
29 Let my adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.
May those who detract me be clothed with shame, and may they be covered with their confusion, as if with a double cloak.
30 I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.
I will confess exceedingly to the Lord with my mouth. And I will praise him in the midst of the multitude.
31 For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.
For he stands at the right hand of the poor, in order to save my soul from persecutors.
