Psalms 109
1 Unto the end, a psalm for David.
God, you are the one whom I praise, [So please] answer [my prayer],
2 O God, be not thou silent in thy praise: for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful man is opened against me.
because wicked people slander me and tell [MTY] lies about me.
3 They have spoken against with deceitful tongues; and they have compassed me about with words of hatred; and have fought against me without cause.
They are constantly saying that they hate me, and they say evil things about me for no reason.
4 Instead of making me a return of love, they detracted me: but I gave myself to prayer.
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.
5 And they repaid me evil for good: and hatred for my love.
In return for my doing good things for them and loving them, they do evil things to me and hate me.
6 Set thou the sinner over him: and may the devil stand at his right hand.
They said, “Appoint a wicked [judge] who will judge him, and bring in one of his enemies who will stand up and accuse him.
7 When he is judged, may he go out condemned; and may his prayer be turned to sin.
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.
8 May his days be few: and his bishopric let another take.
[Then], cause that he will soon die and that someone else will have his job/work (OR, possessions).
9 May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
Cause that his children will not have a father any more and that his wife will become a widow.
10 Let his children be carried about vagabonds, and beg; and let them be cast out of their dwellings.
Cause that his children will be forced to leave the ruined homes that they have been living in and wander around begging for food.
11 May the userer search all his substance: and let strangers plunder his labours.
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.
12 May there be none to help him: nor none to pity his fatherless offspring.
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.
13 May his posterity be cut off; in one generation may his name be blotted out.
Cause that all his descendants will die and that his grandchildren will not remember who he [MTY] was.
14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered in the sight of the Lord: and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
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;
15 May they be before the lord continually, and let the memory of them perish from the earth:
think about his sins continually, and cause that his name will be completely forgotten.
16 Because he remembered not to show mercy,
He never was kind to anyone; he (persecuted/cause problems for) poor and needy [people] and even killed helpless [people].
17 But persecuted the poor man and the beggar; and the broken in heart, to put him to death.
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!
18 And he loved cursing, and it shall come unto him: and he would not have blessing, and it shall be far from him. And he put on cursing, like a garment: and it went in like water into his entrails, and like oil in his bones.
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].
19 May it be unto him like a garment which covereth him; and like a girdle with which he is girded continually.
Cause that those terrible things will cling to him like his clothes and be around him like the belt that he wears every day.”
20 This is the work of them who detract me before the Lord; and who speak evils against my soul.
Yahweh, I want you to punish all my enemies that way, those who say evil things about me.
21 But thou, O Lord, do with for thy names sake: because thy mercy is sweet. Do thou deliver me.
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.
22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is troubled within me.
[I ask you to do this] because I am poor and needy and my inner being is (full of pain/very troubled/discouraged).
23 I am taken away like the shadow when it declineth: and I am shaken off as locusts.
[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].
24 My knees are weakened through fasting: and my flesh is changed for oil.
My knees are weak because I have (fasted/abstained from eating food) very often, and my body has become very thin.
25 And I am become a reproach to them: they saw me and they shaked their heads,
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].
26 Help me, O Lord my God; save me according to thy mercy.
Yahweh, my God, help me! Because you faithfully love [me], rescue me!
27 And let them know that this is thy hand: and that thou, O Lord, hast done it.
[When you save me], cause my enemies to know that you are the one who has done it!
28 They will curse and thou will bless: let them that rise up against me be confounded: but thy servant shall rejoice.
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!
29 Let them that detract me be clothed with shame: and let them be covered with the their confusion as with a double cloak.
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]!
30 I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth: and in the midst of many I will praise him.
But I will thank Yahweh very greatly; I will praise him [when I am] among the crowd [of people who are worshiping him].
31 Because he hath stood at the right hand of the poor, to save my soul from persecutors.
[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.
