Psalms 109
1 Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;
God, you are the one whom I praise, [So please] answer [my prayer],
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.
because wicked people slander me and tell [MTY] lies about me.
3 They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.
They are constantly saying that they hate me, and they say evil things about me for no reason.
4 For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto 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 have rewarded 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 a wicked man over him: and let Satan 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 shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become 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 Let his days be few; and let another take his office.
[Then], cause that he will soon die and that someone else will have his job/work (OR, possessions).
9 Let 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 continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
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 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.
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 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.
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 Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
Cause that all his descendants will die and that his grandchildren will not remember who he [MTY] was.
14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with Yhwh; 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 Let them be before Yhwh continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
think about his sins continually, and cause that his name will be completely forgotten.
16 Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.
He never was kind to anyone; he (persecuted/cause problems for) poor and needy [people] and even killed helpless [people].
17 As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.
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 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.
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 Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith 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 Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from Yhwh, and of them that speak evil against my soul.
Yahweh, I want you to punish all my enemies that way, those who say evil things about me.
21 But do thou for me, O Yhwh the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy is good, deliver thou 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 wounded 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 gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.
[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 weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.
My knees are weak because I have (fasted/abstained from eating food) very often, and my body has become very thin.
25 I became also a reproach unto them: when they looked upon me 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 Yhwh my God: O save me according to thy mercy:
Yahweh, my God, help me! Because you faithfully love [me], rescue me!
27 That they may know that this is thy hand; that thou, Yhwh, hast done it.
[When you save me], cause my enemies to know that you are the one who has done it!
28 Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant 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 mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.
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 greatly praise Yhwh with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.
But I will thank Yahweh very greatly; I will praise him [when I am] among the crowd [of people who are worshiping him].
31 For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.
[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.
