Psalms 109
1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise;
For the leader. Of David, a psalm. O God whom I praise, keep not silence;
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.
for their wicked mouths they have opened against me, they speak to me with tongues that are false,
3 They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.
they beset me with words of hatred, and fight without cause against me.
4 For my love they are my adversaries: but I [give myself unto] prayer.
My love they requite with hostility, while for them I lift up my prayer.
5 And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
Evil for good they reward me, and hatred for my love.
6 Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.
‘Set over him one who is godless,’ they say, ‘an opponent at his right hand.
7 When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin.
From his trial let him come forth guilty, may his prayer be counted as sin.
8 Let his days be few; [and] let another take his office.
Grant that his days may be few, that his office be seized by another.
9 Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.
Grant that his children be fatherless, and that his wife be a widow.
10 Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek [their bread] also out of their desolate places.
Up and down may his children go begging, expelled from their desolate home.
11 Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.
May all that he owns be seized by the creditor may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil.
12 Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.
‘May none extend to him kindness, or pity his fatherless children.
13 Let his posterity be cut off; [and] in the generation following let their name be blotted out.
His descendants be doomed to destruction! Blotted out be his name in one generation!
14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
May his father’s guilt be remembered, and his mother’s sin not blotted out:
15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
on record always before the Lord, and his memory root from the earth;
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.
for he gave no thought to show kindness, but pursued the poor and the needy, drove the downhearted to death.
17 As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.
‘May the curses he loved light upon him, may the blessings he loathed be afar.
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.
Like a garment he clothed him with curses; may they pierce to his inwards like water, and cling to his bones like oil.
19 Let it be unto him as the garment [which] covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
Let them be like the robe he wraps round him, like the belt he wears every day.’
20 [Let] this [be] the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.
Be this the reward of my adversaries, of those who speak evil against me.
21 But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name’s sake: because thy mercy [is] good, deliver thou me.
But you, Lord my God, be true to your name, deal kindly with me; in your gracious kindness save me.
22 For I [am] poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust.
I am gone like a lengthening shadow, I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.
My knees totter from fasting, my flesh is shrivelled and spare.
25 I became also a reproach unto them: [when] they looked upon me they shaked their heads.
They heap insults upon me: when they see me, they shake their head.
26 Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy:
Help me, O Lord my God, and save me in your kindness.
27 That they may know that this [is] thy hand; [that] thou, LORD, hast done it.
Teach them that this is your hand, and your own doing, O Lord.
28 Let them curse, but bless thou: when they arise, let them be ashamed; but let thy servant rejoice.
Let them curse, if only you bless. Put my assailants to shame, and make your servant glad.
29 Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.
My opponents be clothed with dishonour, and wrapped in a robe of shame.
30 I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; yea, I will praise him among the multitude.
I give thanks to you, Lord, with loud voice, I give praise in the midst of the throng;
31 For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save [him] from those that condemn his soul.
for he stands by the poor, at his right hand, to save them from those who condemn them.
