Psalms 109
1 “To the chief musician, by David, a psalm.” O God of my praise, do not keep silence.
God, you are the one whom I praise, [So please] answer [my prayer],
2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit are opened against me: they have spoken with me with the tongue of falsehood.
because wicked people slander me and tell [MTY] lies about me.
3 Also with words of hatred have they encompassed me, and they fight against me without a cause.
They are constantly saying that they hate me, and they say evil things about me for no reason.
4 In recompense for my love are they my accusers, while I have nothing but 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 impose evil on me in recompense for good, and hatred in lieu of my love.
In return for my doing good things for them and loving them, they do evil things to me and hate me.
6 Appoint thou a wicked man over him: and let an accuser 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 to be judged, let him go forth guilty, 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 moving about, and beg, and let them seek [their bread] out of their ruined 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 creditor lay snares after all that he hath, and let strangers plunder his labor.
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 him have none that extendeth kindness, and let there be none that is gracious to 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: in another generation 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 by the Lord, and let the sin of his mother not 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 the Lord continually, that he may cut off from the earth their memory.
think about his sins continually, and cause that his name will be completely forgotten.
16 For the reason that he remembered not to show kindness; but persecuted the poor and needy man, and the grieved in heart to put him to death.
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 over him: and 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 And he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, and it cometh like water within him, 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 a garment in which he wrappeth himself, and for a girdle let him be continually girded with it.
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 my accusers from the Lord, and of those 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 thou, O Eternal Lord, deal with me for the sake of thy name: because thy kindness 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 poor and needy am I, and my heart is deeply 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 Like the shadow when it declineth do I hasten away: I am driven suddenly off like the 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 stumble 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 And I am become a reproach unto them: when they see me, they shake their head.
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: O save me according to thy kindness:
Yahweh, my God, help me! Because you faithfully love [me], rescue me!
27 That they may know that this is thy hand: that thou, Lord, hast truly done it.
[When you save me], cause my enemies to know that you are the one who has done it!
28 Let them then curse, but do thou bless: when they arise, let them be made 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 my accusers be clothed with confusion, and let them wrap themselves, as with a mantle, in their own shame.
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 thank the Lord greatly with my mouth, and in the midst of many will I 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 For he ever standeth at the right hand of the needy, to save him from those that judge 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.
