Psalms 109
1 God, you are the one whom I praise, [So please] answer [my prayer],
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O God of my praise, be not silent.
2 because wicked people slander me and tell [MTY] lies about me.
For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues.
3 They are constantly saying that they hate me, and they say evil things about me for no reason.
They surround me with hateful words and attack me without cause.
4 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.
In return for my love they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
5 In return for my doing good things for them and loving them, they do evil things to me and hate me.
They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
6 They said, “Appoint a wicked [judge] who will judge him, and bring in one of his enemies who will stand up and accuse him.
Set over him a wicked man; let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7 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.
When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayer be regarded as sin.
8 [Then], cause that he will soon die and that someone else will have his job/work (OR, possessions).
May his days be few; may another take his position.
9 Cause that his children will not have a father any more and that his wife will become a widow.
May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
10 Cause that his children will be forced to leave the ruined homes that they have been living in and wander around begging for food.
May his children wander as beggars, seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.
11 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.
May the creditor seize all he owns, and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
12 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.
May there be no one to extend kindness to him, and no one to favor his fatherless children.
13 Cause that all his descendants will die and that his grandchildren will not remember who he [MTY] was.
May his descendants be cut off; may their name be blotted out from the next generation.
14 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;
May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
15 think about his sins continually, and cause that his name will be completely forgotten.
May their sins always remain before the LORD, that He may cut off their memory from the earth.
16 He never was kind to anyone; he (persecuted/cause problems for) poor and needy [people] and even killed helpless [people].
For he never thought to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted, even to their death.
17 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!
The cursing that he loved, may it fall on him; the blessing in which he refused to delight, may it be far from him.
18 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].
The cursing that he wore like a coat, may it soak into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.
19 Cause that those terrible things will cling to him like his clothes and be around him like the belt that he wears every day.”
May it be like a robe wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him.
20 Yahweh, I want you to punish all my enemies that way, those who say evil things about me.
May this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers, to those who speak evil against me.
21 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.
But You, O GOD, the Lord, deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name; deliver me by the goodness of Your loving devotion.
22 [I ask you to do this] because I am poor and needy and my inner being is (full of pain/very troubled/discouraged).
For I am poor and needy; my heart is wounded within me.
23 [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].
I am fading away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak because I have (fasted/abstained from eating food) very often, and my body has become very thin.
My knees are weak from fasting, and my body grows lean and gaunt.
25 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].
I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
26 Yahweh, my God, help me! Because you faithfully love [me], rescue me!
Help me, O LORD my God; save me according to Your loving devotion.
27 [When you save me], cause my enemies to know that you are the one who has done it!
Let them know that this is Your hand, that You, O LORD, have done it.
28 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!
Though they curse, You will bless. When they rise up, they will be put to shame, but Your servant will rejoice.
29 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]!
May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may they wear their shame like a robe.
30 But I will thank Yahweh very greatly; I will praise him [when I am] among the crowd [of people who are worshiping him].
With my mouth I will thank the LORD profusely; I will praise Him in the presence of many.
31 [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.
For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from the condemners of his soul.
