| 109:1 |
O God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, |
| 109:2 |
for wicked and deceitful men have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues. |
| 109:3 |
With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause. |
| 109:4 |
In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. |
| 109:5 |
They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship. |
| 109:6 |
Appoint an evil man to oppose him; let an accuser stand at his right hand. |
| 109:7 |
When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayers condemn him. |
| 109:8 |
May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership. |
| 109:9 |
May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. |
| 109:10 |
May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes. |
| 109:11 |
May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. |
| 109:12 |
May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children. |
| 109:13 |
May his descendants be cut off, their names blotted out from the next generation. |
| 109:14 |
May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD; may the sin of his mother never be blotted out. |
| 109:15 |
May their sins always remain before the LORD, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. |
| 109:16 |
For he never thought of doing a kindness, but hounded to death the poor and the needy and the brokenhearted. |
| 109:17 |
He loved to pronounce a curse--may it come on him; he found no pleasure in blessing--may it be far from him. |
| 109:18 |
He wore cursing as his garment; it entered into his body like water, into his bones like oil. |
| 109:19 |
May it be like a cloak wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him. |
| 109:20 |
May this be the LORD'S payment to my accusers, to those who speak evil of me. |
| 109:21 |
But you, O Sovereign LORD, deal well with me for your name's sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me. |
| 109:22 |
For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. |
| 109:23 |
I fade away like an evening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust. |
| 109:24 |
My knees give way from fasting; my body is thin and gaunt. |
| 109:25 |
I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads. |
| 109:26 |
Help me, O LORD my God; save me in accordance with your love. |
| 109:27 |
Let them know that it is your hand, that you, O LORD, have done it. |
| 109:28 |
They may curse, but you will bless; when they attack they will be put to shame, but your servant will rejoice. |
| 109:29 |
My accusers will be clothed with disgrace and wrapped in shame as in a cloak. |
| 109:30 |
With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng I will praise him. |
| 109:31 |
For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save his life from those who condemn him. |
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