109

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

¹My God, whom I praise,
do not remain silent,
²for people who are wicked and deceitful
have opened their mouths against me;
they have spoken against me with lying tongues.
³With words of hatred they surround me;
they attack me without cause.
⁴In return for my friendship they accuse me,
but I am a man of prayer.
⁵They repay me evil for good,
and hatred for my friendship.

⁶Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy;
let an accuser stand at his right hand.
⁷When he is tried, let him be found guilty,
and may his prayers condemn him.
⁸May his days be few;
may another take his place of leadership.
⁹May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow.
¹⁰May his children be wandering beggars;
may they be driven⚓ from their ruined homes.
¹¹May a creditor seize all he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
¹²May no one extend kindness to him
or take pity on his fatherless children.
¹³May his descendants be cut off,
their names blotted out from the next generation.
¹⁴May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord;
may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
¹⁵May their sins always remain before the Lord,
that he may blot out their name from the earth.

¹⁶For he never thought of doing a kindness,
but hounded to death the poor
and the needy and the brokenhearted.
¹⁷He loved to pronounce a curse—
may it come back on him.
He found no pleasure in blessing—
may it be far from him.
¹⁸He wore cursing as his garment;
it entered into his body like water,
into his bones like oil.
¹⁹May it be like a cloak wrapped about him,
like a belt tied forever around him.
²⁰May this be the Lord’s payment to my accusers,
to those who speak evil of me.

²¹But you, Sovereign Lord,
help me for your name’s sake;
out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.
²²For I am poor and needy,
and my heart is wounded within me.
²³I fade away like an evening shadow;
I am shaken off like a locust.
²⁴My knees give way from fasting;
my body is thin and gaunt.
²⁵I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they shake their heads.

²⁶Help me, Lord my God;
save me according to your unfailing love.
²⁷Let them know that it is your hand,
that you, Lord, have done it.
²⁸While they curse, may you bless;
may those who attack me be put to shame,
but may your servant rejoice.
²⁹May my accusers be clothed with disgrace
and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.

³⁰With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord;
in the great throng of worshipers I will praise him.
³¹For he stands at the right hand of the needy,
to save their lives from those who would condemn them.

109

Plea for Judgment of False Accusers

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

¹Do⚓ not keep silent,
O God of my praise!
²For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful
Have opened against me;
They have spoken against me with a ⚓lying tongue.
³They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And fought against me ⚓without a cause.
⁴In return for my love they are my accusers,
But I give myself to prayer.
⁵Thus ⚓they have rewarded me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.
⁶Set a wicked man over him,
And let ⚓an accuser stand at his right hand.
⁷When he is judged, let him be found guilty,
And ⚓let his prayer become sin.
⁸Let his days be ⚓few,
And⚓let another take his office.
⁹⚓Let his children be fatherless,
And his wife a widow.
¹⁰Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg;
Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places.
¹¹⚓Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder his labor.
¹²Let there be none to extend mercy to him,
Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children.
¹³⚓Let his posterity be cut off,
And in the generation following let their ⚓name be blotted out.
¹⁴⚓Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,
And let not the sin of his mother ⚓be blotted out.
¹⁵Let them be continually before the Lord,
That He may ⚓cut off the memory of them from the earth;
¹⁶Because he did not remember to show mercy,
But persecuted the poor and needy man,
That he might even slay the ⚓broken in heart.
¹⁷⚓As he loved cursing, so let it come to him;
As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him.
¹⁸As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
So let it ⚓enter his body like water,
And like oil into his bones.
¹⁹Let it be to him like the garment which covers him,
And for a belt with which he girds himself continually.
²⁰Let this be the Lord’s reward to my accusers,
And to those who speak evil against my person.
²¹But You, O God the Lord,
Deal with me for Your name’s sake;
Because Your mercy is good, deliver me.
²²For I am poor and needy,
And my heart is wounded within me.
²³I am gone ⚓like a shadow when it lengthens;
I am shaken off like a locust.
²⁴My ⚓knees are weak through fasting,
And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness.
²⁵I also have become ⚓a reproach to them;
When they look at me, ⚓they shake their heads.
²⁶Help me, O Lord my God!
Oh, save me according to Your mercy,
²⁷⚓That they may know that this is Your hand—
That You, Lord, have done it!
²⁸⚓Let them curse, but You bless;
When they arise, let them be ashamed,
But let ⚓Your servant rejoice.
²⁹⚓Let my accusers be clothed with shame,
And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle.
³⁰I will greatly praise the Lord with my mouth;
Yes, ⚓I will praise Him among the multitude.
³¹For ⚓He shall stand at the right hand of the poor,
To save him from those who condemn him.