Psalm 109

The Complaint of a Man in Trouble^q

109 I praise you, God; don’t remain silent!

²Wicked people and liars have attacked me.

They tell lies about me

³and they say evil things about me,

attacking me for no reason.

⁴They oppose me, even though I love them

and have prayed for them.^r

⁵They pay me back evil for good

and hatred for love.

⁶Choose some corrupt judge to try my enemy,

and let one of his own enemies accuse him.

⁷May he be tried and found guilty;

may even his prayer be considered a crime!

^8*May his life soon be ended;

may someone else take his job!

⁹May his children become orphans,

and his wife a widow!

¹⁰May his children be homeless beggars;

may they be driven from^s the ruins they live in!

¹¹May his creditors take away all his property,

and may strangers get everything he worked for.

¹²May no one ever be kind to him

or care for the orphans he leaves behind.

¹³May all his descendants die,

and may his name be forgotten in the next generation.

¹⁴May the Lord remember the evil of his ancestors

and never forgive his mother’s sins.

¹⁵May the Lord always remember their sins,

but may they themselves be completely forgotten!

¹⁶That man never thought of being kind;

he persecuted and killed

the poor, the needy, and the helpless.

¹⁷He loved to curse—may he be cursed!

He hated to give blessings—may no one bless him!

¹⁸He cursed as naturally as he dressed himself;

may his own curses soak into his body like water

and into his bones like oil!

¹⁹May they cover him like clothes

and always be round him like a belt!

²⁰Lord, punish my enemies in that way—

those who say such evil things against me!

²¹But my Sovereign Lord, help me as you have promised,

and rescue me because of the goodness of your love.

²²I am poor and needy;

I am hurt to the depths of my heart.

²³Like an evening shadow I am about to vanish;

I am blown away like an insect.

²⁴My knees are weak from lack of food;

I am nothing but skin and bones.

^25*When people see me, they laugh at me;

they shake their heads in scorn.

²⁶Help me, O Lord my God;

because of your constant love, save me!

²⁷Make my enemies know

that you are the one who saves me.

²⁸They may curse me, but you will bless me.

May my persecutors be defeated,^t

and may I, your servant, be glad.

²⁹May my enemies be covered with disgrace;

may they wear their shame like a robe.

³⁰I will give loud thanks to the Lord;

I will praise him in the assembly of the people,

³¹because he defends the poor

and saves them from those who condemn them to death.