Psalm 109

PSALM 109

Vengeance Invoked upon Adversaries.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

¹O ^aGod of my praise,

^bDo not be silent!

²For they have opened the ¹wicked and ^adeceitful mouth against me;

They have spoken ²against me with a ^blying tongue.

³They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,

And fought against me ^awithout cause.

⁴In return ^afor my love they act as my accusers;

But ^bI am in prayer.

⁵Thus they have ^1arepaid me evil for good

And ^bhatred for my love.

⁶Appoint a wicked man over him,

And let an ^1aaccuser stand at his right hand.

⁷When he is judged, let him ^acome forth guilty,

And let his ^bprayer become sin.

⁸Let ^ahis days be few;

Let ^banother take his office.

⁹Let his ^achildren be fatherless

And his ^bwife a widow.

¹⁰Let his ^achildren wander about and beg;

And let them ^bseek sustenance ¹far from their ruined homes.

¹¹Let ^athe creditor ¹seize all that he has,

And let ^bstrangers plunder the product of his labor.

¹²Let there be none to ^1aextend lovingkindness to him,

Nor ^bany to be gracious to his fatherless children.

¹³Let his ^aposterity be ¹cut off;

In a following generation let their ^bname be blotted out.

¹⁴Let ^athe iniquity of his fathers be remembered ¹before the Lord,

And do not let the sin of his mother be ^bblotted out.

¹⁵Let ^athem be before the Lord continually,

That He may ^bcut off their memory from the earth;

¹⁶Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness,

But persecuted the ^aafflicted and needy man,

And the ^bdespondent in heart, to ^cput them to death.

¹⁷He also loved cursing, so ^ait came to him;

And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.

¹⁸But he ^aclothed himself with cursing as with his garment,

And it ^bentered into ¹his body like water

And like oil into his bones.

¹⁹Let it be to him as ^aa garment with which he covers himself,

And for a belt with which he constantly ^bgirds himself.

²⁰¹Let this be the ^areward of my accusers from the Lord,

And of those who ^bspeak evil against my soul.

²¹But You, O ¹God, the Lord, deal kindly with me ^afor Your name’s sake;

Because ^bYour lovingkindness is good, deliver me;

²²For ^aI am afflicted and needy,

And ¹my heart is ^bwounded within me.

²³I am passing ^alike a shadow when it lengthens;

I am shaken off ^blike the locust.

²⁴My ^aknees ¹are weak from ^bfasting,

And my flesh has grown lean, without fatness.

²⁵I also have become a ^areproach to them;

When they see me, they ^bwag their head.

^26aHelp me, O Lord my God;

Save me according to Your lovingkindness.

²⁷¹And let them ^aknow that this is Your hand;

You, Lord, have done it.

^28aLet them curse, but You bless;

When they arise, they shall be ashamed,

But Your ^bservant shall be glad.

²⁹¹Let ^amy accusers be clothed with dishonor,

And ²let them ^bcover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.

³⁰With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the Lord;

And in the midst of many ^aI will praise Him.

³¹For He stands ^aat the right hand of the needy,

To save him from those who ^bjudge his soul.