21 Heb “they repay me evil instead of good.”
22 Heb “[there is] bereavement to my soul.”
23 Heb “as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth.” Sackcloth was worn by mourners. When the psalmist’s enemies were sick, he was sorry for their misfortune and mourned for them.
24 Fasting was also a practice of mourners. By refraining from normal activities, such as eating food, the mourner demonstrated the sincerity of his sorrow.
25 Heb “and my prayer upon my chest will return.” One could translate, “but my prayer was returning upon my chest,” but the use of the imperfect verbal form sets this line apart from the preceding and following lines (vv. 13a, 14), which use the perfect to describe the psalmist’s past actions.
26 Heb “like a friend, like a brother to me I walked about.”
27 I bowed down. Bowing down was a posture for mourning. See Ps 38:6.
28 Heb “like mourning for a mother [in] sorrow I bowed down.”
29 Heb “they gathered together against me, stricken [ones], and I did not know.” The Hebrew form נֵכִים (nekhim, “stricken ones”?) is problematic. Some suggest an emendation to נָכְרִים[ךְ] (kénokhérim, “foreigners”) or “like foreigners,” which would fit with what follows, “[like] foreigners that I do not recognize.” Perhaps the form should be read as a Qal active participle, נֹכִים (nokhim, “ones who strike”) from the verbal root נָכָה (nakhah, “to strike”). The Qal of this verb is unattested in biblical Hebrew, but the peal (basic) stem appears in Old Aramaic (J. Fitzmyer, The Aramaic Inscriptions of Sefire [], ; 1:730.) In this case one might translate, “attackers gathered together against me though I was not aware of it” (cf. “smiters”; , “ruffians”; “attackers”).
30 Heb “they tore and did not keep quiet.” By using the verb “tear,” the psalmist likens his enemies to a wild animal (see Hos 13:8). In v. 17 he compares them to hungry young lions.
31 The reads “as profane [ones] of mockers of food,” which is nonsensical. The present translation assumes (1) an emendation of בְּחַנְפֵי (békhanfey, “as profane men”) to בְּחַנְפִי (bekhanfiy, “when I tripped”; preposition + Qal infinitive construct from II חָנַף [“limp”] + first common singular pronominal suffix) and (2) an emendation of לַעֲגֵי מָעוֹג (la’agey ma’og, “mockers of food”) to עָגוּ[ם]לַעְגָּ (la’gam ’agu, “[with] taunting they taunted”; masculine plural noun with enclitic mem + Qal perfect third common plural from לַּעַג [la’ag, “taunt”]).
32 Heb “gnashing at me with their teeth.” The infinitive absolute adds a complementary action—they gnashed with their teeth as they taunted.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

They repay me evil for good;

my soul is bereft.

But I, when they were sick—

I wore sackcloth;

I afflicted myself with fasting;

I prayed with head bowed on my chest.

I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;

as one who laments his mother,

I bowed down in mourning.

But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;

they gathered together against me;

wretches whom I did not know

tore at me without ceasing;

like profane mockers at a feast,

they gnash at me with their teeth.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

They repay me evil for good

and leave me like one bereaved.

Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth

and humbled myself with fasting.

When my prayers returned to me unanswered,

I went about mourning

as though for my friend or brother.

I bowed my head in grief

as though weeping for my mother.

But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;

assailants gathered against me without my knowledge.

They slandered me without ceasing.

Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked;

they gnashed their teeth at me.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

They repay me evil for good,

making me desolate.

Yet when they were sick,

my clothing was sackcloth;

I humbled myself with fasting,

and my prayer was genuine.

I went about mourning as if for my friend or brother;

I was bowed down with grief,

like one mourning for a mother.

But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;

they gathered against me.

Assailants I did not know

tore at me and did not stop.

With godless mockery

they gnashed their teeth at me.

NLTNew Living Translation

They repay me evil for good.

I am sick with despair.

Yet when they were ill, I grieved for them.

I denied myself by fasting for them,

but my prayers returned unanswered.

I was sad, as though they were my friends or family,

as if I were grieving for my own mother.

But they are glad now that I am in trouble;

they gleefully join together against me.

I am attacked by people I don’t even know;

they slander me constantly.

They mock me and call me names;

they snarl at me.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

They repay me evil in place of good.

It is bereavement to my soul.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth.

I weakened my soul with fasting,

and my prayer returned to me unanswered.

I behaved as though he were a friend or as a brother to me.

As one lamenting a mother, I was bowed down in mourning.

But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered together;

smiters whom I did not know gathered against me.

They tore and did not cease.

Among the ungodly of the mockers at feasts,

they gnashed at me with their teeth.

KJV 1900King James Version

They rewarded me evil for good

To the spoiling of my soul.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth:

I humbled my soul with fasting;

And my prayer returned into mine own bosom.

I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother:

I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.

But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together:

Yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not;

They did tear me, and ceased not:

With hypocritical mockers in feasts,

They gnashed upon me with their teeth.

Public Domain