1 My God, whom I praise,g

do not remain silent,h

2 for people who are wicked and deceitfuli

have opened their mouths against me;

they have spoken against me with lying tongues.j

3 With words of hatredk they surround me;

they attack me without cause.l

4 In return for my friendship they accuse me,

but I am a man of prayer.m

5 They repay me evil for good,n

and hatred for my friendship.

6 Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy;

let an accusero stand at his right hand.

7 When he is tried, let him be found guilty,p

and may his prayers condemnq him.

8 May his days be few;r

may another take his places of leadership.

9 May his children be fatherless

and his wife a widow.t

10 May his children be wandering beggars;u

may they be drivena from their ruined homes.

11 May a creditorv seize all he has;

may strangers plunderw the fruits of his labor.x

12 May no one extend kindness to him

or take pityy on his fatherless children.

13 May his descendants be cut off,z

their names blotted outa from the next generation.

14 May the iniquity of his fathersb be remembered before the Lord;

may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.

15 May their sins always remain beforec the Lord,

that he may blot out their named from the earth.

16 For he never thought of doing a kindness,

but hounded to death the poor

and the needye and the brokenhearted.f

17 He loved to pronounce a curse—

may it come back on him.g

He found no pleasure in blessing—

may it be far from him.

18 He wore cursingh as his garment;

it entered into his body like water,i

into his bones like oil.

19 May it be like a cloak wrappedj about him,

like a belt tied forever around him.

20 May this be the Lord’s paymentk to my accusers,

to those who speak evill of me.

21 But you, Sovereign Lord,

help me for your name’s sake;m

out of the goodness of your love,n deliver me.o

22 For I am poor and needy,

and my heart is wounded within me.

23 I fade away like an evening shadow;p

I am shaken off like a locust.

24 My knees giveq way from fasting;r

my body is thin and gaunt.s

25 I am an object of scornt to my accusers;

when they see me, they shake their heads.u

26 Help me,v Lord my God;

save me according to your unfailing love.

27 Let them knoww that it is your hand,

that you, Lord, have done it.

28 While they curse,x may you bless;

may those who attack me be put to shame,

but may your servant rejoice.y

29 May my accusers be clothed with disgrace

and wrapped in shamez as in a cloak.

30 With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord;

in the great thronga of worshipers I will praise him.

31 For he stands at the right handb of the needy,

to save their lives from those who would condemn them.