Psalm 109:title–31

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

¹My God, whom I praise,^g

do not remain silent,^h

²for people who are wicked and deceitfulⁱ

have opened their mouths against me;

they have spoken against me with lying tongues.^j

³With words of hatred^k they surround me;

they attack me without cause.^l

⁴In return for my friendship they accuse me,

but I am a man of prayer.^m

⁵They repay me evil for good,ⁿ

and hatred for my friendship.

⁶Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy;

let an accuser^o stand at his right hand.

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

and may his prayers condemn^q him.

⁸May his days be few;^r

may another take his place^s of leadership.

⁹May his children be fatherless

and his wife a widow.^t

¹⁰May his children be wandering beggars;^u

may they be driven^a from their ruined homes.

¹¹May a creditor^v seize all he has;

may strangers plunder^w the fruits of his labor.^x

¹²May no one extend kindness to him

or take pity^y on his fatherless children.

¹³May his descendants be cut off,^z

their names blotted out^a from the next generation.

¹⁴May the iniquity of his fathers^b be remembered before the Lord;

may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.

¹⁵May their sins always remain before^c the Lord,

that he may blot out their name^d from the earth.

¹⁶For he never thought of doing a kindness,

but hounded to death the poor

and the needy^e and the brokenhearted.^f

¹⁷He loved to pronounce a curse—

may it come back on him.^g

He found no pleasure in blessing—

may it be far from him.

¹⁸He wore cursing^h as his garment;

it entered into his body like water,ⁱ

into his bones like oil.

¹⁹May it be like a cloak wrapped^j about him,

like a belt tied forever around him.

²⁰May this be the Lord’s payment^k to my accusers,

to those who speak evil^l of me.

²¹But you, Sovereign Lord,

help me for your name’s sake;^m

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

²²For I am poor and needy,

and my heart is wounded within me.

²³I fade away like an evening shadow;^p

I am shaken off like a locust.

²⁴My knees give^q way from fasting;^r

my body is thin and gaunt.^s

²⁵I am an object of scorn^t to my accusers;

when they see me, they shake their heads.^u

²⁶Help me,^v Lord my God;

save me according to your unfailing love.

²⁷Let them know^w that it is your hand,

that you, Lord, have done it.

²⁸While they curse,^x may you bless;

may those who attack me be put to shame,

but may your servant rejoice.^y

²⁹May my accusers be clothed with disgrace

and wrapped in shame^z as in a cloak.

³⁰With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord;

in the great throng^a of worshipers I will praise him.

³¹For he stands at the right hand^b of the needy,

to save their lives from those who would condemn them.