Psalm 109

¹ Be not silent, O God of my praise!

² For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.

³ They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me without cause.

⁴ In return for my love they accuse me,
but I give myself to prayer.

⁵ So they reward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.

⁶ Appoint a wicked man against him;
let an accuser stand at his right hand.

⁷ When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
let his prayer be counted as sin!

⁸ May his days be few;
may another take his office!

⁹ May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow!

¹⁰ May his children wander about and beg,
seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!

¹¹ May the creditor seize all that he has;
may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!

¹² Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
nor any to pity his fatherless children!

¹³ May his posterity be cut off;
may his name be blotted out in the second generation!

¹⁴ May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!

¹⁵ Let them be before the LORD continually,
that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!

¹⁶ For he did not remember to show kindness,
but pursued the poor and needy
and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.

¹⁷ He loved cursing; let it come upon him!
He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him!

¹⁸ He clothed himself with cursing as his coat;
may it soak into his body like water,
like oil into his bones!

¹⁹ May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,
like a belt that he puts on every day!

²⁰ May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD,
of those who speak evil against my life!

²¹ But you, O GOD my Lord,
deal on my behalf for your name's sake;
because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!

²² For I am poor and needy,
and my heart is stricken within me.

²³ I am gone like a shadow at evening;
I am shaken off like a locust.

²⁴ My knees are weak through fasting;
my body has become gaunt, with no fat.

²⁵ I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they wag their heads.

²⁶ Help me, O LORD my God!
Save me according to your steadfast love!

²⁷ Let them know that this is your hand;
you, O LORD, have done it!

²⁸ Let them curse, but you will bless!
They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!

²⁹ May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;
may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!

³⁰ With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;
I will praise him in the midst of the throng.

³¹ For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.