Psalm 109

Vengeance Invoked upon Adversaries.

¹God of my praise,

Do not be silent!

²For they have opened a wicked and deceitful mouth against me;[#109:2 Lit wicked mouth and the deceitful]

They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

³They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,

And have fought against me without cause.

⁴In return for my love they act as my accusers;

But I am in prayer.

⁵So they have repaid me evil for good,[#109:5 Lit laid upon me]

And hatred for my love.

⁶¶Appoint a wicked person over him,

And may an accuser stand at his right hand.

⁷When he is judged, may he come out guilty,

And may his prayer become sin.

⁸May his days be few;

May another take his office.

⁹May his children be fatherless,

And his wife a widow.

¹⁰May his children wander about and beg;

And may they seek sustenance far from their ruined homes.

¹¹May the creditor seize everything that he has,[#109:11 Lit ensnare, strike at]

And may strangers plunder the product of his labor.

¹²May there be none to extend kindness to him,[#109:12 Lit continue]

Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children.

¹³May his descendants be eliminated;[#109:13 Lit for cutting off]

May their name be wiped out in a following generation.

¹⁴¶May the guilt of his fathers be remembered before the Lord ,[#109:14 Lit to]

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

¹⁵May they be before the Lord continually,

So that He may eliminate their memory from the earth;

¹⁶Because he did not remember to show mercy,

But persecuted the afflicted and needy person,

And the despondent in heart, to put them to death.

¹⁷He also loved cursing, so it came to him;

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

¹⁸But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,

And it entered his body like water,

And like oil into his bones.

¹⁹May it be to him as a garment with which he covers himself,

And as a belt which he constantly wears around himself.

²⁰May this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord ,

And of those who speak evil against my soul.

²¹¶But You, God , the Lord, deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name;[#109:21 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord]

Because Your mercy is good, rescue me;

²²For I am afflicted and needy,

And my heart is wounded within me.

²³I am passing like a shadow when it lengthens;

I am shaken off like the locust.

²⁴My knees are weak from fasting,[#109:24 Or totter]

And my flesh has grown lean, without fatness.

²⁵I also have become a disgrace to them;

When they see me, they shake their head.

²⁶¶Help me, Lord my God;

Save me according to Your mercy.

²⁷And may they know that this is Your hand;[#109:27 Or That they may know]

You, Lord , have done it.

²⁸They will curse, but You bless;

When they arise, they will be ashamed,

But Your servant will be glad.

²⁹May my accusers be clothed with dishonor,[#109:29 Or My accusers will be]

And may they cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.

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

And I will praise Him in the midst of many.

³¹For He stands at the right hand of the needy,

To save him from those who judge his soul.