[1] To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. [2] Be not silent, O God of my
praise! [3] For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking
against me with lying tongues. [4] They beset me with words of hate, and
attack me without cause. [5] In return for my love they accuse me, even as
I make prayer for them. [6] So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for
my love. [7] Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser bring him to
trial. [8] When he is tried, let him come forth guilty; let his prayer be
counted as sin! [9] May his days be few; may another seize his goods! [10]
May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow! [11] May his children
wander about and beg; may they be driven out of the ruins they inhabit!
[12] May the creditor seize all that he has; may strangers plunder the
fruits of his toil! [13] Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor
any to pity his fatherless children! [14] May his posterity be cut off; may
his name be blotted out in the second generation! [15] May the iniquity of
his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and let not the sin of his
mother be blotted out! [16] Let them be before the LORD continually; and
may his memory be cut off from the earth! [17] For he did not remember to
show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted to
their death. [18] He loved to curse; let curses come on him! He did not
like blessing; may it be far from him! [19] He clothed himself with cursing
as his coat, may it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones!
[20] May it be like a garment which he wraps round him, like a belt with
which he daily girds himself! [21] May this be the reward of my accusers
from the LORD, of those who speak evil against my life! [22] But thou, O
GOD my Lord, deal on my behalf for thy name's sake; because thy steadfast
love is good, deliver me! [23] For I am poor and needy, and my heart is
stricken within me. [24] I am gone, like a shadow at evening; I am shaken
off like a locust. [25] My knees are weak through fasting; my body has
become gaunt. [26] I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see
me, they wag their heads. [27] Help me, O LORD my God! Save me according to
thy steadfast love! [28] Let them know that this is thy hand; thou, O LORD,
hast done it! [29] Let them curse, but do thou bless! Let my assailants be
put to shame; may thy servant be glad! [30] May my accusers be clothed with
dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle! [31] With
my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD; I will praise him in the
midst of the throng. [ (Psalms 109:32) For he stands at the right hand of
the needy, to save him from those who condemn him to death. ]
