Vengeance Invoked upon Adversaries.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 O God of my praise!
Do not keep silent,
2 For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me;
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And have fought against me without a cause.
4 In return for my love, they attack me,
But I am in prayer.
5 They have repaid me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.
6 Appoint a wicked man against him,
And let an attacker stand at his right hand [to kill him].
7 When he enters into dispute, let wickedness come about.
Let his prayer [for help] result [only] in sin.
8 Let his days be few;
And let another take his office.
9 Let his children be fatherless
And his wife a widow.
10 Let his children wander and beg;
Let them seek their foodandbe driven far from their ruined homes.
11 Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder the product of his labor.
12 Let there be no one to extend kindness to him,
Nor let anyone be gracious to his fatherless children.
13 Let his descendants be cut off,
And in the following generation let their name be blotted out.
14 Let the wickedness of his fathers be remembered by the Lord;
And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15 Let them be before the Lordcontinually,
That He may cut off their memory from the earth;
16 Because the man did not remember to show kindness,
But persecuted the suffering and needy man,
And the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17 He also loved cursing, and it came [back] to him;
He did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.
18 He clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
And it seeped into his inner self like water
And like [anointing] oil into his bones.
19 Let it be to him as a robe with which he covers himself,
And as a sash with which he is constantly bound.
20 Let this be the reward of my attackers from the Lord,
And of those who speak evil against my life.
21 But You, O God, the Lord, showkindnessto me, for Your name’s sake;
Because Your lovingkindness (faithfulness, compassion) is good, O rescue me;
22 For I am suffering and needy,
And my heart is wounded within me.
23 I am vanishing like a shadow when it lengthensandfades;
I am shaken off like the locust.
24 My knees are unsteady from fasting;
And my flesh is gaunt and without fatness.
25 I also have become a reproachandan object of taunting to others;
When they see me, they shake their heads [in derision].
26 Help me, O Lordmy God;
Save me according to Your lovingkindness–
27 And let them know that this is Your hand;
You, Lord, have done it.
28 Let them curse, but You bless.
When adversaries arise, let them be ashamed,
But let Your servant rejoice.
29 Let my attackers be clothed with dishonor,
And let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
30 I will give great praiseandthanks to the Lordwith my mouth;
And in the midst of many I will praise Him.
31 For He will stand at the right hand of the needy,
To save him from those who judge his soul.