• Vengeance Invoked upon Adversaries.

  • 1 God of my praise, Do not be silent!
  • 2 For they have opened a wicked and deceitful mouth 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 cause.
  • 4 In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer.
  • 5 So they have repaid me evil for good, And hatred for my love.
  • 6 Appoint a wicked person over him, And may an accuser stand at his right hand.
  • 7 When he is judged, may he come out guilty, And may his prayer become 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; And may they seek sustenance far from their ruined homes.
  • 11 May the creditor seize everything that he has, And may strangers plunder the product of his labor.
  • 12 May there be none to extend kindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children.
  • 13 May his descendants be eliminated; May their name be wiped out in a following generation.
  • 14 May the guilt of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, And do not let the sin of his mother be wiped out.
  • 15 May they be before the Lord continually, So that He may eliminate their memory from the earth;
  • 16 Because he did not remember to show mercy, But persecuted the afflicted and needy person, And the despondent in heart, to put them to death.
  • 17 He also loved cursing, so it came to him; And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.
  • 18 But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, And it entered his body like water, And like oil into his bones.
  • 19 May it be to him as a garment with which he covers himself, And as a belt which he constantly wears around himself.
  • 20 May 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; Because Your mercy is good, rescue me;
  • 22 For I am afflicted and needy, And my heart is wounded within me.
  • 23 I am passing like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like the locust.
  • 24 My knees are weak from fasting, And my flesh has grown lean, without fatness.
  • 25 I 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.
  • 27 And may they know that this is Your hand; You, Lord, have done it.
  • 28 They will curse, but You bless; When they arise, they will be ashamed, But Your servant will be glad.
  • 29 May my accusers be clothed with dishonor, 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.
  • 31 For He stands at the right hand of the needy, To save him from those who judge his soul.