| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Be not silent, O God of my praise! | 1O God, whom I praise, don’t stand silent and aloof |
| 2For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. | 2while the wicked slander me and tell lies about me. |
| 3They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause. | 3They surround me with hateful words and fight against me for no reason. |
| 4In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer. | 4I love them, but they try to destroy me with accusations even as I am praying for them! |
| 5So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love. | 5They repay evil for good, and hatred for my love. |
| 6Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand at his right hand. | 6They say, “Get an evil person to turn against him. Send an accuser to bring him to trial. |
| 7When he is tried, let him come forth guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin! | 7When his case comes up for judgment, let him be pronounced guilty. Count his prayers as sins. |
| 8May his days be few; may another take his office! | 8Let his years be few; let someone else take his position. |
| 9May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow! | 9May his children become fatherless, and his wife a widow. |
| 10May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit! | 10May his children wander as beggars and be driven from their ruined homes. |
| 11May the creditor seize all that he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil! | 11May creditors seize his entire estate, and strangers take all he has earned. |
| 12Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children! | 12Let no one be kind to him; let no one pity his fatherless children. |
| 13May his posterity be cut off; may his name be blotted out in the second generation! | 13May all his offspring die. May his family name be blotted out in the next generation. |
| 14May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out! | 14May the LORD never forget the sins of his fathers; may his mother’s sins never be erased from the record. |
| 15Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth! | 15May the LORD always remember these sins, and may his name disappear from human memory. |
| 16For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted, to put them to death. | 16For he refused all kindness to others; he persecuted the poor and needy, and he hounded the brokenhearted to death. |
| 17He loved to curse; let curses come upon him! He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him! | 17He loved to curse others; now you curse him. He never blessed others; now don’t you bless him. |
| 18He clothed himself with cursing as his coat; may it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones! | 18Cursing is as natural to him as his clothing, or the water he drinks, or the rich food he eats. |
| 19May it be like a garment that he wraps around him, like a belt that he puts on every day! | 19Now may his curses return and cling to him like clothing; may they be tied around him like a belt.” |
| 20May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD, of those who speak evil against my life! | 20May those curses become the LORD’s punishment for my accusers who speak evil of me. |
| 21But you, O GOD my Lord, deal on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me! | 21But deal well with me, O Sovereign LORD, for the sake of your own reputation! Rescue me because you are so faithful and good. |
| 22For I am poor and needy, and my heart is stricken within me. | 22For I am poor and needy, and my heart is full of pain. |
| 23I am gone like a shadow at evening; I am shaken off like a locust. | 23I am fading like a shadow at dusk; I am brushed off like a locust. |
| 24My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt, with no fat. | 24My knees are weak from fasting, and I am skin and bones. |
| 25I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they wag their heads. | 25I am a joke to people everywhere; when they see me, they shake their heads in scorn. |
| 26Help me, O LORD my God! Save me according to your steadfast love! | 26Help me, O LORD my God! Save me because of your unfailing love. |
| 27Let them know that this is your hand; you, O LORD, have done it! | 27Let them see that this is your doing, that you yourself have done it, LORD. |
| 28Let them curse, but you will bless! They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad! | 28Then let them curse me if they like, but you will bless me! When they attack me, they will be disgraced! But I, your servant, will go right on rejoicing! |
| 29May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak! | 29May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may their humiliation cover them like a cloak. |
| 30With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD; I will praise him in the midst of the throng. | 30But I will give repeated thanks to the LORD, praising him to everyone. |
| 31For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from those who condemn his soul to death. | 31For he stands beside the needy, ready to save them from those who condemn them. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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