New King James Version | New Living Translation |
1To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. Do not keep silent, O God of my praise! | 1O God, whom I praise, don’t stand silent and aloof |
2For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful Have opened against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. | 2while the wicked slander me and tell lies about me. |
3They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without a cause. | 3They surround me with hateful words and fight against me for no reason. |
4In return for my love they are my accusers, But I give myself to prayer. | 4I love them, but they try to destroy me with accusations even as I am praying for them! |
5Thus they have rewarded me evil for good, And hatred for my love. | 5They repay evil for good, and hatred for my love. |
6Set a wicked man over him, And 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 judged, let him be found guilty, And let his prayer become sin. | 7When his case comes up for judgment, let him be pronounced guilty. Count his prayers as sins. |
8Let his days be few, And let another take his office. | 8Let his years be few; let someone else take his position. |
9Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow. | 9May his children become fatherless, and his wife a widow. |
10Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg; Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places. | 10May his children wander as beggars and be driven from their ruined homes. |
11Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder his labor. | 11May creditors seize his entire estate, and strangers take all he has earned. |
12Let there be none to extend mercy to him, Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children. | 12Let no one be kind to him; let no one pity his fatherless children. |
13Let his posterity be cut off, And in the generation following let their name be blotted out. | 13May all his offspring die. May his family name be blotted out in the next generation. |
14Let 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 continually before the LORD, 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. |
16Because he did not remember to show mercy, But persecuted the poor and needy man, That he might even slay the broken in heart. | 16For he refused all kindness to others; he persecuted the poor and needy, and he hounded the brokenhearted to death. |
17As he loved cursing, so let it come to him; As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him. | 17He loved to curse others; now you curse him. He never blessed others; now don’t you bless him. |
18As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, So let it enter his body like water, And 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. |
19Let it be to him like the garment which covers him, And for a belt with which he girds himself continually. | 19Now may his curses return and cling to him like clothing; may they be tied around him like a belt.” |
20Let this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers, And to those who speak evil against my person. | 20May those curses become the LORD’s punishment for my accusers who speak evil of me. |
21But You, O GOD the Lord, Deal with me for Your name’s sake; Because Your mercy 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 wounded within me. | 22For I am poor and needy, and my heart is full of pain. |
23I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens; 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, And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness. | 24My knees are weak from fasting, and I am skin and bones. |
25I also have become a reproach to them; When they look at me, they shake 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! Oh, save me according to Your mercy, | 26Help me, O LORD my God! Save me because of your unfailing love. |
27That they may know that this is Your hand— That You, LORD, have done it! | 27Let them see that this is your doing, that you yourself have done it, LORD. |
28Let them curse, but You bless; When they arise, let them be ashamed, But let Your servant rejoice. | 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! |
29Let my accusers be clothed with shame, And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle. | 29May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may their humiliation cover them like a cloak. |
30I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude. | 30But I will give repeated thanks to the LORD, praising him to everyone. |
31For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor, To save him from those who condemn him. | 31For he stands beside the needy, ready to save them from those who condemn them. |
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. 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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