To the Director. A Davidic psalm.
A Prayer against the Evil One
109 God, whom I praise,
do not be silent,
2 for the mouths of wicked and deceitful people
are opened against me;
they speak against me with lying tongues.
3 They surround me with hate-filled words,
attacking me for no reason.
4 Instead of receiving[a] my love, they accuse me,
though I continue in prayer.
5 They devise evil against me instead of good,
and hatred in place of my love.
6 Appoint an evil person over him;
may an accuser stand at his right side.[b]
7 When he is judged, may he be found guilty;
may his prayer be regarded as sin.
8 May his days be few;
may another take over his position.[c]
9 May his children become fatherless,
and his wife a widow.
10 May his children roam around begging,
seeking food[d] while driven far[e] from their ruined homes.
11 May creditors seize all his possessions,
and may foreigners loot the property he has acquired.[f]
12 May no one extend gracious love to him,
or show favor to his fatherless children.
13 May his descendants[g] be eliminated,
and their memory[h] be erased from the next generation.
14 May his ancestors’ guilt be remembered in the Lord’s presence,
and may his mother’s guilt not be erased.
15 May what[i] they have done[j] be continually in the Lord’s presence;
and may their memory be excised from the earth.
16 For he didn’t think to extend gracious love;
he harassed to death the poor, the needy, and the broken hearted.[k]
17 He loved to curse—may his curses[l] return upon him!
He took no delight in blessing others[m]—
so may blessings[n] be far from him.
18 He wore curses like a garment—
may they[o] enter his inner being like water
and his bones like oil.
19 May those curses[p] wrap around him like a garment,
or like a belt that one always wears.
20 May this be the way the Lord repays my accuser,
those who speak evil against me.
21 Now you, Lord my God, defend[q] me for your name’s sake;
because your gracious love is good, deliver me!
22 Indeed, I am poor and needy,
and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I am fading[r] away like a shadow late in the day;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees give way[s] from fasting,
and my skin is lean, deprived of oil.
25 I have become an object of derision to them—
they shake their heads whenever they see me.
26 Help me, Lord my God!
Deliver me in accord with your gracious love!
27 Then they will realize that your hand is in this—
that you, Lord, have accomplished it.
28 They will curse,
but you will bless.
When they attack,[t] they will[u] be humiliated,
while your servant rejoices.
29 May my accusers be clothed with shame
and wrapped in their humiliation as with a robe.
30 I will give many thanks to the Lord with my mouth,
praising him publicly,
31 for he stands[v] at the right hand of the needy one,
to deliver him from his accusers.[w]
Footnotes
- Psalm 109:4 The Heb. lacks receiving
- Psalm 109:6 Lit. hand
- Psalm 109:8 Or office
- Psalm 109:10 The Heb. lacks food
- Psalm 109:10 So LXX; the Heb. lacks while driven far
- Psalm 109:11 Or the result of his labor
- Psalm 109:13 Lit. May those after him
- Psalm 109:13 Or their name
- Psalm 109:15 The Heb. lacks what
- Psalm 109:15 The Heb. lacks have done
- Psalm 109:16 Or downhearted
- Psalm 109:17 Lit. may it
- Psalm 109:17 The Heb. lacks others
- Psalm 109:17 Lit. it
- Psalm 109:18 Lit. it
- Psalm 109:19 Lit. may it
- Psalm 109:21 Lit. God, do to
- Psalm 109:23 Or walking
- Psalm 109:24 Or knees stagger
- Psalm 109:28 Lit. arise
- Psalm 109:28 So MT DSS 4QPsf 11QPsa; LXX reads arise, let my opponents
- Psalm 109:31 So MT; LXX DSS 11QPsa read he has stood
- Psalm 109:31 Or from those who condemn him