⁸ Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness^(A)
    because of my enemies—
    make your way straight^(B) before me.
⁹ Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
    their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;^(C)
    with their tongues they tell lies.^(D)
10 Declare them guilty, O God!
    Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,^(E)
    for they have rebelled^(F) against you.

⁹ May his children be fatherless
    and his wife a widow.^(A)
10 May his children be wandering beggars;^(B)
    may they be driven^[a] from their ruined homes.
¹¹ May a creditor^(C) seize all he has;
    may strangers plunder^(D) the fruits of his labor.^(E)
12 May no one extend kindness to him
    or take pity^(F) on his fatherless children.
¹³ May his descendants be cut off,^(G)
    their names blotted out^(H) from the next generation.
¹⁴ May the iniquity of his fathers^(I) be remembered before the Lord;
    may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
¹⁵ May their sins always remain before^(J) the Lord,
    that he may blot out their name^(K) from the earth.

¹⁶ For he never thought of doing a kindness,
    but hounded to death the poor
    and the needy^(L) and the brokenhearted.^(M)
17 He loved to pronounce a curse—
    may it come back on him.^(N)
He found no pleasure in blessing—
    may it be far from him.
¹⁸ He wore cursing^(O) as his garment;
    it entered into his body like water,^(P)
    into his bones like oil.
¹⁹ May it be like a cloak wrapped^(Q) about him,
    like a belt tied forever around him.
²⁰ May this be the Lord’s payment^(R) to my accusers,
    to those who speak evil^(S) of me.

⁴ Keep me safe,^(G) Lord, from the hands of the wicked;^(H)
    protect me from the violent,
    who devise ways to trip my feet.