Psalm 109
Amplified Bible
Vengeance Invoked upon Adversaries.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
109 O God of my praise!
Do not keep silent,
2
For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened 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 a cause.
4
In return for my love, they attack me,
But I am in prayer.
5
They have repaid me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.
6
Appoint a wicked man against him,
And let an attacker stand at his right hand [to kill him].
7
When he enters into dispute, let wickedness come about.
Let his prayer [for help] result [only] in sin.
8
Let his days be few;
And let another take his office.(A)
9
Let his children be fatherless
And his wife a widow.
10
Let his children wander and beg;
Let them seek their food and be driven far from their ruined homes.(B)
11
Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder the product of his labor.
12
Let there be no one to extend kindness to him,
Nor let anyone be gracious to his fatherless children.
13
Let his descendants be cut off,
And in the following generation let their name be blotted out.
14
Let the wickedness of his fathers be remembered by the Lord;
And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15
Let them be before the Lord continually,
That He may cut off their memory from the earth;
16
Because the man did not remember to show kindness,
But persecuted the suffering and needy man,
And the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17
He also loved cursing, and it came [back] to him;
He did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.
18
He clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
And it seeped into his inner self like water
And like [anointing] oil into his bones.
19
Let it be to him as a robe with which he covers himself,
And as a sash with which he is constantly bound.
20
Let this be the reward of my attackers from the Lord,
And of those who speak evil against my life.
21
But You, O God, the Lord, show kindness to me, for Your name’s sake;
Because Your lovingkindness (faithfulness, compassion) is good, O rescue me;
22
For I am suffering and needy,
And my heart is wounded within me.
23
I am vanishing like a shadow when it lengthens and fades;
I am shaken off like the locust.
24
My knees are unsteady from fasting;
And my flesh is gaunt and without fatness.
25
I also have become a reproach and an object of taunting to others;
When they see me, they shake their heads [in derision].(C)
26
Help me, O Lord my God;
Save me according to Your lovingkindness—
27
And let them know that this is Your hand;
You, Lord, have done it.
28
Let them curse, but You bless.
When adversaries arise, let them be ashamed,
But let Your servant rejoice.
29
Let my attackers be clothed with dishonor,
And let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
30
I will give great praise and thanks to the Lord with my mouth;
And in the midst of many I will praise Him.
31
For He will stand at the right hand of the needy,
To save him from those who judge his soul.
Psalm 109
The Message
109 1-5 My God, don’t turn a deaf ear to my hallelujah prayer.
Liars are pouring out invective on me;
Their lying tongues are like a pack of dogs out to get me,
barking their hate, nipping my heels—and for no reason!
I loved them and now they slander me—yes, me!—
and treat my prayer like a crime;
They return my good with evil,
they return my love with hate.
6-20 Send the Evil One to accuse my accusing judge;
dispatch Satan to prosecute him.
When he’s judged, let the verdict be “Guilty,”
and when he prays, let his prayer turn to sin.
Give him a short life,
and give his job to somebody else.
Make orphans of his children,
dress his wife in widow’s black;
Turn his children into begging street urchins,
evicted from their homes—homeless.
May the bank foreclose and wipe him out,
and strangers, like vultures, pick him clean.
May there be no one around to help him out,
no one willing to give his orphans a break.
Chop down his family tree
so that nobody even remembers his name.
But erect a memorial to the sin of his father,
and make sure his mother’s name is there, too—
Their sins recorded forever before God,
but they themselves sunk in oblivion.
That’s all he deserves since he was never once kind,
hounded the afflicted and heartbroken to their graves.
Since he loved cursing so much,
let curses rain down;
Since he had no taste for blessing,
let blessings flee far from him.
He dressed up in curses like a fine suit of clothes;
he drank curses, took his baths in curses.
So give him a gift—a costume of curses;
he can wear curses every day of the week!
That’s what they’ll get, those out to get me—
an avalanche of just deserts from God.
21-25 Oh, God, my Lord, step in;
work a miracle for me—you can do it!
Get me out of here—your love is so great!—
I’m at the end of my rope, my life in ruins.
I’m fading away to nothing, passing away,
my youth gone, old before my time.
I’m weak from hunger and can hardly stand up,
my body a rack of skin and bones.
I’m a joke in poor taste to those who see me;
they take one look and shake their heads.
26-29 Help me, oh help me, God, my God,
save me through your wonderful love;
Then they’ll know that your hand is in this,
that you, God, have been at work.
Let them curse all they want;
you do the blessing.
Let them be jeered by the crowd when they stand up,
followed by cheers for me, your servant.
Dress my accusers in clothes dirty with shame,
discarded and humiliating old ragbag clothes.
30-31 My mouth’s full of great praise for God,
I’m singing his hallelujahs surrounded by crowds,
For he’s always at hand to take the side of the needy,
to rescue a life from the unjust judge.
Psalm 109
New American Standard Bible
Vengeance Invoked upon Adversaries.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
109 (A)God of my praise,
(B)Do not be silent!
2 For they have opened a [a]wicked and (C)deceitful mouth against me;
They have spoken [b]against me with a (D)lying tongue.
3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And have fought against me (E)without cause.
4 In return (F)for my love they act as my accusers;
But (G)I am in prayer.
5 So they have [c](H)repaid me evil for good,
And (I)hatred for my love.
6 Appoint a wicked person over him,
And may an [d](J)accuser stand at his right hand.
7 When he is judged, may he (K)come out guilty,
And may his (L)prayer become sin.
8 May (M)his days be few;
May (N)another take his office.
9 May his (O)children be fatherless,
And his (P)wife a widow.
10 May his (Q)children wander about and beg;
And may they (R)seek sustenance [e]far from their ruined homes.
11 May (S)the creditor [f]seize everything that he has,
And may (T)strangers plunder the product of his labor.
12 May there be none to [g](U)extend kindness to him,
Nor (V)any to be gracious to his fatherless children.
13 May his (W)descendants be [h]eliminated;
May their (X)name be wiped out in a following generation.
14 May (Y)the guilt of his fathers be remembered [i]before the Lord,
And do not let the sin of his mother be (Z)wiped out.
15 May (AA)they be before the Lord continually,
So that He may (AB)eliminate their memory from the earth;
16 Because he did not remember to show mercy,
But persecuted the (AC)afflicted and needy person,
And the (AD)despondent in heart, to (AE)put them to death.
17 He also loved cursing, so (AF)it came to him;
And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.
18 But he (AG)clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
And it (AH)entered [j]his body like water,
And like oil into his bones.
19 May it be to him as (AI)a garment with which he covers himself,
And as a belt which he constantly (AJ)wears around himself.
20 May this be the (AK)reward of my accusers from the Lord,
And of those who (AL)speak evil against my soul.
21 But You, [k]God, the Lord, deal kindly with me (AM)for the sake of Your name;
Because (AN)Your mercy is good, rescue me;
22 For (AO)I am afflicted and needy,
And [l]my heart is (AP)wounded within me.
23 I am passing (AQ)like a shadow when it lengthens;
I am shaken off (AR)like the locust.
24 My (AS)knees [m]are weak from (AT)fasting,
And my flesh has grown lean, without fatness.
25 I also have become a (AU)disgrace to them;
When they see me, they (AV)shake their head.
26 (AW)Help me, Lord my God;
Save me according to Your mercy.
27 [n]And may they (AX)know that this is Your hand;
You, Lord, have done it.
28 (AY)They will curse, but You bless;
When they arise, they will be ashamed,
But Your (AZ)servant will be glad.
29 [o]May (BA)my accusers be clothed with dishonor,
And [p]may they (BB)cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
30 With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the Lord;
And (BC)I will praise Him in the midst of many.
31 For He stands (BD)at the right hand of the needy,
To save him from those who (BE)judge his soul.
Footnotes
- Psalm 109:2 Lit wicked mouth and the deceitful
- Psalm 109:2 Lit with
- Psalm 109:5 Lit laid upon me
- Psalm 109:6 Or adversary, Satan
- Psalm 109:10 Or out of their desolate places
- Psalm 109:11 Lit ensnare, strike at
- Psalm 109:12 Lit continue
- Psalm 109:13 Lit for cutting off
- Psalm 109:14 Lit to
- Psalm 109:18 Lit his inward parts
- Psalm 109:21 Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord
- Psalm 109:22 Lit one has pierced my heart within me
- Psalm 109:24 Or totter
- Psalm 109:27 Or That they may know
- Psalm 109:29 Or My accusers will be
- Psalm 109:29 Or they will cover
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.