⁶ Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy;
    let an accuser^(I) stand at his right hand.
⁷ When he is tried, let him be found guilty,^(J)
    and may his prayers condemn^(K) him.
⁸ May his days be few;^(L)
    may another take his place^(M) of leadership.
⁹ May his children be fatherless
    and his wife a widow.^(N)
10 May his children be wandering beggars;^(O)
    may they be driven^[a] from their ruined homes.
¹¹ May a creditor^(P) seize all he has;
    may strangers plunder^(Q) the fruits of his labor.^(R)
12 May no one extend kindness to him
    or take pity^(S) on his fatherless children.
¹³ May his descendants be cut off,^(T)
    their names blotted out^(U) from the next generation.
¹⁴ May the iniquity of his fathers^(V) be remembered before the Lord;
    may the sin of his mother never be blotted out.
¹⁵ May their sins always remain before^(W) the Lord,
    that he may blot out their name^(X) from the earth.

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

²¹ But you, Sovereign Lord,
    help me for your name’s sake;^(AG)
    out of the goodness of your love,^(AH) deliver me.^(AI)
22 For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is wounded within me.
²³ I fade away like an evening shadow;^(AJ)
    I am shaken off like a locust.
²⁴ My knees give^(AK) way from fasting;^(AL)
    my body is thin and gaunt.^(AM)
25 I am an object of scorn^(AN) to my accusers;
    when they see me, they shake their heads.^(AO)

²⁶ Help me,^(AP) Lord my God;
    save me according to your unfailing love.
²⁷ Let them know^(AQ) that it is your hand,
    that you, Lord, have done it.
²⁸ While they curse,^(AR) may you bless;
    may those who attack me be put to shame,
    but may your servant rejoice.^(AS)
29 May my accusers be clothed with disgrace
    and wrapped in shame^(AT) as in a cloak.

³⁰ With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord;
    in the great throng^(AU) of worshipers I will praise him.
³¹ For he stands at the right hand^(AV) of the needy,
    to save their lives from those who would condemn them.

³ If clouds are full of water,
    they pour rain on the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
    in the place where it falls, there it will lie.
⁴ Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
    whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

⁵ As you do not know the path of the wind,^(C)
    or how the body is formed^[a] in a mother’s womb,^(D)
so you cannot understand the work of God,
    the Maker of all things.

⁶ Sow your seed in the morning,
    and at evening let your hands not be idle,^(E)
for you do not know which will succeed,
    whether this or that,
    or whether both will do equally well.