Psalm 109

Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁶ Appoint a wicked man against him;
    let an accuser bring him to trial.^[b]
7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
    let his prayer be counted as sin!
⁸ May his days be few;
    may another seize his goods!
⁹ May his children be fatherless,
    and his wife a widow!
¹⁰ May his children wander about and beg;
    may they be driven out of^[c] the ruins they inhabit!
¹¹ May the creditor seize all that he has;
    may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
¹² Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
    nor any to pity his fatherless children!
¹³ May his posterity be cut off;
    may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
¹⁴ May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,
    and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
¹⁵ Let them be before the Lord continually;
    and may his^[d] memory be cut off from the earth!
¹⁶ For he did not remember to show kindness,
    but pursued the poor and needy
    and the brokenhearted to their death.
¹⁷ He loved to curse; let curses come on him!
    He did not like blessing; may it be far from him!
¹⁸ He clothed himself with cursing as his coat,
    may it soak into his body like water,
    like oil into his bones!
¹⁹ May it be like a garment which he wraps round him,
    like a belt with which he daily girds himself!

²⁰ May this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,
    of those who speak evil against my life!
²¹ But thou, O God my Lord,
    deal on my behalf for thy name’s sake;
    because thy steadfast love is good, deliver me!
²² For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is stricken within me.
²³ I am gone, like a shadow at evening;
    I am shaken off like a locust.
²⁴ My knees are weak through fasting;
    my body has become gaunt.
²⁵ I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
    when they see me, they wag their heads.

²⁶ Help me, O Lord my God!
    Save me according to thy steadfast love!
²⁷ Let them know that this is thy hand;
    thou, O Lord, hast done it!
²⁸ Let them curse, but do thou bless!
    Let my assailants be put to shame;^[e] may thy servant be glad!
²⁹ May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;
    may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle!

³⁰ With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;
    I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
³¹ For he stands at the right hand of the needy,
    to save him from those who condemn him to death.