^6 (H)Appoint a wicked man ^(I)against him;
    let an accuser stand ^(J)at his right hand.
⁷ When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
    let his ^(K)prayer be counted as sin!
⁸ May his ^(L)days be few;
    may ^(M)another take his ^(N)office!
⁹ May his ^(O)children be fatherless
    and his wife a widow!
¹⁰ May his children ^(P)wander about and beg,
    ^(Q)seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
¹¹ May ^(R)the creditor seize all that he has;
    may ^(S)strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
¹² Let there be none to ^(T)extend kindness to him,
    nor any to ^(U)pity his fatherless children!
¹³ May his ^(V)posterity be cut off;
    may his ^(W)name be blotted out in the second generation!
¹⁴ May ^(X)the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,
    and let not the sin of his mother be ^(Y)blotted out!
^15 (Z)Let them be before the Lord continually,
    that he may ^(AA)cut off the memory of them from the earth!

¹⁶ For he did not remember to show kindness,
    but pursued ^(AB)the poor and needy
    and ^(AC)the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
^17 (AD)He loved to curse; let curses come^[b] upon him!
    He did not delight in blessing; may it be far^[c] from him!
¹⁸ He ^(AE)clothed himself with cursing as his coat;
    may it ^(AF)soak^[d] into his body like water,
    like oil into his bones!
¹⁹ May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,
    like a belt that he puts on every day!
²⁰ May this be the reward of my ^(AG)accusers from the Lord,
    of those who speak evil against my life!

²¹ But you, O God my Lord,
    deal on my behalf ^(AH)for your name's sake;
    because your ^(AI)steadfast love is good, deliver me!
²² For I am ^(AJ)poor and needy,
    and my heart is stricken within me.
²³ I am gone like ^(AK)a shadow at evening;
    I am ^(AL)shaken off like a locust.
²⁴ My knees are weak ^(AM)through fasting;
    my ^(AN)body has become gaunt, with no fat.
²⁵ I am ^(AO)an object of scorn to my accusers;
    when they see me, they ^(AP)wag their heads.

^26 (AQ)Help me, O Lord my God!
    Save me according to your steadfast love!
²⁷ Let them ^(AR)know that this is your hand;
    you, O Lord, have done it!
^28 (AS)Let them curse, but you will bless!
    They arise and are put to shame, but ^(AT)your servant will be glad!
²⁹ May my accusers be ^(AU)clothed with dishonor;
    may they ^(AV)be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!

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

^5 (H)And now the Lord says,
    he ^(I)who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
    and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for ^(J)I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
    and my God has become my strength—
⁶ he says:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
    to raise up the tribes of Jacob
    and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
^(K)I will make you ^(L)as a light for the nations,
    that ^(M)my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

⁷ Thus says the Lord,
    ^(N)the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,
^(O)to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,
    the servant of rulers:
^(P)“Kings shall see and arise;
    princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

^13 (AB)Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth;
    break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord ^(AC)has comforted his people
    and will have compassion on his afflicted.

¹⁴ But Zion said, ^(AD)“The Lord has forsaken me;
    my Lord has forgotten me.”

^15 (AE)“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
    that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?
Even these may forget,
    yet I will not forget you.
¹⁶ Behold, ^(AF)I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
    your walls are continually before me.
¹⁷ Your builders make haste;^{[d]
    (AG)}your destroyers and those who laid you waste go out from you.
^18 (AH)Lift up your eyes around and see;
    they all gather, they come to you.
^(AI)As I live, declares the Lord,
    ^(AJ)you shall put them all on as an ornament;
    you shall bind them on as a bride does.

¹⁹ “Surely your waste and your desolate places
    and your devastated land—
^(AK)surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,
    and those who swallowed you up will be far away.
^20 (AL)The children of your bereavement
    will yet say in your ears:
^(AM)‘The place is too narrow for me;
    make room for me to dwell in.’
²¹ Then you will say in your heart:
    ‘Who has borne me these?
^(AN)I was bereaved and barren,
    exiled and put away,
    but who has brought up these?
Behold, I was left alone;
    from where have these come?’”

²² Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,
    ^(AO)and raise my signal to the peoples;
^(AP)and they shall bring your sons in their arms,^[e]
    and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
^23 (AQ)Kings shall be your foster fathers,
    and their queens your nursing mothers.
^(AR)With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
    and ^(AS)lick the dust of your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
    ^(AT)those who wait for me ^(AU)shall not be put to shame.”

²⁴ Can the prey be taken from the mighty,
    or the captives of a tyrant^[f] be rescued?
²⁵ For thus says the Lord:
^(AV)“Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,
    and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,
for I will contend with those who contend with you,
    and I will save your children.
^26 (AW)I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,
    and they shall be drunk ^(AX)with their own blood as with wine.
Then all flesh shall know
    that ^(AY)I am the Lord your Savior,
    and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”