The Song of the Slandered

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

¹ O God of my praise,

be not silent.

² For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me;

they speak against me^* with lying tongues.

³ They surround me with hateful words

and attack me without cause.

⁴ In return for my love they accuse me,

but I am a man of prayer.

⁵ They repay me evil for good,

and hatred for my love.

⁶ Set over him a wicked man;

let an accuser^* stand at his right hand.

⁷ When he is tried, let him be found guilty,

and may his prayer be regarded as sin.

⁸ May his days be few;

may another take his position.

⁹ May his children be fatherless

and his wife a widow.

¹⁰ May his children wander as beggars,^*

seeking sustenance far from their ruined homes.

¹¹ May the creditor seize all he owns,

and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.

¹² May there be no one to extend kindness to him,

and no one to favor his fatherless children.

¹³ May his descendants be cut off;

may their name be blotted out from the next generation.

¹⁴ May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,

and the sin of his mother never be blotted out.

¹⁵ May their sins always remain before the LORD,

that He may cut off their memory from the earth.

¹⁶ For he never thought^* to show kindness,

but pursued the poor and needy and brokenhearted,

even to their death.

¹⁷ The cursing that he loved,

may it fall on him;

the blessing in which he refused to delight,

may it be far from him.

¹⁸ The cursing that he wore like a coat,

may it soak into his body like water,

and into his bones like oil.

¹⁹ May it be like a robe wrapped about him,

like a belt tied forever around him.

²⁰ May this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers,

to those who speak evil against me.

²¹ But You, O GOD, the Lord,

deal kindly with me for the sake of Your name;

deliver me by the goodness of Your loving devotion.

²² For I am poor and needy;

my heart is wounded within me.

²³ I am fading away like a lengthening shadow;

I am shaken off like a locust.^*

²⁴ My knees are weak from fasting,

and my body grows lean^* and gaunt.

²⁵ I am an object of scorn to my accusers;

when they see me, they shake their heads.

²⁶ Help me, O LORD my God;

save me according to Your loving devotion.

²⁷ Let them know that this is Your hand,

that You, O LORD, have done it.

²⁸ Though they curse, You will bless.

When they rise up, they will be put to shame,

but Your servant will rejoice.

²⁹ May my accusers be clothed with disgrace;

may they wear their shame like a robe.

³⁰ With my mouth I will thank the LORD profusely;

I will praise Him in the presence of many.

³¹ For He stands at the right hand of the needy one,

to save him^* from the condemners of his soul.