Psalm 109

Hold not your tongue, O God of my praise, for the mouth of the ungodly, the mouth of the deceitful is opened upon me.

They have spoken against me with false tongues; they encompassed me with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause.

In return for the love that I had for them, they have become my adversaries; but I give myself to prayer.

Thus have they rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

Set an ungodly man to be ruler over him, and let an accuser stand at his right hand.

When judgment is given, let him be condemned, and let sentence be passed on him for guilt.

Let his days be few, and let another take his office.

Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.

Let his children be vagabonds and beg their bread; let them be driven out, even from desolate places.

Let the creditor consume all that he has, and let strangers take his labor for spoil.

Let there be no one to pity him, nor to have compassion upon his fatherless children.

Let his posterity be destroyed, and in the next generation let his name be blotted out.

Let the wickedness of his fathers be held in remembrance in the sight of the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.

Let them be always before the Lord, that he may root out the memorial of them from the earth,

Because he was not minded to do good, but persecuted to death the poor and needy, and those who were brokenhearted.

His delight was in cursing; let curses come upon him; he loved not blessing; therefore let it be far from him.

He clothed himself with cursing as with a garment, so let it soak into his body like water, and like oil into his bones.

Let it be to him as the cloak that he has on and as the belt that he always wears.

Let this be the recompense from the Lord to my enemies, and to those who speak evil against my soul.

But deal with me, O Lord God, according to your Name; for sweet is your mercy.

O deliver me, for I am helpless and poor, and my heart is wounded within me.

I disappear like the shadow that lengthens, and am shaken off like a grasshopper.

My knees are weak through fasting; my flesh is grown lean for want of nourishment.

I have become a reproach to them; when they look on me, they shake their heads.

Help me, O Lord my God; save me according to your mercy;

And they shall know that this is your hand, and that you, O Lord, have done it.

Though they curse, yet you bless; let them be confounded who rise up against me, but let your servant rejoice.

Let my adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a cloak.

As for me, I will give great thanks unto the Lord with my mouth, and praise him among the multitude,

For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save their souls from the unrighteous judges.