Psalms 109:4-20
Psalms 109:1-20 The Message (MSG)
My God, don’t turn a deaf ear to my hallelujah prayer. Liars are pouring out invective on me; Their lying tongues are like a pack of dogs out to get me, barking their hate, nipping my heels—and for no reason! I loved them and now they slander me—yes, me!— and treat my prayer like a crime; They return my good with evil, they return my love with hate. Send the Evil One to accuse my accusing judge; dispatch Satan to prosecute him. When he’s judged, let the verdict be “Guilty,” and when he prays, let his prayer turn to sin. Give him a short life, and give his job to somebody else. Make orphans of his children, dress his wife in widow’s black; Turn his children into begging street urchins, evicted from their homes—homeless. May the bank foreclose and wipe him out, and strangers, like vultures, pick him clean. May there be no one around to help him out, no one willing to give his orphans a break. Chop down his family tree so that nobody even remembers his name. But erect a memorial to the sin of his father, and make sure his mother’s name is there, too— Their sins recorded forever before GOD, but they themselves sunk in oblivion. That’s all he deserves since he was never once kind, hounded the afflicted and heartbroken to their graves. Since he loved cursing so much, let curses rain down; Since he had no taste for blessing, let blessings flee far from him. He dressed up in curses like a fine suit of clothes; he drank curses, took his baths in curses. So give him a gift—a costume of curses; he can wear curses every day of the week! That’s what they’ll get, those out to get me— an avalanche of just deserts from GOD.
Psalms 109:4-20 King James Version (KJV)
For my love they are my adversaries: But I give myself unto prayer. And they have rewarded me evil for good, And hatred for my love. Set thou a wicked man over him: And let Satan stand at his right hand. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: And let his prayer become sin. 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 continually vagabonds, and beg: Let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; And let the strangers spoil his labour. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: Neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; And in the generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the LORD continually, That he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, But persecuted the poor and needy man, That he might even slay the broken in heart. As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: As he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, So let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, And for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, And of them that speak evil against my soul.
Psalms 109:4-20 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995)
In return for my love they act as my accusers; But I am in prayer. Thus they have repaid me evil for good And hatred for my love. Appoint a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty, And let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; Let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless And his wife a widow. Let his children wander about and beg; And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes. Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder the product of his labor. Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; In a following generation let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the LORD continually, That He may cut off their memory from the earth; Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness, But persecuted the afflicted and needy man, And the despondent in heart, to put them to death. He also loved cursing, so it came to him; And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him. But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, And it entered into his body like water And like oil into his bones. Let it be to him as a garment with which he covers himself, And for a belt with which he constantly girds himself. Let this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD, And of those who speak evil against my soul.
Psalms 109:4-20 New Century Version (NCV)
They attacked me, even though I loved them and prayed for them. I was good to them, but they repay me with evil. I loved them, but they hate me in return. They say about me, “Have an evil person work against him, and let an accuser stand against him. When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let even his prayers show his guilt. Let his life be cut short, and let another man replace him as leader. Let his children become orphans and his wife a widow. Make his children wander around, begging for food. Let them be forced out of the ruins in which they live. Let the people to whom he owes money take everything he owns, and let strangers steal everything he has worked for. Let no one show him love or have mercy on his orphaned children. Let all his descendants die and be forgotten by those who live after him. LORD, remember how wicked his ancestors were, and don’t let the sins of his mother be wiped out. LORD, always remember their sins. Then make people forget about them completely. “He did not remember to be loving. He hurt the poor, the needy, and those who were sad until they were nearly dead. He loved to put curses on others, so let those same curses fall on him. He did not like to bless others, so do not let good things happen to him. He cursed others as often as he wore clothes. Cursing others filled his body and his life, like drinking water and using olive oil. So let curses cover him like clothes and wrap around him like a belt.” May the LORD do these things to those who accuse me, to those who speak evil against me.
Psalms 109:4-20 American Standard Version (ASV)
For my love they are my adversaries: But I give myself unto prayer. And they have rewarded me evil for good, And hatred for my love. Set thou a wicked man over him; And let an adversary stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty; And let his prayer be turned into sin. 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; And let them seek their bread out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; And let strangers make spoil of his labor. Let there be none to extend kindness unto him; Neither let there be any to have pity on his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; In the generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with Jehovah; And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before Jehovah continually, That he may cut off the memory of them from the earth; Because he remembered not to show kindness, But persecuted the poor and needy man, And the broken in heart, to slay them. Yea, he loved cursing, and it came unto him; And he delighted not in blessing, and it was far from him. He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment, And it came into his inward parts like water, And like oil into his bones. Let it be unto him as the raiment wherewith he covereth himself, And for the girdle wherewith he is girded continually. This is the reward of mine adversaries from Jehovah, And of them that speak evil against my soul.
Psalms 109:4-20 New International Version (NIV)
In return for my friendship they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer. They repay me evil for good, and hatred for my friendship. Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy; let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is tried, let him be found guilty, and may his prayers condemn him. May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership. May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow. May his children be wandering beggars; may they be driven from their ruined homes. May a creditor seize all he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor. May no one extend kindness to him or take pity on his fatherless children. May his descendants be cut off, their names blotted out from the next generation. May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD; may the sin of his mother never be blotted out. May their sins always remain before the LORD, that he may blot out their name from the earth. For he never thought of doing a kindness, but hounded to death the poor and the needy and the brokenhearted. He loved to pronounce a curse— may it come back on him. He found no pleasure in blessing— may it be far from him. He wore cursing as his garment; it entered into his body like water, into his bones like oil. May it be like a cloak wrapped about him, like a belt tied forever around him. May this be the LORD’s payment to my accusers, to those who speak evil of me.
Psalms 109:4-20 New King James Version (NKJV)
In return for my love they are my accusers, But I give myself to prayer. Thus they have rewarded me evil for good, And hatred for my love. Set a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him be found guilty, And let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few, And let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow. Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg; Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places. Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder his labor. Let there be none to extend mercy to him, Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off, And in the generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be continually before the LORD, That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth; Because he did not remember to show mercy, But persecuted the poor and needy man, That he might even slay the broken in heart. As he loved cursing, so let it come to him; As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him. As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, So let it enter his body like water, And like oil into his bones. Let it be to him like the garment which covers him, And for a belt with which he girds himself continually. Let this be the LORD’s reward to my accusers, And to those who speak evil against my person.
Psalms 109:4-20 Amplified Bible (AMP)
In return for my love, they attack me, But I am in prayer. They have repaid me evil for good, And hatred for my love. ¶Appoint a wicked man against him, And let an attacker stand at his right hand [to kill him]. When he enters into dispute, let wickedness come about. Let his prayer [for help] result [only] in sin. Let his days be few; And let another take his office. [Acts 1:20] Let his children be fatherless And his wife a widow. Let his children wander and beg; Let them seek their food and be driven far from their ruined homes. [Gen 4:12] Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder the product of his labor. Let there be no one to extend kindness to him, Nor let anyone be gracious to his fatherless children. Let his descendants be cut off, And in the following generation let their name be blotted out. ¶Let the wickedness of his fathers be remembered by the LORD; And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the LORD continually, That He may cut off their memory from the earth; Because the man did not remember to show kindness, But persecuted the suffering and needy man, And the brokenhearted, to put them to death. He also loved cursing, and it came [back] to him; He did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him. He clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, And it seeped into his inner self like water And like [anointing] oil into his bones. Let it be to him as a robe with which he covers himself, And as a sash with which he is constantly bound. Let this be the reward of my attackers from the LORD, And of those who speak evil against my life.
Psalms 109:4-20 New Living Translation (NLT)
I love them, but they try to destroy me with accusations even as I am praying for them! They repay evil for good, and hatred for my love. They say, “Get an evil person to turn against him. Send an accuser to bring him to trial. When his case comes up for judgment, let him be pronounced guilty. Count his prayers as sins. Let his years be few; let someone else take his position. May his children become fatherless, and his wife a widow. May his children wander as beggars and be driven from their ruined homes. May creditors seize his entire estate, and strangers take all he has earned. Let no one be kind to him; let no one pity his fatherless children. May all his offspring die. May his family name be blotted out in the next generation. May the LORD never forget the sins of his fathers; may his mother’s sins never be erased from the record. May the LORD always remember these sins, and may his name disappear from human memory. For he refused all kindness to others; he persecuted the poor and needy, and he hounded the brokenhearted to death. He loved to curse others; now you curse him. He never blessed others; now don’t you bless him. Cursing is as natural to him as his clothing, or the water he drinks, or the rich food he eats. Now may his curses return and cling to him like clothing; may they be tied around him like a belt.” May those curses become the LORD’s punishment for my accusers who speak evil of me.
Psalms 109:4-20 The Passion Translation (TPT)
Though I love them, they stand accusing me like Satan for what I’ve never done. I will pray until I become prayer itself. They continually repay me with evil when I show them good. They give me hatred when I show them love. Show him how it feels! Let accusing liars be raised up against him, like Satan himself standing right next to him. And let him be declared guilty by a wicked judge. May even his prayers be seen as sinful! Shorten his life and let another replace him! Make his wife a widow and his children orphans! Let them wander as beggars in the street, like homeless vagabonds, evicted from their ruins! Let the creditors seize his entire estate, and strangers, like vultures, take all that’s left! Let no one be kind to him by showing pity to his fatherless children! May all his posterity die with him! Cut down his family tree! And may all the sins of his ancestors be recorded, remembered before you, forever! Cut off even the memory of his family from the face of the earth, because he never once showed love or kindness to others, but persecuted the poor, the brokenhearted, and afflicted ones, even putting them to death! Since he enjoyed cursing them, may all his curses now come raining back on him until it all overwhelms him with misfortune! Since he refused to bless others, God, withhold every single blessing from him! Bitterness, such vile vindictiveness, was upon everything he did. Cursing was his lifestyle. So smother him now with his own curses as his just reward. This will be the Lord’s punishment upon him and all my lying accusers who speak evil against me.
Psalms 109:4-20 English Standard Version 2016 (ESV)
In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer. So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love. Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is tried, let him come forth guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin! May his days be few; may another take his office! May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow! May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit! May the creditor seize all that he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil! Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children! May his posterity be cut off; may his name be blotted out in the second generation! May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out! Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth! For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted, to put them to death. He loved to curse; let curses come upon him! He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him! He clothed himself with cursing as his coat; may it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones! May it be like a garment that he wraps around him, like a belt that he puts on every day! May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD, of those who speak evil against my life!