New Century Version NCV
New International Version NIV
7 Lord, you tricked me, and I was fooled. You are stronger than I am, so you won. I have become a joke; everyone makes fun of me all day long.
7
You deceived me, LORD, and I was deceived ; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me.
8 Every time I speak, I shout. I am always shouting about violence and destruction. I tell the people about the message I received from the Lord, but this only brings me insults. The people make fun of me all day long.
8
Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the LORD has brought me insult and reproach all day long.
9 Sometimes I say to myself, "I will forget about the Lord. I will not speak anymore in his name." But then his message becomes like a burning fire inside me, deep within my bones. I get tired of trying to hold it inside of me, and finally, I cannot hold it in.
9
But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
10 I hear many people whispering about me: "Terror on every side! Tell on him! Let's tell the rulers about him." My friends are all just waiting for me to make some mistake. They are saying, "Maybe we can trick him so we can defeat him and pay him back."
10
I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side! Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!” All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him.”
11 But the Lord is with me like a strong warrior, so those who are chasing me will trip and fall; they will not defeat me. They will be ashamed because they have failed, and their shame will never be forgotten.
11
But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 Lord All-Powerful, you test good people; you look deeply into the heart and mind of a person. I have told you my arguments against these people, so let me see you give them the punishment they deserve.
12
LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance on them, for to you I have committed my cause.
13 Sing to the Lord! He saves the life of the poor from the power of the wicked.
13
Sing to the LORD! Give praise to the LORD! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.
14 Let there be a curse on the day I was born; let there be no blessing on the day when my mother gave birth to me.
14
Cursed be the day I was born! May the day my mother bore me not be blessed!
15 Let there be a curse on the man who brought my father the news: "You have a son!" This made my father very glad.
15
Cursed be the man who brought my father the news, who made him very glad, saying, “A child is born to you—a son!”
16 Let that man be like the towns the Lord destroyed without pity. Let him hear loud crying in the morning and battle cries at noon,
16
May that man be like the towns the LORD overthrew without pity. May he hear wailing in the morning, a battle cry at noon.
17 because he did not kill me before I was born. Then my mother would have been my grave; she would have stayed pregnant forever.
17
For he did not kill me in the womb, with my mother as my grave, her womb enlarged forever.
18 Why did I have to come out of my mother's body? All I have known is trouble and sorrow, and my life will end in shame.
18
Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.