English Standard Version ESV
The Message Bible MSG
1 Be not silent, O God of my praise!
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My God, don't turn a deaf ear to my hallelujah prayer.
2 For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues.
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Liars are pouring out invective on me; Their lying tongues are like a pack of dogs out to get me,
3 They encircle me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.
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barking their hate, nipping my heels - and for no reason!
4 In return for my love they accuse me, but I give myself to prayer.
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I loved them and now they slander me - yes, me! - and treat my prayer like a crime;
5 So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
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They return my good with evil, they return my love with hate.
6 Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand at his right hand.
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Send the Evil One to accuse my accusing judge; dispatch Satan to prosecute him.
7 When he is tried, let him come forth guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin!
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When he's judged, let the verdict be, "Guilty," and when he prays, let his prayer turn to sin.
8 May his days be few; may another take his office!
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Give him a short life, and give his job to somebody else.
9 May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow!
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Make orphans of his children, dress his wife in widow's weeds;
10 May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
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Turn his children into begging street urchins, evicted from their homes - homeless.
11 May the creditor seize all that he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
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May the bank foreclose and wipe him out, and strangers, like vultures, pick him clean.
12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him, nor any to pity his fatherless children!
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May there be no one around to help him out, no one willing to give his orphans a break.
13 May his posterity be cut off; may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
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Chop down his family tree so that nobody even remembers his name.
14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
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But erect a memorial to the sin of his father, and make sure his mother's name is there, too -
15 Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!
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Their sins recorded forever before God, but they themselves sunk in oblivion.
16 For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
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That's all he deserves since he was never once kind, hounded the afflicted and heartbroken to their graves.
17 He loved to curse; let curses come upon him! He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him!
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Since he loved cursing so much, let curses rain down; Since he had no taste for blessing, let blessings flee far from him.
18 He clothed himself with cursing as his coat; may it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones!
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He dressed up in curses like a fine suit of clothes; he drank curses, took his baths in curses.
19 May it be like a garment that he wraps around him, like a belt that he puts on every day!
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So give him a gift - a costume of curses; he can wear curses every day of the week!
20 May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD, of those who speak evil against my life!
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That's what they'll get, those out to get me - an avalanche of just deserts from God.
21 But you, O GOD my Lord, deal on my behalf for your name's sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
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Oh, God, my Lord, step in; work a miracle for me - you can do it! Get me out of here - your love is so great! -
22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is stricken within me.
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I'm at the end of my rope, my life in ruins.
23 I am gone like a shadow at evening; I am shaken off like a locust.
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I'm fading away to nothing, passing away, my youth gone, old before my time.
24 My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
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I'm weak from hunger and can hardly stand up, my body a rack of skin and bones.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they wag their heads.
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I'm a joke in poor taste to those who see me; they take one look and shake their heads.
26 Help me, O LORD my God! Save me according to your steadfast love!
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Help me, oh help me, God, my God, save me through your wonderful love;
27 Let them know that this is your hand; you, O LORD, have done it!
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Then they'll know that your hand is in this, that you, God, have been at work.
28 Let them curse, but you will bless! They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
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Let them curse all they want; you do the blessing.
29 May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
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Let them be jeered by the crowd when they stand up, followed by cheers for me, your servant. Dress my accusers in clothes dirty with shame, discarded and humiliating old ragbag clothes.
30 With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD; I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
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My mouth's full of great praise for God, I'm singing his hallelujahs surrounded by crowds,
31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.
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For he's always at hand to take the side of the needy, to rescue a life from the unjust judge.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.